Help with dispensary sales

[SmokingWings]

I have only been to one dispensary and that was just one time. Everything was in small plastic packages with no way to see the product even though the entire place was lit up with neon lights of many colors. No way to buy a 1/2 unless I bought 4 of those 1/8s and received no quantity discount. It used to be that the advertisements for the dispensaries had photos of rows of Mason jars filled with buds. Now they have glass display cases with small plastic bags that no one can see what is inside.

I can understand why prices are what they are for legal commercially grown weed. Lights and lighting bills, heating and cooling equipment and the electric bills to pay for running those, water and nutrients have to be paid for, rent for buildings plus insurances, and the people who work the grow rooms expect to be paid. It adds up. Then the extra that is tacked on to pay the taxes at every step of the way from seeds to sale and the dispensary ends up charging way more for that 1/8th than the 'black or underground market'.

Gardening is my lifelong hobby. If I am picking something that is ready for use from the garden why go to the market for a basket of the same? The store bought will be as good as my own at best but usually way worse in every aspect.

 

[Bill284]

@Jon @Rexer @ppm Charlie @Krissi1982 @Angrytomato @Melville Hobbes
@HashGirl @FelipeBlu @SmokingWings @Nine Toed Hippie @HappyHazmat88
@kaw900r @RXOIL @Pat Puffer @Buds Buddy @smokers420
@Herby Green @013 @backyardagain @StoneOtter @InTheShed
@Jose Tall Grass @CanadianStoner @KCCO 77 @Backlipslide @Cultivator
@GoogleGenie @cr8grow @Joshualuck @XiwsX561 @gr865 @Thirvnrob
@Sparkey224 @Jack420 @Jungle Joseph @meffa
@Modest Grower @Stormblessed @NewToTHC @Chrisx510 @Sueet
@Cola Monster @Grandpa Tokin @BakedARea @nickeluring
@Grand Daddy Black @Grandpa Tokin @Sunnyskies @nedesnik
[USER=345847]@Mdlroad @ProfessorFlora
@JermsIsBaked @Old g @deltadubie @farside05
@Virgin Ground @Pepbud CDL 2005 @marcus611a @mmjmon @UncleGreen
@Phytoplankton @Tonclon
@Silverpea @Emilya
@Renaissance Man @Braddah Waiheesohai @Kanno26 @Spacebouquet @Ljb1 @Freak Brothers @kikikopa
@mk2SMOKEY

Just a few people I've talked to in the last couple days
Sorry if I left you out.

Do any of you have a suggestion.
Thanks
Stay safe
Bill & Stacey

Thank you everyone for answering, we really appreciate it.
If you know a member that might use a dispo
and can help please tag them.
As we are all subject to the OCS, and AGCO here our selection is limited.
Just wondering has anyone found something they can only get at one place?
Thanks again.

Stay safe
Bill & Stacey

 

[SmokeyB]

Never had chance to try dispensary weed we get that so called cali in packs but for £65 to £80 3.5 but I don't think it was real looked like pgr weed so I can't help atall on that one sorry

 

[Buds Buddy]

Thank you everyone for answering, we really appreciate it.
If you know a member that might use a dispo
and can help please tag them.
As we are all subject to the OCS, and AGCO here our selection is limited.
Just wondering has anyone found something they can only get at one place?
Thanks again.

Stay safe
Bill & Stacey

The only dispensary I know that sells "Cherry On Top" is the one I've talked about with no Pre-Pack. That is one Bomb Ass Strain. Turns Purple, Gets super frosty, Sticky as it gets & Stinky as all hell. They charge $60 for an 1/8th of it so I started growing it myself. It's a Cannarado Genetics strain. Some of the sponsors here did have it. Haven't checked lately as I have plenty of the seeds.

 

[HappyHazmat88]

Thank you everyone for answering, we really appreciate it.
If you know a member that might use a dispo
and can help please tag them.
As we are all subject to the OCS, and AGCO here our selection is limited.
Just wondering has anyone found something they can only get at one place?
Thanks again.

Stay safe
Bill & Stacey

Maybe I can help since we're border neighbors .... What strains can you not get in o.c? From the way everyone talks they heavily regulate it there so in my mind there must be the same stuff at every dispensary... Feel free to p.m to further discuss

 

[Bill284]

Maybe I can help since we're border neighbors .... What strains can you not get in o.c? From the way everyone talks they heavily regulate it there so in my mind there must be the same stuff at every dispensary... Feel free to p.m to further discuss

Hey brother hope your well. @HappyHazmat88
Thanks for the reply.
Ths O.C.S. sells the same products to every store in Ontario.
We aren't allowed to get stock anywhere else, fek.
So it's difficult to set yourself apart.
Same packaging and quality for everyone.
We have no control whatsoever over any of that.
So we are trying to figure out a way to help the one store that's struggling.
As it has other stores nearby now.
Prices are slashed discounts given when ever possible.
But there is nothing to set it apart from the others so it floundering.
If you check their site (OCS) you can see listed every product they sell.
That's another problem they sell to the public as well as the stores.
So they scoop a % of sales before we even get our products.
It's not a perfect system for sure.
Thanks Amigo

Stay safe
Bill

 

[StoneOtter]

Puppies

 

[Bill284]

Puppies

Have puppies in the store?

Stay safe
Bill

 

[Melville Hobbes]

All I can think of is a loyalty program.
Sorry. We're all trying to get the government to loosen up on the rules a bit. Especially around small scale growers, and who can supply dispensaries. There was talk of changing a few rules so craft growers could sell their product straight to a specific dispensary (or chain) they partner with, but the LPs are blocking that. Money talks.

 

[HappyHazmat88]

All I can think of is a loyalty program.
Sorry. We're all trying to get the government to loosen up on the rules a bit. Especially around small scale growers, and who can supply dispensaries. There was talk of changing a few rules so craft growers could sell their product straight to a specific dispensary (or chain) they partner with, but the LPs are blocking that. Money talks.

Agreed a loyalty program with a point spending system is what I said above... Would ensure customers stick around to get enough points to use them for "freebies" or additional % off

 

[nivek]

So as you know I am in new York and we just legalized so we don't have "dispensaries" here just yet but we have a few places that are using the text in the law to skate the legalities. But while I lived in Colorado for 3 years I got familiar with quite a few dispensaries.

But to answer a few questions.

Why do you keep going back to that particular dispensary?
I used to go to one specific place all the time as that particular dispensary had a strain no one else had and it sold out within a week of restock. So a special strain that no one else has its a huge marketing strategy, as if the others cannot get it then you stay on top with the special strain. THE STRAIN WAS CALLED ECTOCOOLER.

What do you dislike about the dispensary you use?
The main draw back to dispensaries for me is the greenery looks fantastic and smells great...but does not pack a punch. Again as stated above the special strain they had was one of the strongest cerebral highs I've ever had. And most other strains couldn't match it.

And to summarize some of the other questions.

Was paying $10-15 a gram...$45-50 an eighth.

Stopped using main dispensary after my roommates let me purchase some of they're Durban poison and other home made strains. In my opinion it was better and cheaper. Even tho the dispensaries did run specials like free pre-roll on your bday or buy an 1/8th get one half off or select strain of the day at like a %10-15 discount or a member loyalty point system......sorry rambling lol

One thing I'm trying to get my boss on board with since it is legal now and we will have dispensaries popping up everywhere, is grow tours or dispensary tours. Basically offering a tour of the different stages of growth from grow-harvest(maybe work with a grow op for like a hands on trim display), sales, etc. Basically like a wine tour but for green enthusiast. People are fairly simple... Give them a slight gimmick and they will fawn over the idea.

Hope I was able to help slightly. There's more I could have wrote but I figured this was a good start.

Just a note to mention the cannabis tour thing is actually a thing here in the okanagan,, wine tour companies are starting to offer cannabis tours as well,,

I have no clue what is out there to be seen cannabis wize, but its happening

 

[HappyHazmat88]

Just a note to mention the cannabis tour thing is actually a thing here in the okanagan,, wine tour companies are starting to offer cannabis tours as well,,

I have no clue what is out there to be seen cannabis wize, but its happening

Yea I've seen it in Colorado and Vegas... They visit grow ops and dispensaries while allowing the product to be used in specific vehicles "smoking/vaping allowed". And if I remember currently they charge a good amount for the tour .

FYI... I AM NOT PROMOTING THIS TOUR OR ITS SERVICES. THIS PHOTO IS MERELY TO SHOW SERVICES AND ROUND ABOUT COST OF SUCH A TOUR.

 

[HappyHazmat88]

@nivek yea I manage a limousine company here and we do tons of wine tours....I'm currently working with the owner to help set up such a tour here.. that's why I push it so hard as this is my industry lol

 

[StoneOtter]

Have puppies in the store?

Stay safe
Bill

Well yes but any kind of a hook like that. Puppies may be silly but something to grab hearts like they can. Maybe a hotdog cart. There's nothing like a good dog!

It's a shame folks/customers don't know you as a person. If they did, that may help. Compassion goes a long way with me, maybe them too.

And if these are all silly then that's why I've been a mechanic all my life.

My first and only impression the other week of the Mission store here was TOO STERILE. With the virus I don't know if there's any other way. Laws have to be within also.

 

[HashGirl]

Hey brother hope your well. @HappyHazmat88
Thanks for the reply.
Ths O.C.S. sells the same products to every store in Ontario.
We aren't allowed to get stock anywhere else, fek.
So it's difficult to set yourself apart.
Same packaging and quality for everyone.
We have no control whatsoever over any of that.
So we are trying to figure out a way to help the one store that's struggling.
As it has other stores nearby now.
Prices are slashed discounts given when ever possible.
But there is nothing to set it apart from the others so it floundering.
If you check their site (OCS) you can see listed every product they sell.
That's another problem they sell to the public as well as the stores.
So they scoop a % of sales before we even get our products.
It's not a perfect system for sure.
Thanks Amigo

Stay safe
Bill

I was talking to my husband about this and we think the cannabis stores should offer samples to customers the way they do in the liquor stores and the grocery stores. We know it's not legal in the Canadian cannabis stores but alcohol is a drug, too and I've been offered samples there. We think that someone could put together a good case to have this changed legally.

The other thing I wanted to say is that the cannabis stores I've been in are boring. They're all white with barely anything to suggest they sell bud there. It would be nice if there were pics on the walls and jars full of bud behind them just for displaying, not selling. They're so uninviting. That's one of the reasons I usually just order online. There's nothing there that makes me want to go in person.

 

[HashGirl]

Have puppies in the store?

Stay safe
Bill

I like kittens. I would go to a dispensary if there were kittens.

 

[Krissi Carbone]

With what @HashGirl said...it is like a doctors office...maybe get with some local artists and add some local made art to add in to the decor. Making it pop a little and have another small business driver could also help draw in a different demographic and expand the market.

 

[Melville Hobbes]

Puppies

I like kittens. I would go to a dispensary if there were kittens.

Maybe you could talk to a rescue or two. Ask them to bring in a couple of animals up for adoption to meet the customers. I know a couple of places that do that. Of course they're pet supply stores, lol.

 

[PlanetJ]

To be short and simple:

Quality > Price > Everything else

Anybody who needs this on a regular basis will learn to recognise better quality and snuff it out. If your quality is equal, it's down to geography/travel time. I'm not walking 5 minutes further just cuz the lighting or the menu is better, but I will travel 45 minutes longer if the quality is better.
I have been known to buy into returning customer benefit programs, and that would probably make me walk 5 minutes more.

Edit: There is a reason I grow: most coffeeshops suck or are over-expensive. The ones that suck less, dont buy from growers that rip their plants early, have knowledgeable budtenders and have a fresh looking menu and present samples at request to smell and look at. I dont have US experience, but over here in NL, I really dont care what your shop looks like as that says absolutely nothing on the quality of your product. Word of mouth and otherwise trial and error are the main ways I find new ones, if required.

 

[Melville Hobbes]

There's a pattern emerging with end of prohibition laws here in Canada. It starts out really strict, then loosens up over time as we convince the conservatives that the sky really won't fall down on us all if we let people buy a bottle of booze without a brown paper bag over it. They only recently started allowing beer and wine to be sold in grocery stores here in Ontario.
If you really want a laugh look up the way alcohol laws were written at the end of prohibition here. It only lasted two years, but it really did some damage while it was here.