When a dispensary makes the choice to introduce a, “tier based system,” where the customer has to pay more for a higher percent THC product, certain strains or certain brands it becomes apparent it’s all about creating competition within the dispensaries and charging more money for only the fact that there’s more THC not more quality to the product itself. Which in turn will just create more disparity to the consumer seeking quality but still receiving the same quality as before the tier based systems were even in play. I make the argument that it’s pointless to do this.
What inherently makes a 30% strain better than a 18% strain?
Would, “top tier,” cannabis be harvested sooner and not be last November’s crop.
Would, “top tier,” cannabis be consistent in quality: Will, “top tier,” cannabis not burst into dust when the consumer squeezes it?, Will the consumer’s, “top tier,” cannabis be able to be grinded in their grinder without clogging it because it’s too sticky?
Will the consumer be wasting money on, “top tier,” cannabis due to noticeable Botrytis/bunch rot?
I also kinda wanna know: What does the market dictate as, “top tier,” and what are the current running qualifications for such?
The problem I see is that we still have an extremely uneducated consumer base. Everyone has been told their whole life that “THC gets you high” and so your average consumer is going to say high THC means a better product. It is on the companies to inform people and not focus on marketing ploys that feed on the general publics understanding of biochemistry or lack thereof. The only way to do this is to not tier out your flower. By doing so you just reenforce incorrect information and become no better then the dumbass instagram influence selling BCAAs
I purchased a ounce on sale and got told about tiers at a local dispensary and my head instantly got hit and I started to think what? What the fuck do you mean tiers? Your Cannabis is from 6months to a year old, it’s degraded as all hell and the only weed on sale is the stuff their trying to get rid of because it’s old.
So, I was like I should bring this up tot he CCC and make a post on future.
I still plan on bringing this matter up to the CCC, as well as the obvious fucking abuse of the medical Cannabis system.
I got my card cause of the symptoms of my aspergers/autism and i remember I went to the wrong dispensary on my bike trip to a different dispensary. I went inside thinking it was the one I ordered from but it wasn’t and they told me they weren’t medical yet and I had to pay the taxes.
I left so angry, not because I went to the wrong dispensary but because someone assumed I have my medical card to avoid taxes. That’s really fucked up.
Most people are shopping for produce: how many THC’s with this much USD’s. Some may use their nose. A few more may have farm preferences.
Tiers are a black box based on stock and what the owners think the public will pay.
…and you end up with a market full of balloons; some float to the top based on how loud they are. Some because of high % indoor tests. Some because it says cookies and it was paid to be placed at that height due to contract…
It all comes down to consumer education to me. As long as they are happy and willing to pay an increased price for whatever their measure of “quality” is (usually %THCa/$) you can’t expect businesses not to sell it to them for that.
I don’t really have a lot of faith in the modern consumer to ever really educate themselves properly. I have a feeling it will just transition to whatever is the next “trendy” measure of quality (e.g. bigger diamonds is more better, more terps = more good). This existed in the black market before with bag appeal - people spending more simply because the product was purple.
Certainly exists outside cannabis too. Is Pappy van Winkle good? You betcha. Is it worth way more than Blanton’s? Definitely not.
Ignorance was bliss and the black market is an uneducated market.
sad that educating the consumer on their purchases isn’t there. It’s all marketing.
you need 2 years of retail experience and a certification is preferred. to work at a dispensary.
The commune that screwed me over at north shore, that I paid in full and dumped all the classes in the data dump; at least was teaching about the medical aspects of trying to educate the consumer. They were very for the people and for the original cause with a hint of marketing. It wasn’t just get money and fuck the clients.
I know a casino dealer who works at Encore, that told me that there’s dispensary owners who come in and just piss away money all night. Like 10k$ bets at a time. I’ve never set foot in a casino in my life and I’m 30… to be honest I don’t see the appeal. From what I’ve heard, “it’s zombies and drunks throwing away money.”
I have only read a few lines of the first post but what I think you have to understand is consumer behavior and giving the consumer what they want. Its essentially pandering to a moron, its more profitable to just sell whatever delusion the fool consumer believes. Its easier that way and more profitable. You could set up a free education course on how indica, hybrid and sativa carts do the exact same thing and its all bullshit. But the consumer would still want sativa for the day and indica for bedtime regardless and truly believe it works this way (hell I dont smoke so I cant comment really if it does or not but from what I understand it is bullshit)
Its bizarre to say but I think the brain dead consumer wants to be scammed. If you challenge their beliefs it will go against you and create resentment. There is some deep psychology at play here and Ive had the most success just shutting the fuck up and playing into it.
Example
42% Sativa preroll 3 for 30$ in a fancy cool package named ‘Summer Vibez Work Sux’
but you just use the floor sweepings to fill the preroll and cover it with flavored disty and kief dust
You’re kinda right though, if you challenge top tier to a consumer or the indica and sativa thing you’ll end up chastised. I don’t know why but it’s the ignorance of the consumer that makes the most money. I think you’re right and everyone else says it too, the consumer likes being screwed but not the educated ones that can see through the bullshit.
I still think the CCC should have an open forum discussion on the matter of tier-based selling. Brining up using the ignorance of the consumer to scam the consumer into paying more for what is clearly the same products being sold before the tiers were in play MIGHT do something.
If we are selling cars right are we gonna tell the person who wants the 2022 Benz that its financially smarter to get the 2010 Toyota that we make less money on. Or are we going to tell him how jealous all of his friends are gonna be, how hes the only one with this color, how all the girls are gonna know hes the big boss.
He WANTS the Benz so if we make more money on the lease why wouldn’t we give him what he wants. Hes happier this way and so are we because we make more money.
I think it was in the 1970s maybe the '80s I can’t remember. Corona beer was first imported to the US from Mexico, it was priced like the shitty Mexican beer it is and almost no one bought it, so they stopped importing it I think for 4 years (give time for people to forget about it) and then they brought it back and I think about quadruple the price and made it equal and price to Heineken, They started a nifty advertising campaign telling people it’s the best beer out there and when bam thank you ma’am all of a sudden they created the perception of quality by giving it very high price and decent marketing campaign and created demand for one of the world’s shittiest beers. Pretty much the same thing happened with Volvo in the US.
Eventually someone will speak out against the tiers and how there’s no difference in absolute overall quality and then it’ll bring the question of was the consumer being scammed?
Or maybe!!! It’ll spark more home grows and more people that want to learn more about growing Cannabis and learning about how to seed bank.
Idfk I don’t really have any more value to add to any of this.
I think it’s a good discussion on consumer behavior
Here’s one of my favorites
This guy put trash from the streets of New York and sold it as art. Had made a decent amount of money, I think his point was people will buy anything in a fancy package
