[effingwewt]

It very much is from dispensaries, which is what is being discussed.

And this does happen everywhere, where prices in dispensaries 'miraculously align' right down to the daily/weekly specials etc.

What should be happening is the price going down as shops compete with each other for business- which, incidentally, they all did ~10 years ago. That also miraculously stopped at all shops simultaneously.

So it's definitely collusion/price fixing but I believe rather than the supplier/seller it's both. Especially in Oregon where the shops have their own grow farms.

[tenfourwookie]

I didn't want to respond to the $100 ounce comment because I haven't hit Portland or other larger cities, but I have to agree with you. I can't find even 1/2 ounces for $100. There are shops in Bend selling $75 eighths.

It's greed. It's collusion. I don't believe the “No one's making any money” nonsense in the media.

We're not making any money, but look at that $156,000 Mercedes SUV parked outside in the reserved spot.

[effingwewt]

Want to know something more messed up?

In Oregon/Washington the workers, even in the grow ops, are making minimum wage. I could not believe it, even the extract runners.

In Cali, at least where I'm at, most pay with weed only.

None of the workers on the west coast are classified as real workers and as such don't qualify for benefits, and they also enjoy the prospect of being raided at any given time as it's still federally illegal.

I spent a lot of time in the weed business traveling up and down the west coast last 2 years. It was disgusting. I'd ask about jobs everywhere while looking for decent vendors, I was shocked.

Back in the day when it was regulated, I did POS installations, custom POS software, alarms, and set up CCTV with remote viewing for a lot of the local shops, etc. They were supposed to use California weights and measures certified scales but they all used cheap re-calibratable ones. And remember, this is when shops at least pretended to follow the rules. Almost all of them tried to pay me- an actual business, with costs and a brick and mortar location, with weed. And not at their costs- which was nothing initially they operated on consignment but they paid out $2/gram for top shelf weed they sold for $20/g. They tried to pay me at $20/g. I had to step away from all dispensaries completely. I would even go to LA just to buy after that.

Also I would see these people making more money than they could count, and still being unbelievably shady. One place was lying to vendors they were out of town so they didn't have to pay them while counting out stacks of $5k to put in shoe boxes to stack in their home as their storage unit was full. They then tried this exact technique on me when I served them their bill.

When I reminded them I installed their entire network they had me come by to collect cash.

Greed doesn't begin to describe what is going on.

[tenfourwookie]

I absolutely would not want to be a security AV guy for anything in the pot industry. You'd be the first one they'd pop come reckoning time.

[tenfourwookie]

You see it even at the retail level. I’m tempted to record every budtender conversation I have and then parse it for verifiability. 33% true? Maybe.

[xyhopguy]

go to greencross in bend, they have the exact prices i'm referring to. Dont go to the stores that purchase from bulk retailers, shops that have their own farms typically have higher quality and lower prices.

[tenfourwookie]

Will do. Did go to str8fyre the other day and was impressed with price/quality, but Green Cross is far cheaper if the website is indicative.

[xyhopguy]

I have no idea where you guys are seeing these prices. Chalice, on the absolute high end that I've seen, tops out at 250/oz.

Nectar/Green Cross are my gotos, both of them are well below the prices yall are discussing. Green cross in particular has better stuff than the other venues as well. Maybe try shopping in Salem instead of Portland? Dunno, I never go into the city for weed.

[emteycz]

Why doesn't a phone/web delivery service outcompete them?

[tenfourwookie]

They do in Southern California. It's a brisk business.

Friend says the bulk of his orders were early AM or after dinner PM. He wouldn't really work during the day. Essentially a split shift. He didn't like it much, but the tips were ludicrous.