Ideas For Keeping Pot Prices from Deflating Rapidly

[Yes4Prop215]

out there pushing the terroir angle? Are there any other ideas?

Furthermore, has the price bottomed? I feel like it has or is beginning to. Quality is becoming more important than yield again, broadly.

hasn't bottomed yet but its pretty damn close, if trimming costs 200 an LB and the materials another couple hundred it would be hard to keep surviving off outdoor at 1k a LB. the huge drought this year is probably going to affect CA outdoor prices a bit but the damage is already done. as the out of state price crashes the CA wholesale price crashes, CA wholesalers have responded by pumping more volume which will only exacerbate the price crash as more and more subpar herb floods the market. its actually less about quality in the grand scheme, especially when 80% of smokers surveyed prefer cheaper price than quality. i see CA outdoor prices continue to fall to close to mexican import prices, there are already tons of listing on B-trader for "mexi cali" which is a new phenomenon popping up in CA, its basically guerrilla or central valley mega farm grown and all machine or minimally processed, going for around 500 a LB. its low grade but its the mexican response to the crash of mexican prices, just move the teams up north of the border, grow it there and skip the border smuggling angle.

 

[mrcreosote]

Red Dirt Ragweed rolled on the thighs of virgins.

 

[binaryfission]

hasn't bottomed yet but its pretty damn close, if trimming costs 200 an LB and the materials another couple hundred it would be hard to keep surviving off outdoor at 1k a LB. the huge drought this year is probably going to affect CA outdoor prices a bit but the damage is already done. as the out of state price crashes the CA wholesale price crashes, CA wholesalers have responded by pumping more volume which will only exacerbate the price crash as more and more subpar herb floods the market. its actually less about quality in the grand scheme, especially when 80% of smokers surveyed prefer cheaper price than quality. i see CA outdoor prices continue to fall to close to mexican import prices, there are already tons of listing on B-trader for "mexi cali" which is a new phenomenon popping up in CA, its basically guerrilla or central valley mega farm grown and all machine or minimally processed, going for around 500 a LB. its low grade but its the mexican response to the crash of mexican prices, just move the teams up north of the border, grow it there and skip the border smuggling angle.

Hey Prop! Long time no see.

I can't find fault in anything there. Solid logic. I guess my thinking is a little further out... Cali prices are depressed no doubt. Generally prices are coming down everywhere.

Now, IMO what cuases the prices to drop is lack of education. We all know that the forum cut or TK or some other "elite" is going to be better than the commercial crap but the consumer doesn't. Why? the black market knowledge gap. The nature of the market keeps info from the consumer.

Along comes legal herbs and real mom and pop operations. Not wholesalers trying to fake the front. This brings knowledge about the intangibles that make hand grown herbs 1000X better than commercial "weed." Flushing, curing, trimming, organics, etc...

Now, with legal herbs, the average consumer at the wholesale or retail level knows more. He can pick out that Faux-G and won't pay the extra. Just think about how far the slang has come in the last 5 years, that is knowledge.

I agree that there is a ridiculous amount of excess demand on the low end a la Miller lite, Bud Light, Coors. There are people around the country searching for Wal Mart prices. But there are also people looking for striations of quality all the way to the top. Shiner, Sam Adams, the 1 million IPA coming out of the west coast and Colorado.

To me it is the Starbucks model. No one thought $5 coffee could succeed. "Why pay that? I can make a cup for $.50?" Ever heard of McCafe? They are copying. Market saturation is real, expecially when you can grow the product in 3 months. Check SBUX stock price. They are doing pretty well.

EDIT: I guess what I am saying is that yes Cali outdoor prices are going to drop as their soil is used to fill the demand on the low end. But that sends indoor prices, and any better product, through the roof out of sheer demand. Then everyone floods back to quality when they can't move their shit at any price. My point is legalization/decrim greatly reduces the need for all that shitty low end. That will be the next real wave of money. I'm not trying to out compete Wal Mart, Bud Light, or Ol' Chapo.

 

[MountZionCollec]

This whole idea about terroir, or following the wine industry, is suspect. The wine industry in California butchered the French meaning of terroir into a $$ making scheme even though they didn't actually following terroir farming practices. Terroir goes far beyond the location, it's a technique of farming that has many rules that no one follows and those rules are not good for growing cannabis, there good for growing low yielding high quality grapes, the equivalent being low yielding low quality cannabis if terroir farming was actually followed. No one is producing terroir cannabis, which is the way it should be It has nothing to do with quality its just about marketing and $$$.

Terroir does not mean location.

 

[MountZionCollec]

There are people who are currently working on this in Cali, just saw a video of one of the EGA boys, guy named Casey O'neal but i don't really like them or agree with much of what they advocate. This sort of idea only makes sense when it is legal to ship nationally and worldwide...but what'll it do in Cali? Nothing really as everyone does basically everything different there is nothing to "certify" around that would be all encompassing as it currently is for other commodity products. Right now "terroire" is just an idea in the minds of emerald farmer growers trying to find a way to justify high prices for a low quality product. I've studied the climate maps of Cali closely and the Emerald triangle is the worst place in Cali to grow for high quality, yet they'll prolly lead the voice for "terroire" cannabis

 

[LEF]

Its about time.

How long did you think this gold rush was gonna last ? Forever ?

Its time for the people to get their medicine, rich or poor. No more 100$ quarters or 400$ oz.

I think some of you were lucky to be able to survive growing the plant without a job. Hopefully you stacked enough money from those 4k pounds you sold.

Ive said this before but cali had a legalization vote and it didn't pass. A lot of people believe it didnt pass because of canna entrepreneurs wanting to keep on making the big money. After all, cali is filled with pro weed people.

I also believe, like one person above me, that those who are going legal might be the ones who will still have a chance at $. Cali didnt choose that route.

At least you guys got that california sunshine.

 

[MountZionCollec]

We should only be communicating information to the consumers that actually communicates something, if I hear another bullshit useless microclimate farm story from the Emerald growers association I will need to throw myself through a window

This whole terroire thing if/when it picks up steam within California will cause division amongst the growing regions, it will clutter the market with useless information that is just "filler" marketing and since it will be based on marketing big business will eventually take it over as in marketing money wins.

How do we compete with big business? How do we compete with commercial growers who don't give a shit about the quality of there product or the experience of there consumer? We drive them out of business through real quality at fair prices. This idea that costs will be reduced as operations expand is lunacy if you have the desire and capabilities to manage your own artisan small farm. We don't need stories about breezes and rivers and lakes near by yadayadayada we need tests for mold-pesticides and full cannabinoid and terpinoid tests, we need hand trimmed, perfectly dried, cured & stored for a low price. Big business CANNOT both do quality and low price, and we won't beat them on marketing, or only a few will and the majorty wil die out. 99% of people who think they have "quality" half ass dry there weed and have very poor large batch curing techniques. We need to step up our game as artisan producers.

 

[minds_I]

... I've studied the climate maps of Cali closely and the Emerald triangle is the worst place in Cali to grow for high quality...

Why is that?

 

[stoned-trout]

so cal rules weather wise...yeehaw

 

[HatchBrew]

Why is that?

Morning dew, moisture, cloud cover, fires, tweekers/sheriffs, and harvest season rains. Don't live there, I'm in Sonoma Co, but them be my guesses.

But they (HUM Co) put out so, I'll just STFU.

Best way not to worry about prices is to just grow for yourself and people you know in need. Cover your costs, and have fun with plants. Couldn't go back to having to attaching a price tag to it.

 

[armedoldhippy]

want prices to rise? easy...quit growing so much, EVERYONE! nothing brings up price like scarcity of product and constant demand. simple economics... if more folks keep growing more weed, the price for normal shit will drop, the very best will stay about the same (folks WILL pay for quality, ask Jack Daniels), and shit weed will either cease to exist or get turned into oil or something...

 

[angelgoob]

Elite fire clones and advertise that women do the trimming.

Extremely smelly plant material.

Silverish containers instead of bags.

 

[Genghis Kush]

30-40 bucks for an ounce of decent bud if I ruled the world

 

[armedoldhippy]

30-40 bucks for an ounce of decent bud if I ruled the world

i'll vote for you!

 

[MountZionCollec]

Why is that?

Higher latitude means less direct/weaker harvest sun and weaker winter sun so will create lower qualiy then the rest of Cali.

Higher humidity, less sunny days and more harvest rains...decreasing resin production, increasing problems with pm/mold, decreasing bud density.


Compare that with the sierra Nevadans with lower humidity during flowering, lower latitude so more direct/strong harvest/winter sun for a better green house product and lots of high altitude properties for an even stronger harvest/winter sun and mostly sunny dry Mediterranean climate for the majority of the year.

 

[panick503]

I get the impression this is a cali thread, but the prices in oregon have not only held this year, but are actually up from last year. First time that has happened in forever..

 

[binaryfission]

want prices to rise? easy...quit growing so much, EVERYONE! nothing brings up price like scarcity of product and constant demand. simple economics... if more folks keep growing more weed, the price for normal shit will drop, the very best will stay about the same (folks WILL pay for quality, ask Jack Daniels), and shit weed will either cease to exist or get turned into oil or something...

That will never work because demand isn't being met. We are trying to preserve our margins in the legal market where supply will be increased without any question.

Also, ask anyone in LA who has been around since the 90's prices are still down for top shelf. Real Cush/OG used to go for 6G plus in LA. Its not doing that anywhere except the local news or on some DEA calculator. No one is still getting 6 a unit for anything green.

 

[binaryfission]

I get the impression this is a cali thread, but the prices in oregon have not only held this year, but are actually up from last year. First time that has happened in forever..

Of course. Same in Cali.

This thread was started in 2010.

Cheers.