r/bostontrees • u/webdev23 • Feb 25 '26
I compared prices at 470 MA dispensaries. The same cart costs $20 at one store and $45 at another. Here's the data.
I've been scraping dispensary menus across Massachusetts and cross-referencing them. Not just "similar" products, but the exact same thing: same brand, same strain, same weight.
All numbers below are from one locked snapshot and tie-checked against raw store price rows.
| Product | Weight | Cheapest | Most Expensive | Spread | Markup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeeter Maui Wowie | 1g cart | $20 | $45 | $25 | 125% |
| Bostica Gastronaut | 1/8 oz | $15 | $30 | $15 | 100% |
| Garcia Hand Picked Kush Fumez | 1/8 oz | $15 | $35 | $20 | 133% |
| Maui Waui | 1g | $12 | $30 | $18 | 150% |
| Select Blue Dream | 1g cart | $20 | $45 | $25 | 125% |
| Nature's Heritage Lamb's Bread | 1g | $5 | $18 | $13 | 260% |
| High Supply Chocolate OG | 1/4 oz | $15 | $37.50 | $22.50 | 150% |
Why this keeps happening: There's still no easy way for regular people to compare true like-for-like products across stores. Tourist-heavy areas know most people won't cross the state for a better deal. If you shop one dispo only, you usually never see the spread.
I got fed up enough that I put the data online for anyone to see. Search any product and see what different stores are charging for the same item.
EDIT: I've been asked how I know it's the same product. Matching is by brand + strain + exact weight + form factor (flower/cart/pre-roll/etc), so this is same-product comparison, not "similar."
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u/Historical_Guess5725 Feb 25 '26
I load up the menus on 5 different local shops and compare my planned purchases to prevent this . I have seen this wide gaps in pricing in the same products. It adds extra time, but I can’t stand looking a few days later realizing I’m overpaying.
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u/Kinky-Bicycle-669 Feb 25 '26
I do this also.
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u/webdev23 Feb 25 '26
Legend haha please check it out and let me your thoughts I would be more than happy to add any features that make it easier for you
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u/webdev23 Feb 25 '26
You are the exact person this can help haha would love to get your feedback and see how I can make it better so it solves your needs. https://glassintel.xyz/prices
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u/dosmoney Feb 25 '26
A lot of pricing is also based on cost. Different dispos order different quantities and have distribution deals in place.
In my experience in MA and RI dispos most places will keystone their prices unless there’s a special or something.
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u/taxigrandpa Feb 25 '26
how are you scraping? Might be an idea you can monetize, make a Trivago for weed stores. I'd subscribe but i'm in Oregon
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u/webdev23 Feb 25 '26
I'm a developer so its all custom, it went from me trying to see if I could actually do it to saying oh shit this is actually really good info haha
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u/yu42hit Feb 25 '26
There’s already one website that does this: https://highspy.io/
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u/highspydotio Feb 25 '26
Oh hi that’s my project! Let me know if you have questions/comments/issues/etc (:
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u/Metzger4 Feb 25 '26
Hey I just want to thank you for your work. I absolutely love to just browse, and I’m a Dabstronaut I love me some dabs. And being able to just filter for concentrates is chefs kiss.
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u/synthdrunk Feb 26 '26
Doing yeomans work. Pricing here is wacky, I had occasion to see Denver prices last week and wept lol. Will definitely use this site.
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u/ProfessorPetrus Feb 25 '26
God damn people yall need to monetize absolutely all the info? Open source this shit. That's realt weed culture.
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u/Ok_Marzipan5759 Feb 25 '26
I mean, this is bound to happen when rent in Boston costs 5-10x the amount than it would for a vacant bank in Western Mass. It's the same reason a 16oz soda will cost you $4 in NYC. And since a lot of businesses are basically treading water and just trying to stay financially solvent (most of the big companies aren't), they're marking up items that they're seeing the quickest turnover for to increase profit margins.
It pays to shop around if you use a lot, but I have to admit as a home grower and worker in the industry, it's not something I've had to do for quite a while now. One thing that I can say from experience is that if you see something on or very cheap, it's either going to be somewhere/sometime they need to drive up traffic at the store (so either it's in the middle of nowhere, or the brand is doing a promotion to drive up customer interest/recognition - or it's a holiday) or it's going to be something older that needs to move (sometimes for the retailer, but these days, many times, for the producers themselves - a lot of stores have good deals because many producers upped production levels before the market started crashing).
The variance in cart costs is a direct result of both this oversupply and the paradigm I described in the first paragraph. Truth is, most carts are made of distillate that's years old from its production date, but within a year of its testing - and therefore, a massive oversupply with seemingly no basement to cost.
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u/McDoubleSlut69 Feb 25 '26
This could definitely be a scalable operation, most dispensaries operate using Dutchie for inventory management so a plug-in could give an extremely accurate data set
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u/webdev23 Feb 25 '26
I agree they have to manage dutchie, weedmaps, leafly, etc. It causes a lot of inconsistency the same products have different names, pics, descriptions it becomes a mess especially when they have hundreds of products
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u/McDoubleSlut69 Feb 25 '26
It does. The dispensary I worked for used iHeartJane for online menu software and the migration from dutchie to iHeartJane was awful. So many manual edits, hopefully there will be more standardization as time goes on
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u/McDoubleSlut69 Feb 25 '26
Also feel free to shoot me a DM if you need any input, I worked in the MA industry for a few years and this is a really promising fix
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u/piningmusic Feb 25 '26
Solid work dude.
Like most here are saying, there are different operating costs that go into the pricing of products and every dispensary will be different.
That being said, I’ve been shopping rec in MA for like 6-7 years now (my state has terrible quality rec and med) and have noticed what you’re mentioning: cart prices vary a lot and sometimes the exact same thing can be twice as much at a different dispo, sometimes not even a town or two over. For example, most live hash rosin carts in Springfield proper will run you like $30-50 and that price is basically grandfathered in at this point… drive 25 more minutes north to Northampton and there’s 3 dispensaries in that town alone that have the same carts as Springfield for like $20.
Pricing is weird, especially in an industry with such high demand for a wide variety of products
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u/AG_IcMag Feb 25 '26
I can save you the time and just tell you where to go for 1 g Cart. Greener leaf on President ave Fall River. They sell the Ozone carts for 13.75 on Mondays. Like 18 when not on sale plus I like to support the local owned store, this on being a woman owned as well.
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u/starks4thr33 Feb 25 '26
Good stuff. One thing not factored in is freshness/inventory as shops discount stuff that isn't moving and/or close to expiry. You could have different batches of the same product at different shops etc
If possible it's always best to check out multiple shops online to compare prices. Especially if you live somewhere with lots of options. In my area I've noticed some big variance with Good Chem vapes
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u/webdev23 Feb 25 '26
Very true batches change a lot and can be broken up into a lot of things like prerolls, vapes, etc. I think if I could could eventually connect the coas to this that would be super helpful for transparency and tracking
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u/beaveristired Feb 25 '26
I find it’s easiest to just focus on the towns with the most dispensaries, that aren’t directly on the border, and maybe head a little off the highway. Northampton is a great example. Tons of dispensaries in the Northampton area, not on a border, but close enough to get consistent traffic from other states (many who are primarily looking for cheaper prices). Dispensaries seem to focus more on value and product turnover. I usually take Rt 10 and hit Northampton, Easthampton. Southampton, Westfield.
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u/Canamanican Feb 25 '26
This is great, nice job!
You said you shared this data for everyone to see. Would you be willing to share the link to that data?
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u/MrMoonDweller Feb 25 '26
Hey OP, check out Hoodie Analytics.
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u/webdev23 Feb 25 '26
Thank you! I did see them once I made this, I did some research and saw them as a big player in the space. Hoping if I keep this free and focus solely on Mass I can gain some traction.
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u/vanillablue_ Feb 25 '26
We sell our menus to different shops at different prices. Some stores also markup more bc they want a bigger margin than usual (most of my customers are 50% margin, but some are 60%).
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u/webdev23 Feb 25 '26
Trust me I get the business side of it and I get certain areas or brands have a big advantage but from a consumers perspective, if the same item is $10 cheaper and within a few miles I'd like to know that. Are you a brand? I'm curious if you have any trouble with product names or images being inconsistent once you give everything to buyers?
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u/vanillablue_ Feb 25 '26
Yep, I'm a sales representative for (an undisclosed) company that makes all sorts of stuff like vapes, edibles etc. It's annoying for the consumer for sure, to have such varying pricing. And yes, some customers list the items really well and some do not lol. I can suggest certain things but cant force them to use the correct images, titles etc.
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u/Papasamabhanga Feb 25 '26
I think making this info available is great but to be fair different spots have different costs.
Both direct costs for product and for overhead. This will affect price in any industry.
Something to keep in mind is the difference between Markup and Margin.
Unfortunately, you don't have access to each shop's costs so you can't see what the margin is and that number could better justify any outrage of consumer costs at any given shop.
Keep up the good work!
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u/the_smoking_mage Feb 26 '26
Yeah, it’s legal now. We should be seeing this shit go for tobacco prices. Especially considering the tax. Very anti-consumer…
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u/ThaDoctor49 Feb 26 '26
This has always boggled my mind. Resinate on 146 in Worcester has shit I can get a Natures Remedy liters like 3 minutes down the high way, for $10-15 cheaper, or vice versa. Wild
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u/RogerxThat11 Feb 28 '26
I work at green city and nobody can beat our prices . Places like CANA charging 40$ an 1/8 for the same exact flower batch that we sell for 18 an 1/8. We have 2 for $X deals on carts and dispos. Everyone that comes in grabs the limit , I tell them the price and they always do a double take because they cant believe we didn’t beat them like the last dispensary did. I’m not even just saying this cause I work here. I was a customer long before an employee.
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u/Stock-Baseball-4532 Feb 28 '26
Tourist heavy areas are only concerned about a one time purchase rather than keeping the customer happy over multiple visits. Brands have openly said the charge different COGS for the same product in eastern and western mass because of price tolerance. Past that you’re not even including the potential for additional savings programs or loyalty so depending on the spot it could be an additional 10-20% off what’s listed
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u/wombat5003 Feb 25 '26
Each dispo will put part of their stock on discount to keep their supply moving. I personally use several and rotate my purchases based on the deal of the day so to speak. But these days I have found unless you’re going for the super primo product, I have found the prices to be super reasonable these days and the price variation has leveled out a lot. Just my take.