A new website aims to shake up the marijuana market in several states by offering Priceline-style marijuana deals at local dispensaries.
Wikileaf.com allows patients and recreational customers to specify how much they want to spend in general on cannabis. It then returns a list of offers from nearby dispensaries, based on how many grams you can get at that price point.
But whether patients will latch onto the idea remains to be seen. The online deals space is becoming more crowded as the industry grows, and many of these types of sites have failed in the past.
In a press release, Wikileaf said it currently features deals from 900 dispensaries across four states: Colorado, Washington State, California and Oregon. The site plans to add three additional states in the near future (the company did not reveal which ones) and more on a regular basis going forward.
Wikileaf is also working on developing mobile applications to allow customers to purchase on the go.
This purchasing model is commonplace in other industries, and it could have a variety of effects on the marijuana industry. It could fuel a price war similar to the recent one in Colorado that sent prices plummeting. Or, particularly for the recreational marketplace, it could help match up supply-and-demand more effectively – especially for distressed inventory – and bring costs down to steady levels more quickly.