Uncle Ron wrote:I visited the shop on the 14th and noticed the addition of G13(?) and OG Kush, at 15e per gram. The rest of the menu was basically the same as before.
I've had several conversations with bud-tenders and regulars, and their opinion on increased prices is that it could be one or more of the following:
1. Distributors charging more per kilo, from 5000e to 8000e+ as an example. The reasons could be multiple although I think it comes down to two - greed and paranoia about the future (longer prison sentences for growers).
2. C/S owners may have the same reasons as stated above, with the addition that because some shops are charging 15e and even 17.50e per gram, the rest follow suit. Charge what the market will bear and all that.
To be quite honest, I would probably do the same. If I thought there was going to be a major shift in policy which in turn meant reduced revenue, what else is there to do? Same applies to increased wholesale prices - pass it on to the customer.
I predicted/theorized that the first C/S to charge 20e per gram would be in 2012. With some shops charging 17.50 (for Neville's Haze), I just might be right. Less than 2 years ago Quazar was going for 15e, now it's 17e+. If the laws change forbidding foreigners from buying, 20e will be this year with a possibility of 25e by 2012/13 (market demand and all that).
Time will tell.
I doubt that blocking tourists from CS will result in a hike in prices. Imo 2 things will happen:
- A lot of coffeeshops close (the locals don't need 200 coffeeshops) and the demand actually will go down.
- As the demand for exotic and high quality buds is mostly tourism/export driven the vast majority of bud available will be White Widow and Hindu Kush.
About Basjoe now. Ever since I've been in A'dam a few months ago I have been hearing very good things at this forum about Basjoe. So I decide to go specially during the afternoon (as you won't ever find it open in the morning; this should have been the first "alarm bell"). It was the middle of October when I went there and boy was it a total waste. The black kid as also stated above was staring at me so hard and unpleasant that I almost started a fight in there (he really should NOT look at customers like that no matter how stoned he is if he wants to keep all his teeth), the menu was pretty much empty with only the Bas Special available, a badly flushed pineapple strain for over 12e then (it must have been 13 or 14, I don't remember exactly but I sure remember it was expensive). In other words Basjoe is for me a barely average coffeeshop. What do you like there? Is there (apart from the Terminator) any killer weed that is bringing all the people there? I mean from the reviews here one would think that Basjoes is in the same league as Grey Area which is definitely NOT.