California cannabis growers and product manufacturers face major market and regulatory hurdles that often result in dreams of selling cannabis commercially go up in smoke. Many cultivators “grow blind” only to discover the demand they had anticipated never materializes.
Unsold inventory can leak potency and aesthetic appeal while in storage. California cannabis growers may produce more than three times as much legal marijuana than the state market can consume, creating collapses of wholesale prices, according to Forbes.
Some cultivators are responding to these headwinds by taking their harvest to auction. This selling route harkens back to the days of loose-leaf tobacco auctions of the 1800s, in many ways spurred by similar imbalances between big-city buyers and cultivators. Auctions became the primary method of selling bright leaf tobacco in North Carolina more than a century ago.
But today, the unique chant of the tobacco auctioneer has been replaced by the digital drumbeat of the Internet. One such online marketplace is CannabisAuctions.com, a compliant auction and inventory liquidation service for licensed cannabis businesses in California run by Gold Country Growers.
CannabisAuctions.com is a licensed, full-service cannabis distribution company that provides online auction and liquidation services to licensed cannabis businesses selling wholesale, Gold Country Growers said in a statement. The company says it has initiated strong relationships between farms and manufacturers of premium cannabis products produced in California.
Cultivators and manufacturers of legal cannabis products with an active California license in good standing can participate. In exchange for a fee, CannabisAuctions.com advertises sellers’ bulk product via websites, social media, directory listings, pay-per-click campaigns and other digital or physical material.
CannabisAuctions.com receives a 15 percent commission of the final auction price or “buy it now” price agreed upon with buyers. Sellers have an option to set the opening bid price as a reserve on the auction site. Goods not sold upon completion of an auction are automatically re-listed for an additional auction period. All auctioned items are first tested by a licensed cannabis analytical lab.
CannabisAuctions.com accepts for bids the following products: wholesale cannabis flower, cannabis brand labeling, trim, concentrates, genetics (clones/seeds), edibles, and other cannabis related products. It also offers transportation, lab testing arrangements, quarantine, packaging, tax remittance, and basic fulfillment for clients.