How bulk pricing works
The rule of thumb holds up in Canadian data: the more you buy at once, the less each gram costs. In the International Cannabis Policy Study, a 2018 survey of 1,227 Canadians who had bought dried cannabis, price per gram fell significantly as purchase size rose. People buying less than 3.5 g paid more than double per gram what people buying more than 28 g paid.
To compare sizes yourself, divide each price by its weight in grams. Legal labels must state the net weight in grams, according to Health Canada's labelling guide, and the weed weights guide explains why an eighth is sold as 3.5 g and an ounce as 28 g.
The per-gram math, with example numbers
The quick test: 8 eighths of 3.5 g make 28 g, so an ounce is cheaper per gram whenever it costs less than 8 eighths. A sale on smaller sizes can flip the result, so run the numbers on the day you buy. Here is the math with made-up prices, which are examples only and not GasDank prices:
- Example eighth: 3.5 g for 35 dollars, or 10.00 dollars a gram.
- Example ounce: 28 g for 210 dollars, or 7.50 dollars a gram.
- The comparison: 8 of those eighths make the same 28 g for 280 dollars, so the example ounce saves 70 dollars, a quarter of the cost.
Don't pay for the THC number alone
THC is one of the main things flower is priced on, but labels can run high. In a 2023 PLOS One study, researchers tested 23 flower samples from 10 Colorado dispensaries and found that about 70% held more than 15% less THC than their labels claimed. An ounce of something you already enjoy is usually a safer bulk buy than the biggest number on the menu. For typical ounce prices, see how much an ounce of weed costs in Canada.
How much to buy
Start from your own pace. Divide 28 g by what you use in a week to see how long an ounce would last. If you roll joints, a RAND analysis of more than 10,000 US marijuana purchases estimated the average joint holds 0.32 g, so 28 g makes about 87 joints of that size.
- 1 g a week: 28 weeks, more than 6 months
- 2 g a week: 14 weeks
- 3.5 g a week: 8 weeks
- 7 g a week: 4 weeks
Let freshness set the upper limit
Cannabis fades rather than expiring on a set date, and its smell goes first. In a year-long storage study in Frontiers in Plant Science, terpenes, the strong-smelling compounds behind cannabis aroma, dropped quickly under every condition tested, by more than half on average within 4 months. THC goes more slowly: in a University of Mississippi study published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, cannabis kept in closed barrels in the dark at 20 to 22°C lost about 17% of its THC in the first year. THC slowly oxidizes into CBN as cannabis ages.
If an ounce would take you much longer than 4 months to finish, a smaller size at a higher per-gram price can waste less money.
Having more on hand can also mean using more. Canada's Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines name daily or near-daily use among the strongest predictors of serious or long-term health problems, and suggest keeping use occasional, such as one day a week or weekends, or less. If a big supply pushes your use up, it is not a saving. Questions about your own use are best taken to a doctor or pharmacist.
Check quality before you commit
A bad batch costs more when it comes by the ounce. Three quick checks catch most problems before you spend:
- Try it small first. Buy a gram or an eighth before committing to an ounce. Labels carry a lot number, so you can check that the bigger bag comes from the same lot.
- Read the dates. Health Canada's guide requires a packaging date on legal labels; an expiry date is optional and appears only if a stability period has been established. The older the packaging date, the longer the terpenes have had to fade.
- Look and smell. Grey mould forms grey-white masses of fungus and spores on infected plant tissue, according to NC State Extension. In one mouldy-cannabis recall, Health Canada warned that mould exposure can cause allergic symptoms such as sneezing, coughing and wheezing in some people, and told consumers to stop using the product. For other warning signs, see how to tell if weed has gone bad.
Storing a bulk buy
The storage research above points to a few simple habits:
- Keep buds whole. Ground flower lost terpenes faster than whole buds in the Frontiers study, so grind only what you are about to use.
- Keep it cool and dark. Storage at 25°C caused the biggest cannabinoid changes in that study; cooler storage did better.
- Skip the freezer. Temperatures below -20°C were among the worst conditions for keeping terpenes.
- Seal it and split it. Use airtight jars and keep a small jar for the week ahead, so the main supply is opened as rarely as possible.
- Keep moisture down. Grey mould grows best at 18 to 24°C in moist, humid conditions, so never seal flower that feels damp. Humidity targets are in the weed storage guide.
- Lock it up. Health Canada advises storing cannabis in a locked container, such as a safe or a cabinet with a childproof lock, especially if children are often in your home.
Know the possession limits
Federal law bars adults from carrying more than 30 g of dried cannabis, or the equivalent, in a public place (Cannabis Act, section 8), so most of a bulk buy has to stay at home. Quebec also caps what a private residence can hold at 150 g, however many adults live there (Gouvernement du Québec).
Buying bulk weed from GasDank
GasDank's regular ounces start from $50, and it sometimes runs $40 ounce specials, posted on the deals page. For bigger orders, see the bulk weed page. The menu carries lab-tested products.
Delivery is same day across Toronto and the GTA, usually within 1 to 2 hours, with mail order across Canada. One larger order can also clear the free-delivery line. In Toronto and Mississauga the minimum is $40 and delivery is free from $80 ($15 below that). In the outer GTA the minimum is $60 and delivery is free from $160 ($20 below that). Mail order has no minimum and ships free from $150 ($20 below that). Local orders are paid by cash on delivery or Interac e-Transfer, mail orders by Interac e-Transfer, and customers must be 19 or older (21 in Quebec), with ID checked at the door.
