Whether it’s door-to-door service or curbside pickup, recreational reefer is just a click away!! But before you proceed to checkout on just any ole site, you should know which online pot peddlers can be trusted and which can’t. After all, there are a lot of shady Mail Order Marijuana (MOM) operations posing as legit dispensaries, and you need to protect yourself from getting ripped off with substandard product. You also need to safeguard your financial information – and the best way to do that is to only buy through a licensed local shop with a reputation for customer service. But how can you tell the difference between a legit and illegit weed website? Read on.
1 Legal Head Shops Have Professional Looking Websites
A legal cannabis dispensary with an ecommerce component will want a site that properly showcases its merchandise with working links, decent graphic design and a homepage that says, “we take pride in what we do.” Conversely, fly-by-night setups are more likely to hawk illegal pot on makeshift sites with typo-riddled product descriptions, shoddy graphics and counterintuitive navigation.
2 Authorized Vendors Only Offer Safe Payment Methods
When it comes to the checkout process, a legit site should only request payment via credit card, debit, PayPal or any other major trusted payment system. If it the site wants you settle up via e-transfer or cryptocurrency, run for the hill.
3 Licensed Dispensaries Are Diligent About Age Verification
Online headshops in BC are required by law to verify every user’s age upfront. If there’s no pop-up window asking your age, that should raise some serious red flags. Chances are you’re dealing with a rogue reefer retailer.
4 Sanctioned Retailers Sell Safe Certified Products
All herb sold in legal cannabis shops is sealed with an excise stamp. This ensures your sweet leaf is produced according to the highest of standards and free of other substances. It also ensures THC levels are accurately labelled. Before completing your transaction, look for this stamp.
1 Illicit Pot Peddlers Make Dodgy Delivery Promises
“Sure, we can deliver anywhere in Canada.” Wrong! If a ganja provider is promising to mail your pot purchase out of province, then you’re dealing with an unauthorized dealer. BC has fairly strict rules about this. You’re better off with a trusted, licensed shop that knows the law.
2 Bootleg Operations Typically List Suspiciously Low Prices
If it seems too good to be true, then it probably it is. Prohibited pot dealers online tend to undercut legit businesses. So yes, you can get it cheaper, but at what cost? You don’t know what you’re getting and who you’re getting it from.
3 Unauthorized Weed Webstores Have Untraceable Contact Info
A legit weed shop should have an email address associated with the business website – not a personal Hotmail account. And if someone from the shop returns your call with a text, you’re more than likely dealing with an illegal operation.
4 Bogus Boutiques Generally Don’t Have Clearly Stated Policies
We’re all guilty of checking the little box before actually reading the terms of agreements on most sites. But it’s always good practice when buying pot online to, at the very least, make sure the site has a legible return and privacy policy.
