Should You Visit A Headshop To Purchase Kratom?

Jemi Fischbach

• December 20, 2020

If you have ever been to a head shop, you know they sell many different items. Kratom is sometimes for sale at these stores, and it tends to be a place where people hear of Kratom for the first time.

While you may be tempted to purchase from one of these stores, they often sell an array of items, which means they do not specialize in Kratom. A better alternative to buying Kratom from a head shop is buying Kratom from an online retailer.

Understanding A Head Shop

Head shops are places most famously known for selling cannabis paraphernalia. You can buy bongs, pipes, rolling papers, as well as cannabis-related clothing, keychains, and other trinkets. These stores do not explicitly state that their items are meant for use with cannabis products; instead, they are advertised for tobacco use. Despite this, almost all customers know that the products are meant for cannabis.

Along with cannabis paraphernalia, there will also be tobacco products like cigarettes, loose tobacco, shisha, hookahs, and sometimes they will even sell incense, CBD, and Kratom. As these stores do not specialize in any one product, their prices can often be relatively high, especially for items that do not sell quickly. While some smaller pipes that sell like hotcakes might be cheap, a slower selling product like Kratom is bound to be listed for a hefty price.

These shops often pay a high price for their retail space, so they need to raise the prices on items that do not sell quickly. Depending on the shop owner, the Kratom they have in stock may have been chosen for the packaging aesthetic or a deal they received rather than the Kratom’s quality.

Expired Products

While there is no expiry date for paraphernalia like bongs and pipes, natural products like Kratom and CBD have expiry dates. If the Kratom in stock is not purchased within three months, its potency can significantly decrease, and it can become stale, especially if it has been stored out in the open on a store shelf.

With these products selling slowly, they are much more likely to be old. So either you will be purchasing an older product, or you will be paying a high price for it because the store owner has had to throw out previous stock that expired and is trying to make up for their losses.

As expired products are not going to provide you with adequate potency for your research purposes, it is best to avoid head shops when purchasing Kratom. While they can be great for checking out novelty items, you can’t guarantee fresh products.

They Pay For Expensive Overhead Costs

As mentioned above, a head shop’s retail space will undoubtedly cost them a large fraction of their monthly expenses. As they need to keep up with these costs while also trying to increase profits, they will price their items accordingly. Any products taking up shelf space and not selling quickly will be placed in a higher price bracket.

Most head shop store owners know that people stumble into their space out of curiosity. People want to peruse the delicate glassware and check out the quirky items that might be for sale. As customers tend to visit for the experience rather than the quality of the items, you can never be too sure if their products are useful or just visually appealing.

Buy Your Kratom Online

Visiting a head shop for curiosity’s sake is a great way to pass some time and check out some exciting novelty items, but you should not visit one if you are serious about purchasing Kratom.

An online retailer is a far superior choice. There are four main benefits of buying online, outlined below.

1. More Products: Head shops tend to have only a few, if not one type of Kratom available. On the other hand, online retailers will sell capsules, extract, powders, and various Kratom strains, giving you plenty more options.
2. Lower Overhead: Unlike head shops that pay inflated costs for premium retail space, online retailers only pay for less expensive warehouses. These savings mean they won’t jack up their prices.
3. Freshness Guaranteed: Online retailers are in the business of selling Kratom. They have partnerships with farmers and ensure that any product they sell to a customer is as fresh as possible. These products sell quicker, which means they don’t have stock sitting around for months before shipping to customers.
4. Consistent Product: You can trust that the product will be high-quality every time buying from an online Kratom retailer. If you love a product, they will no doubt have it in stock for you again.

Buying Online Is The Better Choice

While you may be allured by the eccentric colors and fine glassware at a head shop, they do not specialize in Kratom products. You can’t guarantee their product will be fresh and their prices will be inflated.

Online retailers often have practices that ensure their product is fresh, their farmers are adequately compensated, and everything is contamination free. Online retailers are the better choice for buying Kratom.