Cannabis Dispensary Delivery vs Pickup: Which Should You Choose?
Delivery wins on convenience, privacy, and large orders. Pickup wins on speed, selection, and no fees. Here is how to choose, plus costs and ID rules.
Why Delivery Minimums Exist
A delivery minimum is the smallest subtotal a shop will accept for an order that goes out on a car. It is not a delivery fee, and it is not the same thing as a free delivery threshold. Those three numbers cause more confusion than anything else in this category. I check the minimum first, then the fee, then the threshold that removes the fee.
Minimums pay for the trip. Fuel, insurance, a driver's hours, and in some states a second person in the vehicle. An $18 order does not cover any of that. Most licensed retailers set the floor somewhere between $20 and $50. Shops with a wide delivery radius or low order density often push it to $75 or $100.
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What Shapes the Number
Density matters most. A shop serving a compact city grid can afford a $25 minimum because one driver can stack several drops in an hour. A shop covering forty miles of suburbs cannot. That is why two dispensaries in the same metro can post minimums that differ by $50.
Local rules matter too. Some cities ban delivery outright, others cap the hours, and some require the driver to carry only product for orders already placed. Delivery is generally available to adults 21 and over. Medical patients sometimes get a lower minimum or a waived fee, so check the medical menu separately if you qualify.
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State purchase limits also apply to delivery the same way they apply in a store. If your state caps flower or concentrate per transaction, a bigger order will not get around it. Reaching the minimum is your problem, not the cap's.
How to Compare Shops Before You Commit
- Basis of the minimum: is it the pre-tax subtotal or the total after tax, fees, and tip? A $35 minimum against the total can be hit with a $25 cart, and a $35 minimum against the subtotal cannot.
- Delivery fee: flat, distance-based, or waived over a threshold. A $30 minimum with a $10 fee can cost more than a $50 minimum with free delivery.
- Radius and cutoff times: the shop that shows up in a "near me" search may still be outside your zone, and last orders often close well before the store does.
- Payment: most shops take cash or debit, and credit cards are rare because of federal banking rules. Ask whether the driver carries change.
- Promotions: some shops count discounted items toward the minimum, some exclude sale and clearance products. This detail is usually buried in the delivery FAQ.
- Verification: what ID is accepted, and whether a medical card changes your limit or minimum.
Common Pitfalls
- Padding a cart with a cheap pre-roll to clear the minimum and assuming the delivery fee disappears. It usually does not.
- Forgetting that taxes and the delivery fee can push a $38 order past a $40 minimum, or below it, depending on which side of the math the shop uses.
- Ordering ten minutes before the cutoff and losing the slot to order volume.
- Using an unlicensed delivery service that advertises on social media. Licensed shops publish a license number and a physical address, and they do not ask you to pay a stranger through a payment app before the order arrives.
- Giving a hotel, gated building, or buzzer-less apartment address without drop-off instructions. Drivers cannot stand around, and some will cancel.
- Expired ID. It is a hard stop, and no amount of explaining fixes it.
Before You Tap Order
Confirm four things: the minimum measured against the right subtotal, the delivery fee, the cutoff time, and your payment method. Then check that your stash plus the tip still lands near the budget you had in mind. Run that check once and the next order takes two minutes.