Data source: CannabisDealsUS Cannabis Price Index dataset. Dataset archive on Zenodo. Based on 576,681 listing-week rows across 13 weekly snapshots from July 6 through September 28, 2026; rows without a usable price contribute to catalog counts but not average prices. License: CC BY-NC 4.0.

Executive Summary

• The overall index held steady, while category averages diverged. The index rose 0.05% from the first to the final Q3 snapshot. The priced CBD average fell 11.7% and the Vaporizer average rose 9.9%, primarily alongside changes in which listings had a usable price.
• Promotions became more common, not deeper. Discount participation increased 1.36 percentage points, while average discount depth declined 2.71 percentage points.
• Continuing products were mostly stable. Among 27,471 priced products present at both endpoints, the matched-basket average slipped 0.04% and 97.5% kept the same price. Rolling Papers fell 4.66% and CBD for Pets rose 6.07% on their respective matched baskets.

Q3 2026 Key Statistics

• Index value: 103.73 (Jul 6) to 103.78 (Sep 28), up 0.05%
• Quarterly average effective price: $57.50
• Weekly average price range: $57.39 to $58.12
• Total listing-week rows: 576,681 across 13 snapshots
• Tracked catalog: 43,906 to 44,644 products, up 738 products or 1.7%
• Listings with a usable price: 27,471 to 39,322; price coverage changed substantially during the quarter
• Discount participation: 5.7% to 7.1%, up 1.36 percentage points
• Average discount depth among discounted listings: 36.0% to 33.3%, down 2.71 percentage points
• Priced products matched at both quarter endpoints: 27,471
• Matched products with no price change: 26,771, or 97.5%

1. Prices Barely Moved Across the Quarter

The quarter opened with an index reading of 103.73 and closed at 103.78. That 0.05% endpoint-to-endpoint increase is effectively flat at the precision of a broad online listing benchmark. Average effective price followed the same pattern, moving from $57.42 to $57.45. Category movements below were larger and sometimes pointed in opposite directions.

The only visible break in the otherwise narrow band occurred on July 27, when the average price reached $58.12 and the index touched 104.99. The move did not persist: one week later, the average returned to $57.53 and the index to 103.92. Without evidence of a sustained change, the July reading is best treated as a short-lived mix or listing effect rather than a new price regime.

2. The Matched-Product Check Confirms Stability

A changing catalog can move an average even when individual products do not change price. To test that risk, we compared products present in both the July 6 and September 28 snapshots.

Of 27,471 products with a usable price at both endpoints and within the published index scope, 26,771 held the same advertised price, 483 increased, and 217 decreased. The matched-basket average moved from $57.42 to $57.40, a decline of 0.04%, while the median product-level change was 0%. This check uses the same category exclusions and enriched subcategory scope as the published index.

That broad matched-basket result does not describe every category. The category comparisons below match products only when they remain in the same normalized category at both endpoints. They reveal where continuing products repriced and where the displayed average mainly changed because the priced population changed.

3. Category Detail Reveals Larger Swings

CBD’s priced-listing average fell 11.7%, while the Vaporizer average rose 9.9%. The matched-product baskets changed much less: CBD fell 1.15% and Vaporizers rose 0.19%. Price-bearing coverage expanded markedly during Q3, so the difference between each category’s displayed average and matched basket is essential to interpreting these moves.

Weekly averages reveal interim fluctuations that endpoint comparisons miss. Rolling Papers ranged from $32.90 to $38.04 during Q3, and THC Flower ranged from $81.67 to $102.22. These are changes in the average of listings with a usable price each week, not evidence that a typical continuing product changed by the same amount.

Main categories

Listed average is the cross-sectional average of priced listings. Matched basket follows the same priced products at both endpoints. Product counts in this table refer only to listings with a usable price. On narrow screens, scroll the tables sideways to see every column.

Individual product categories

All 23 normalized subcategories are shown. A dagger marks fewer than 100 priced products matched across the quarter. Large listed-average swings with little matched-basket movement mainly reflect changing priced coverage or product mix.

Source: CannabisDealsUS weekly product snapshots, July 6 and September 28, 2026. Same-product comparisons require a positive effective price at both endpoints and unchanged normalized category. Subcategory labels are normalized to the published CPI aggregation, including the two HTML spellings of Bongs & Water Pipes. Prices are advertised online listings, not transactions. ^†Small matched cohort.

In the subcategory detail, Rolling Papers fell 4.66% and CBD for Pets rose 6.07% among continuing priced products. By contrast, the higher average for CBD Creams and Vaporizers came mainly from a changed mix of priced listings. Very small categories, such as Lighters and Scales, can show large average shifts with no matched-product repricing; they should not be treated as market-wide signals.

The broad matched basket was nearly flat, but that aggregate hides category differences. Rolling Papers and CBD for Pets moved meaningfully among continuing products, while much of the headline category volatility came from changing price coverage.

Theo Valmis, CannabisDealsUS Cannabis Price Index

4. Discount Availability Rose as Markdown Depth Eased

The share of listings carrying an active discount increased from 5.7% at the start of Q3 to 7.1% at the end. The quarterly average was 6.7%, and participation peaked at 7.3% in early August and again in early September.

At the same time, average discount depth among discounted products declined from 36.0% to 33.3%. Read together, the two measures suggest a broader but slightly less aggressive promotional environment: more products were on sale, while the average markdown on those sale items was smaller.

This distinction matters because discount participation and discount depth answer different questions. Participation measures how widely promotions are distributed across the catalog. Depth measures the size of the markdown only among products identified as discounted.

5. Catalog Size Changed Little, but Price Coverage Changed a Lot

Tracked product count increased from 43,906 to 44,644 over the quarter, a gain of 738 products or 1.7%. Most of the growth occurred between late July and mid-August, after which the catalog remained close to 44,600 products.

More important for the price index, the number of listings with a usable effective price grew from 27,471 to 39,322. The average-price calculation omits rows without a price even though the published product count includes them. This change in price coverage helps explain why several category averages moved much more than their matched-product baskets. The matched comparison gives a more consistent view of price changes among products continuously measured during Q3.

6. What the Index Measures

The CannabisDealsUS Cannabis Price Index tracks relative changes in advertised online prices. Each weekly headline value compares the current average effective price with a fixed December 8, 2025 baseline average of $55.3577, assigned an index value of 100. Effective price is the listed sale price when a discount is present and the regular listed price otherwise.

The headline series is best read as an online listing benchmark. It is not transaction weighted and does not measure sales volume, revenue, consumer spending, taxes, shipping fees, loyalty discounts, or state-level dispensary prices. Its product count includes in-scope rows without a usable price, while average effective price excludes those rows. Changes in priced coverage and product mix can affect category and aggregate averages, which is why this report includes matched-product checks. The category tables normalize parent-category labels using the production aggregation mapping and combine the two HTML spellings of Bongs & Water Pipes. See the full Cannabis Price Index methodology for definitions and limitations.

What to Watch in Q4

• Whether discount participation remains near 7% or increases during holiday promotional periods
• Whether Rolling Papers and CBD for Pets continue to diverge on a matched-product basis
• Whether the priced-listing share stabilizes now that more catalog rows have usable prices
• Whether the headline index breaks out of the narrow 103.7 to 104.0 range that dominated August and September

How to Cite This Report

Explore More

• CannabisDealsUS Cannabis Price Index
• Price Index Methodology
• Weekly Cannabis Price Index Archive
• State of Cannabis Pricing: Q2 2026
• State of Cannabis Pricing: Q1 2026
• All CannabisDealsUS Reports

Last Updated on October 30, 2026 by Theo Valmis