Seeing some online shops have the feature of price per gram added to the tea products , asking myself a question , how important is that?
I understand if comparing 2 similar tea in different sizes ( where the smaller pressed version comes more expensive because the pressing and packing fees are higher for 1kg ) but if you have like 50 different cakes, tuos, longzhu , bricks shaped puerh made of X different material, locations , age, brand ( blends / single orgin ) ..etc.
How do you navigate that you are getting some good deal based on $/g ?
I've never heard / seen in China talking about price per gram unless talk goes around ultra expensive BD or LBZ . And even that , we would joke about it the way that 1 cup would cost you that much or one gaiwan..etc. not the gram.
importance of $/g ?
I think it's mainly a Western market thing too. In Norway it's mandatory for certainly goods that prices are stated not only per purchasing unit (box, bag etc) but also per kg. The stores selling the good have to display this, so that the stressed shopper doesn't get tricked that easily by "shrinkflation" tendencies.
I think it's a nice service of vendors to display a kind of "unified measure price" such as cost per gram, though it certainly won't affect who I choose to buy from.
Price per gram typically only matters to me for the daily drinker office stuff, "口粮茶" that I know I will consume around X grams of per day. And of course, what's a "good deal" or not will depend much more on other factors than just the price.
I think it's a nice service of vendors to display a kind of "unified measure price" such as cost per gram, though it certainly won't affect who I choose to buy from.
Price per gram typically only matters to me for the daily drinker office stuff, "口粮茶" that I know I will consume around X grams of per day. And of course, what's a "good deal" or not will depend much more on other factors than just the price.
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Ethan Kurland
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I & a considerable amount of other consumers (I assume) want and/or need to consider how much specific teas cost for a cup or a session. Knowledge of price per gram makes it easy to calculate the cost of drinking various teas. In the long run, thinking of price-per-gram has helped me to enjoy drinking tea & helped me to find a lot of excellent tea that I can afford (& I think avoid some expensive bad tea). (As a vendor I try to give a good idea of how many infusions one gets from specific teas because that also is important in considering value.)
On the other hand: The use of bottled water adds significantly to the cost of tea sessions and/or the use of thousands of dollars of teaware whose use some feel is necessary for their enjoyment of tea, might make worrying about the cost of leaves seem petty. (While even expensive waters' cost could be significantly < the cost of excellent tea leaves for a session, if one is using teaware that costs a few hundred dollars for each session & has an accident once a year, there is more $ spent per session on things other than leaves
. The cost of special kettles etc. can be great (& even heating a cheap stove top kettle cost $). Why bother to worry about whether leaves for a session cost half a dollar or a few dollars?
On the other hand: The use of bottled water adds significantly to the cost of tea sessions and/or the use of thousands of dollars of teaware whose use some feel is necessary for their enjoyment of tea, might make worrying about the cost of leaves seem petty. (While even expensive waters' cost could be significantly < the cost of excellent tea leaves for a session, if one is using teaware that costs a few hundred dollars for each session & has an accident once a year, there is more $ spent per session on things other than leaves
. The cost of special kettles etc. can be great (& even heating a cheap stove top kettle cost $). Why bother to worry about whether leaves for a session cost half a dollar or a few dollars?Stating the price per gram helps Western consumers understand how much they're paying for a session. I'm sure breaking it down this way might allow newer puerh drinkers to justify buying a $150 or $200 cake, considering the number of sessions they'll get out of it. 
I love chasing expensive tea, but the reality is that I can't afford to drink it every day. Being able to find some high-quality gaoshan and hongcha under $0.50/g lets me have the best of both worlds: good daily drinkers and luxury indulgences.
I love chasing expensive tea, but the reality is that I can't afford to drink it every day. Being able to find some high-quality gaoshan and hongcha under $0.50/g lets me have the best of both worlds: good daily drinkers and luxury indulgences.
Me, as a consumer with a big excel with notes for my teas, write the price per 100g for each tea. And when I check a site I always make the mathematics in my head to get the price for 100g. It helps me categorize the tea in my own head if I consider it cheap, medium, expensive etc. Then I check the description/ photos/ reviews etc and decide if it's worth a try or a full purchase. Often I take a sample 25/50 g and try it and then decide if the tea is worth its money and after it if I want more. Many times I consider that it's worth the money, but not for me. It is good quality ( from technical point of View) but I don't like/want it. Or I like it but not for it's money etc. Price per gram is confusing for me )) i work with 100g packages in my head.
)) i work with 100g packages in my head.It is interesting , because I've never seen wine drinkers doing the same . Like recalculating the $/ml if bottle is differnt than "regular" size. Maybe because most of the wine sell is done offline ? Or wine enthusiasts not counting the cups but considering many other factors ? Sure alcohocis do have their calculator 
Thank you all for exlaining the purpose . Sure it is something I probably need to consider put on our wesite. Unfortuantelly there is not module doing that , so I have to do all manually and not sure can cover all tea ( especially loose leaf which has different prices on different amounts ) .
Thank you all for exlaining the purpose . Sure it is something I probably need to consider put on our wesite. Unfortuantelly there is not module doing that , so I have to do all manually and not sure can cover all tea ( especially loose leaf which has different prices on different amounts ) .
For wine, my working/mathematical package is a 0.75 bottle))). It is easier. I rarely buy small or magnum size. Since tea comes in different shapes and sizes my ,, universal,, measure cup is price per 100g ))) . But yes, you are right from the point of view that different teas are used in different amounts for 1 session/cup/thermos etc.
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Ethan Kurland
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Assume your customers are willing to think. Break down to price per gram for one size (perhaps the most common size for your teas or the size that sells the most for a particular tea & don't price per gram for all sizes. Most of us are comfortable paying slightly more per gram for small sizes & don't need to know exactly how much per gram of packs that don't cost much.
(I know someone w/ great academic credentials in science who gets about ten samples from Upton tea whenever he orders. Upton's samples can be a lot more expensive per gram, but he never cares about that price per gram because he loves trying many teas, even though the least expensive in some categories all taste quite the same. When he does buy large amounts of a tea, it is usually un-sampled teas from Harney & Sons.
) Charging a lot per gram for tiny samples may be sensible for vendors, although I don't like tiny samples. It is not enough tea to find the parameters that work best for an individual drinker's palate.
Last edited by Ethan Kurland on Wed Feb 28, 2024 1:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I feel that people pursuing wine as a hobby need to have a lot more disposable income than us tea drinkers, so they may not care as much about price. However, many people can judge what's a good-value bottle for them and how long it might last once they open it.
I don't think you necessarily need to include cents per gram if it will take you a lot of work. Buyers can usually calculate this on their own and are used to paying slightly more for small samples.
I don't think you necessarily need to include cents per gram if it will take you a lot of work. Buyers can usually calculate this on their own and are used to paying slightly more for small samples.
Price-per-gram helps for commodity pricing. This is based on the assumption that every gram of the substance is equivalent to every other gram, sort of like calculating the price-per-gram of silver.
This is a bit odd for tea because not all grams of tea are the same. They taste different, have different caffeine contents, and require different preparation methods. However, this sort of baseline practice is common in some circles because people are used to it when determining cost of other things.
With pu'er, I think there are two reasons, both understandable, but one mistaken.
First, people use price-per-gram to comparison shop between vendors selling cakes from the same producer of the same age. However, this is a mistake, as storage conditions play a big role in how a tea will taste, so just because it is from the same batch of tea doesn't mean it will taste the same.
Second, people use price-per-gram to understand tea-fads. If they see that the price-per-gram on a particular tea is moving up, regardless of how it is stored, then they know this tea has trending popularity. This may make it a bad value for personal consumption, but a good purchase as a gift, as others will be more likely to recognize what they are getting. This also works in reverse -- if the price-per-gram is going down, maybe the tea has developed a bad reputation. This would make it a poor choice for a gift, but might make it a good value for personal consumption, provided that the taste of the sample was good.
This is a bit odd for tea because not all grams of tea are the same. They taste different, have different caffeine contents, and require different preparation methods. However, this sort of baseline practice is common in some circles because people are used to it when determining cost of other things.
With pu'er, I think there are two reasons, both understandable, but one mistaken.
First, people use price-per-gram to comparison shop between vendors selling cakes from the same producer of the same age. However, this is a mistake, as storage conditions play a big role in how a tea will taste, so just because it is from the same batch of tea doesn't mean it will taste the same.
Second, people use price-per-gram to understand tea-fads. If they see that the price-per-gram on a particular tea is moving up, regardless of how it is stored, then they know this tea has trending popularity. This may make it a bad value for personal consumption, but a good purchase as a gift, as others will be more likely to recognize what they are getting. This also works in reverse -- if the price-per-gram is going down, maybe the tea has developed a bad reputation. This would make it a poor choice for a gift, but might make it a good value for personal consumption, provided that the taste of the sample was good.
I don't usually plug the numbers into a calculator but I do eyeball them and estimate dollars per gram, especially when the price first looks good and then I look and realize that it's for a smaller than usual quantity.
how much I'm willing to pay per gram depends a lot on the specific tea, how much I like that style of tea in general, how much experience and trust I have with that style of tea from that particular vendor, and whether I've had that specific tea before.
And I definitely pay attention to how many times I'm likely to infuse it.
how much I'm willing to pay per gram depends a lot on the specific tea, how much I like that style of tea in general, how much experience and trust I have with that style of tea from that particular vendor, and whether I've had that specific tea before.
And I definitely pay attention to how many times I'm likely to infuse it.