<< i've been meaning to ask this: why do all the fireworks stands advertise "buy 1 get 5 free" or even up to 12 free? what's the deal? >>
They make so much profit on individual items, they can afford to give stuff away. I'm not kidding when I say the markup is crazy high, 500% and up.
I have a general idea what stuff runs wholesale, what does a gross of regular bottle rockets cost at a stand? I think wholesale, they're $1-2 for a gross.
The m80's you get at the stand, are not real m80s. I haven't seen real m80s for sale in YEARS, I did find some when cleaning out the attic one day. Even got found some silver tube salutes, which are mildly loud as well.
I remember stopping at a fireworks stand in Indiana about 10 years ago and buying some cherry bomb lookalikes that the guy said were as loud as m80s. I think it was $5 for 5 or something. I pulled one apart, and it was a firecracker (maybe a little larger) surrounded by that clay material cherry bombs are usually made of.