Also, if you get wet feeling buds, DO NOT put them in a jar, as they will mold even if there wasn't mold on them to begin with. If you end up with wet buds, take it back to the dispensary before smoking it and ask for a different strain. If you are past the point of no return or simply really want to keep that particular sample, allow it to dry out for 1-2 days until the stems snap and then put it in a Mason jar if you want to cure it a bit.

And yeah, the clamor over ambers is a lot of nothing really. I tend to like my meds with 10-15% ambers because it seems to round out the high on most strains... nice mix of head and CBD-heavy body stones. However, some are better early, sometimes the ambers make it very tough to smoke because you'll fall asleep, etc. A knowledgeable grower should have his/her strains "dialed in" to the point where they know that an early/mid/late harvest will produce the best results.

Seeing nothing but clear is the one time I really question the motives... in those cases, they were most likely just trying to get the product out the door rather than striving for quality... That, or there was some other issue like mold, pests, hermies, etc. that caused them to want to harvest earlier than normal.