If you want to learn how to start selling coffee online, this post can provide you with the basic information that you need. There are quite a few ways that you can begin selling coffee online.
Coffee can be sold online by buying beans wholesale and reselling them, private labeling, dropshipping, or affiliate marketing. You can also join a direct selling (network marketing) coffee company and become an independent distributor.
The great thing about coffee is that it is loved by millions of people. That means that you have a big opportunity for making income regardless of which method you choose to sell.
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How to Start Selling Coffee – Five Ways
Most people can’t get their day started without their first cup of coffee. Coffee drinkers are serious about their coffee. Check any Starbucks drive-thru first thing in the morning and you’ll know what I mean.
There are also coffee drinkers that prefer to brew their own coffee at home. Some may use a standard drip coffee maker, coffee press, or even a pour over.
No matter the method, they need coffee beans to get the job done and that is where you have the opportunity to make money selling your favorite beverage.
I’m going to outline some of the ways in which you can get started selling coffee online. Some methods may resonate with you more than others.
1. Wholesale Coffee
This is the most costly option as you would need to buy your coffee from a coffee wholesale supplier. Doing so means buying your coffee in bulk to get it at the lowest price possible.
Many wholesale suppliers will require you to have a reseller’s license before you can order products. You can check with your city on how to obtain a reseller’s license.
Once you have your supply, you can then sell it in your own online shop (or physical storefront). You can open an eCommerce store using an online shopping cart service like Shopify.
As you receive orders, you pack and ship them out to your customer yourself. It is the most common way to sell online but you will need some start-up cash to buy your products and set up your store.
You can find wholesale coffee distributors easily with a quick Google search. If you need help choosing one, make a list of wholesalers and contact each for a sample.
Even better, find local suppliers and visit them in person. Then you can form relationships and find your ideal wholesale coffee suppliers.
This method of selling coffee online gives you the most control as you have direct access to your product. It will require providing customer service in the form of refunds, returns, complaints, questions, and concerns.
2. Private Label Coffee
Do you want to build your own coffee brand but do not have the know-how or start-up money to roast your own beans? You can locate private label coffee roasters.
Essentially, you can find a private label coffee roaster that will let you sell their beans under your own brand. Each private label roaster will have their own requirements and fees.
Some may charge a one-time set-up fee, others will have a minimum order requirement, and some will require you to supply your own labels and bags.
However, private labeling is the perfect opportunity to build your own brand. The key is to find a supplier that supplies the beans that you like.
It is important to know what the end product will taste like as that is what you will be selling to your customers.
3. Dropshipping Coffee
This method is similar to private labeling in that some private label coffee roasters will also do order fulfillment.
Meaning, you can sell another roaster’s beans under your brand and they will dropship your orders to your customers for you.
Dropshipping saves a lot of time and money. You do not have to buy any products in bulk and you won’t have to pack and ship orders out.
Your main job is to market your store to your target audience via social media, blogging, or paid advertising.
As you receive orders, you pass them along to your dropshipping supplier inputting your customer’s shipping address.
The dropshipping supplier then ships out the product to your customer for you using your bags, labels, and any other marketing material (brochures, business cards, etc.)
Do keep in mind that even though your dropshipping suppliers ship out your products for you, you will still be responsible for any customer service issues that arise.
Refunds, questions, concerns, and complaints will be directed towards you. Provide excellent customer service and it will minimize issues.
4. Affiliate Marketing
This is one of the easiest ways to make money online selling coffee. It is one of my favorite ways to make money with a website.
Affiliate marketing is the promotion of another company’s products in exchange for a commission when a sale is made.
You don’t need buy coffee in bulk, you don’t need to private label or dropship. In fact, you can recommend any coffee brand that you want as long as you are part of their affiliate program.
Affiliate programs are free to join and offer different commission rates. You can get anywhere from 5% to 20% commissions or more depending on the company.
When you apply to an affiliate program, you are provided with special tracking links called affiliate links. You place these links within your website content.
Every time a visitor clicks one of your affiliate links and buys something from the merchant’s website, you receive credit for the commission.
There is never anything to ship and no customer service issues to deal with. It is the easiest and lowest cost way to make money selling coffee.
I began making consistent income online thanks to step-by-step training that I followed. That training taught me how to build a niche website and make money promoting affiliate products.
Most affiliate programs pay out commissions that you earn on a monthly basis via PayPal, check, or direct deposit.
5. Network Marketing
Another option for selling coffee online is to join a network marketing company and sell their products as an independent distributor.
One such coffee network marketing company is Organo. You make money based on a compensation plan.
That means selling the products directly to others as well as building your own network of independent distributors under you.
The difficult part about network marketing is that most people make very little. It is challenging to convince others to join your downline and begin selling the same products.
In most cases, network marketers end up putting more money into the company than what they make.
Most network marketing companies require hundreds of dollars up front to get started, plus monthly costs to reorder products.
It is not impossible to do but I consider network marketing the most difficult method of making money selling coffee.
My Closing Thoughts On How to Start Selling Coffee Online
I hope this post has helped you learn some ways on how to start selling coffee online.
If you do not have a lot of start-up cash to buy wholesale coffee, private labeling, dropshipping, or affiliate marketing are the lowest cost options to choose from.
Regardless of which method you choose, there is plenty of room to begin making money online. It will require your hard work and consistent effort but it is well worth it in the long run.
