Are you ready to open up your own online coffee store and need to know where to buy coffee beans to sell in your store? Fortunately, there are some great options for sourcing your beans.
Becoming your own coffee roaster is ideal but it does come with start-up costs that may be out of reach when starting out.
However, you can still open up your own online coffee business by sourcing coffee beans from other expert roasters.
Let’s explore some of the options that are available.
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Where to Buy Coffee Beans to Sell
When exploring options for where to buy coffee beans to sell, there are three good options that you can consider. They include:
- finding local coffee roasters
- private label coffee
- private label & dropshipping
Of course, no matter which option you go with, it is essential that you provide fresh coffee beans to your customers and offer excellent customer service.
Finding Local Coffee Roasters
Sourcing from local coffee roaster is ideal as you can get the freshest roasted coffee possible to sell in your store. First, you will need to visit local roasters and inquire about buying beans wholesale.
Many coffee roasters do sell beans wholesale. The benefit to sourcing locally is that you can get your beans fresh and possibly set up an arrangement for how much and how often you will reorder.
Keep in mind that you will be selling beans by other coffee roasters which means you’ll be selling their brand. Don’t be discouraged if you want to still focus on building your own brand.
You can focus on selling local coffee from your area in your store. For example, if you are based in Los Angeles, then your niche could be selling the best coffee beans roasted in LA.
One way to sell coffee beans under your own brand is by private labeling which I discuss below.
Private Label Coffee Roasters
When you private label coffee, you are selling another roaster’s beans under your own brand. That means their beans will be in your packaging. If you provide your own branded coffee bags and/or labels, they will be used during packaging.
Similar to the above, if you can find local coffee roasters that also do private labeling, you’ll have access to the freshest beans to ship to your customers.
However, if you cannot find local roasters that do private labeling, you’ll be glad to know that there are plenty of private label roasters online.
It may still take a bit of research on your part to find a supplier that you like. You’ll have to sample the products and make a decision.
However, they can ship the beans to you using the fastest shipping method. In the beginning, you’ll have to do a bit of trial and error to learn how much coffee you need to store relevant to the amount of sales you make.
You’ll still want to offer a variety of beans so be prepared to budget for it. Even at wholesale pricing, it may cost you several hundred dollars to stock your store.
- Balanced, full-bodied medium roast with a smooth finish
- One 32-ounce bag of whole bean coffee
- 100% Arabica coffee grown in Colombia
- Roasted and packed in the U.S.A.
- Shown as a serving suggestion
- Satisfaction Guarantee: We’re proud of our products. If you aren’t satisfied, we’ll refund you for any reason within a year of purchase. 1-877-485-0385
- An Amazon br
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Private Label & Dropshipping
For many new coffee sellers, private label and dropshipping is an ideal solution for figuring out where to buy coffee beans to sell.
Dropshipping coffee can save a lot of upfront costs on sourcing beans. The reason is that you do not have to buy beans wholesale.
You only need to order beans from your supplier when a customer places an order in your store. Then your supplier will package the beans using your branded bags or labels and ship them to your customer for you.
There are some pros and cons to private label dropshipping coffee. Consider the following:
Pros of Dropshipping Coffee
- No buying beans or storing beans
- There is nothing to package or ship
- Save a lot of money on overhead costs
Cons of Dropshipping Coffee
- Some suppliers charge dropshipping fees
- You may not get wholesale pricing
- You’re relying on the supplier to ship your coffee on time
For the most part, it is a great alternative to buying coffee beans wholesale. Another thing to keep in mind is that some private label dropshipping coffee roasters may require you to create your own roast.
Most will help you with figuring that out. It may be a matter of choosing the origin of your beans and the type of roast you want (light, medium, dark, etc.)
Setting Up Your Online Store
If you are ready to open up your online store, you’ll be glad to know that it is one of the easiest things you can do.
Thanks to shopping cart platforms like Shopify, anyone can have their store up and running in a matter of minutes.
The basic Shopify plan starts at $29 per month and you can get started today using their 14-day free trial.
There are other eCommerce solutions out there but I’ve found Shopify to be one of the easiest platforms to use.
They have their own payment gateway included but you can also integrate PayPal and Stripe for processing your payments.
Branding and Marketing Your Coffee Store
Starting a coffee business begins with creating your own brand. This is particularly important if you want to start a private label coffee business.
You should likely already have an idea of who you want to sell to. Knowing this will also provide you with some brainstorming ideas for choosing a company name.
Once you have these hashed out, you can have a logo created as well as have your bags and labels designed.
If you’re on a budget, you can have a logo designed for a good price on Fiverr. If you want a more professional logo and have a bit more money to spend, you can choose 99designs.
You’ll want to use your logo on all of your social media accounts, online store, packaging, business cards, stationery, etc. Therefore, it is important that you are happy with it.
Marketing Your Online Store
Thankfully, there are many ways to market your business for free. Social media platforms make it easy to get your company name out there.
Three platforms you should consider the most are YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest. If you are not camera-shy, you can generate free traffic to your store fairly quickly by creating YouTube videos.
Instagram has tons of coffee lovers so it is beneficial to post photos often of your coffee, making your coffee, etc. Use popular coffee hashtags to gain likes and followers.
Pinterest can also do wonders for your business. Post coffee drink recipes and link back to your online store or blog.
Closing Thoughts On Where to Buy Coffee Beans to Sell
I’m sure this post has given you some things to think about when it comes to figuring out where to buy coffee beans to sell in your online store.
It will take a bit of research on your part but the more research that you do, the more that you will learn about the options that are out there.
When you’re ready to open your online store, test out the Shopify platform. It is one of the most popular shopping cart platforms online.
