Can you make money selling coffee online? Considering just about everyone drinks coffee every day of their lives, plus the fact that it is a $100 BILLION industry, my immediate answer is an astounding YES.
However, just like any other commodity, product or business model, you must do your due diligence. More importantly, you must decide how YOU and YOUR PRODUCT will be different from everything else in the marketplace. That will be the biggest factor in your success (or failure).
Put some serious thought into the question you see below or you will fail.
How will my coffee product, service or business be different from everyone else in the marketplace? In other words, why should people do business with me?
Why Sell Coffee?
Here are some reasons you should consider selling coffee.
- It is the second most popular drink in the world, right behind water.
- More than 450 BILLION cups of coffee are served each year.
- In the United States, approximately 450 million cups of coffee are served each day.
- Approximately 64 percent of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee each day.
- It is a CONSUMABLE product, which means it gets used up and has to be reordered frequently.
- It is a commodity item, something most people THINK they can’t live without. This means they will keep buying coffee, even if money gets tight.
- Certain gourmet coffee has great markups and high profit margins (just ask Starbuck’s).
The reasons to sell coffee online are (1) you can tap into a global audience and (2) you can potentially lower your overhead costs by doing everything online and (3) you can do something different or better than your competition.
10 Ways to Make Money Selling Coffee Online
Before I share these different ways to make money online selling coffee, you need to know this upfront. You basically have two options. You could (1) sell your own coffee that you manufacture or (2) sell someone else’s coffee in exchange for a commission. As you can see below, there are several ways to use either of these approaches.
# 1: Your Own Website
Your first option to make money selling coffee online is to start your own blog or website. You could build a coffee themed website where you educate people about coffee. On your blog, you could review different coffees, promote different coffee affiliate programs or even sell your own brand of coffee.
You could create hundreds, even thousands of pieces of content online that bring people to your website. And, you could generate multiple streams of income selling a variety of coffee related products.
Some people call this infopreneuring. If this idea appeals to you, I highly suggest you check out Wealthy Affiliate. They can teach you how to do this.
A successful website does three things:
It attracts the right kinds of visitors.
Guides them to the main services or product you offer.
Collect Contact details for future ongoing relation.
# 2: YouTube Videos
Similar to having your own website, you could make money selling coffee online by creating your own “coffee themed” YouTube channel. This is my favorite strategy on this list, because I believe it is the easiest, requires the least amount of money and has the shortest learning curve. You could do video reviews of different coffees, coffee makers, coffee merchandise, etc.
Basically, you could be a coffee connoisseur. As long as your videos are educational and entertaining, and you create new videos frequently, you could build up a loyal following of subscribers, which could lead to a very nice income.
Lilly Singh, also known as SuperWoman on YouTube, has built a community of more than 9 million subscribers. Singh is a stand-up comedian and motivational speaker who is using the platform to sell pre-order sales of her book, How To Be A Baws. Through comedy, strategic placements, and entertainment, Lily Singh is becoming one of the most popular and successful YouTube stars selling directly from the platform.
Source: Selz
# 3: Podcasting
Podcasting is awesome, especially if you like to teach, but you don’t want to be in front of a camera. Think of a podcast like an online “talk radio show”. On each episode, you could talk about a different coffee related subject to educate your audience. You could sell advertising, sell your own coffee, promote coffee affiliate programs, etc.
I’ve done over 700 episodes of my own podcast. Although it is not coffee related, it has helped me build a large following and customer base. Podcasting works.
A podcast gives you an arena to show your expertise and passion for your niche. Your enthusiasm and speaking prowess also adds an authoritative air to the topic, something that the written word cannot express. And coming out with regular podcasts that have sound information and good ideas helps establish you and your brand as market leaders.
Source: WebProNews
# 4: Amazon FBA
You should definitely consider Fulfillment by Amazon. If you have your own coffee brand, you could ship it to Amazon and let them sell it for you. Although they will take a percentage of your sales, the real beauty of doing this is that you can tap into their HUGE customer base. You wouldn’t need to worry about “finding customers.” Amazon would do that for you.
I have several friends who make six figure incomes with Amazon FBA. Yes, it does require some upfront capital and knowledge, but if you are patient and willing to figure things out, or hire someone to help you, I believe this strategy could be the most profitable strategy on this list.
Amazon FBA stands for fulfillment-by-Amazon. It is a service Amazon offers to help sellers store inventory, pick, pack, and ship inventory in their fulfillment center network. Furthermore, this is all for a very small cost. In fact, the actual cost to store and ship items through Amazon’s FBA network tends to be much less than the cost to ship a product yourself since Amazon has extremely low shipment rates.
Additionally, all of the products which you sell through Amazon FBA come with the Prime badge. That means that your products get all the advantages of Prime, including 2-3 day shipping, higher conversion rates, and a better chance of being seen on the product pages.
Source: Jungle Scout
# 5: Private Label Your Own Coffee Product
You could find a company that allows other companies to private label their coffee. You could come up with your own coffee brand name, and have the company manufacture it for you, and just stick your label on it. Thousands of companies private label their products from other manufacturing companies. This is one of the quickest ways to launch your own coffee product. Once you do this, you could sell your coffee online using any of the strategies on this page.
Private label brands were a silver lining for millions of Americans during the recession as they sought lower prices and greater value. Despite economic improvement, consumers’ newfound appreciation for private label products has remained steadfast as they discovered that many private label brands offered a surprisingly high quality of product and packaging to the point where they rivaled national brands.
Source: Packaged Facts
# 6: Network Marketing
You could sell coffee online as a network marketer. I am a network marketer who builds his business 100% online, so I know this method works. You could find a MLM Coffee Company to join, or a network marketing company that offers coffee products, as well as other items.
You could then go about building your business on social media, YouTube, email marketing, your blog, etc. The one reason I like this idea a lot is that you can get a ton of leverage. You can earn overrides and commissions off hundreds, even thousands of people’s sales, not just your own sales.
If you’d like to learn more about the network marketing company I work with, feel free to check out this link.
Gaining new customers is only half of the objective in direct sales. To create a life-changing residual income, distributors must promote products and opportunities that create loyal customers who habitually purchase products. “Coffee is one of the very few truly residual products out there,” Mike Marumoto, Director of Field Relations for Gano Excel International, says. “It is a product that eight out of 10 Americans use. If they buy yours, they will continue to do so, and you will continue to get paid.”
Source: Direct Selling News
# 7: Affiliate Marketer
Another option you have is to be an affiliate marketer. You could find several high end coffees with their own affiliate program and promote those products. You wouldn’t have to worry about manufacturing your own coffee, trademarking names, shipping, processing payments, customer service or anything else. You would just promote your affiliate links and let the parent company take care of everything else for you.
As physical retail stores become less relevant, brands are turning their attention toward the future of advertising. Millennials especially trust influencer opinions, and affiliate programs give influencers of all calibers the chance to form mutually beneficial relationships with the brands they support. At this point, affiliate marketing is responsible for 16 percent of all online orders — only 4 percent short of the performance of paid search ads.
Source: Inc.
# 8: Coffee Subscription Service
You could create a unique monthly subscription service selling coffee online. For example, for a set price you could do a coffee of the month. People could pay a monthly membership fee and what you would do is put together monthly packages that get shipped out to people on an ongoing basis. I believe this could be very popular and profitable, especially if you could find a variety of specialty coffees to choose from.
Subscription box website visits alone have skyrocketed from just over 700,000 in 2013 to 21.4 million in 2016––a 3,000 percent increase.
Source: shorr
# 9: Drop Shipping
You could make money selling coffee online doing drop shipping. You have several options. You could create your own coffee product and drop ship it for other people or companies. Or, you could sell other people’s coffee and let them drop ship it for you. Either way, it’s a win-win.
Today 33% of ecommerce stores use dropshipping as a fulfillment method, and with the ecommerce industry growing at a 17% clip annually, dropshipping’s popularity is only expected to increase.
Source: fundera
# 10: Local Coffee Business
You could start your own coffee shop or coffee business where you live, but focus on GROWING YOUR BUSINESS through the internet. This is a viable option because you can access local customers AND leverage the internet at the same time.
Opening a coffee shop can be extremely profitable. Pass by any busy specialty coffee shop and it will likely be full of customers enjoying coffee, espresso, lattés, teas and a variety of pastries and other goodies. Serving quality coffees and snacks in a trendy, relaxing atmosphere is a hugely successful business model pioneered by Starbucks, which has grown to over 25,000 coffeehouse locations around the world.
Source: the balance small business
Check Out This Coffee Product
Before you leave, I highly suggest you check out this awesome coffee. It’s infused with CBD and is extremely popular. You can buy individual sachets, so you can try them out and see if you like it. If you’d like to learn more about the business, check out this link.
Final Thoughts
There you have it folks. This is my answer to the question: can you make money selling coffee online? The bottom line is that coffee is a very popular product with high demand. If you plan on selling coffee online it’s vital that you find a way to be different, and stand out in the crowd.
I hope you found this information helpful. What was your biggest takeaway from the article? Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.
Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.