Grocery Goldmine Book Review

UPDATE 6/2/2014: Within the past 2 weeks amazon has begun requiring sellers to obtain approval before being allowed to sell in the grocery category.  You can find out more information about what is need to apply here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=14113001

I would recommend that you seek this approval prior to purchasing this eBook, as this eBook does not cover how to obtain this approval as the approval was not required at the time it was published.

Here is the original post:

In today’s post I will be doing a review of a new ebook related to selling groceries on amazon that has been published within the last couple of weeks.  This book was written by Jessica Larrew and Beth Maus, 2 very experienced amazon sellers, and is about selling groceries on amazon.  I will be going over what’s included in the book, what I thought of it, and what I learned from the book.

Let’s start off with my experience level with selling groceries on amazon.  I have been selling groceries on amazon for the past 5 months, so I am not a complete beginner, but by no means do I feel like I am an expert on the topic.  Here is a screenshot of my sales from only the grocery category on amazon from November 1st through February 23rd: 


grocery sales - 11-1 to 2-23

As you can see I have sold a little over $13K in groceries during this time period, so I feel that I definitely know the basics of selling groceries on amazon.

So let’s get into the book.  Here is a screenshot of the table of contents that is also available on Jessica’s website:

Table of contents
Source: www.jessicalarrew.com

As you can see, this book covers many facets of selling groceries on amazon, and just reading the table of contents may give you some new ideas for selling groceries on amazon.

Thoughts and Learnings

I am going to break down the book into 2 chunks for purposes of providing a review.  Sections 1 through 15, and sections 15 through 26.

Sections 1 through 15 provide a great introduction into the world of selling groceries on amazon.  It really starts at square one and goes through the basics of what you need to think about when selling groceries, and where you can find deals to resell.  I personally felt that I knew the majority of this information from selling the 700 grocery items that I have thus far, but it was definitely great to see their perspectives, as they are  more experienced and have sold more grocery products than I have. Sections 8, 9, and 13 all did provide some new insight that I hadn’t previously considered.  The techniques discussed for price matching and rain checks will definitely be something that I put into my arsenal when sourcing groceries.   In section 13, they discuss how to decipher “lot codes” which I have not encountered to this point, but I now have a resource to go to should I encounter them in the future.

Sections 16 through 25 really get into some more advanced tips and strategies to use when selling groceries.  In the first section of the book (1-15), I felt like I was picking up a few tips that I could use here and there, but the second part (16-25) really got into some strategies that I have not used very extensively, and some that I was not even aware of.   In particular, the book discusses bringing new items to market, and strategies for bundling.  Both bundling and creating new items on amazon are not something that I have done much of, and after reading this book I am very excited to try out these new strategies.  The second half of the book is where I really found a lot of new information that I should be able to fairly easily add to my business.

One other aspect that is great about this book is that there are “assignments” at the end of most of the sections .  These are suggested activities that you should do to help you learn the material that was discussed in each section, and I think these will be extremely beneficial for learning the techniques.  I will definitely be doing the “assignments” from sections 16-25 to help me improve my grocery selling abilities.

This book is full of real world examples, and you can tell the authors really know their stuff.  They include examples of items they have sold (a couple of the products shown, I have even sold) and are really good about explaining the “why” behind their purchasing decisions.

I think there is something to learn in this book for just about everyone, particularly beginner and intermediate level grocery sellers.  I would imagine advanced grocery sellers could learn some new tricks and tips as well, but I can’t say for certain as I am far from an advanced grocery seller.  This book does have a fairly hefty price tag at $69, but it’s full of good information and could literally get you started from no grocery sales to becoming a significant portion of your business in a short amount of time.

By no means do I think purchasing this guide is essential to your success in selling groceries on amazon.  You could definitely learn through trial and error and scanning many items in the grocery store to find things that will be profitable.  This may be the best route for some people.  I do believe buying this guide will fast track your success selling groceries on amazon, and allow you to avoid some costly mistakes.  In my opinion, part of the reason the authors priced this guide at this price point, is that they are essentially giving a blueprint to what they are doing in selling groceries, and as a result are inviting competition, and need to be compensated for the time they spent through trial and error learning the ropes.

My personal viewpoint when there is an opportunity to learn from someone who has been successful doing something that I want to do, to take that opportunity.  I continue to invest in myself through education to make sure I am constantly improving in my life.  I think you will easily find $69 in value from reading this guide, should you choose to purchase it.  If you break it down,  you only need to sell 14 grocery items at a profit of $5 each to break even on this book, which I am confident this book will lead you to do very quickly.

If you don’t think you are quite ready for this type of invest, you can check out my post from January with a few free tips to get started selling groceries on amazon..

If you think this book would be helpful for your business, I will provide some links shortly.  My goal with this review is to provide my personal opinion of this book in a non-biased manner, I truly believe that the vast majority of people will easily find it worth the price tag, and recoup this investment many times over from the knowledge gained.  If for any reason you do not find it to be worth it, Jessica and Beth offer a 100% money back guarantee should you not be completely satisfied.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will be including an affiliate link to the book.  Should you choose to click this link I will receive a commission if you purchase this book.  Should you choose this option, I truly thank you, and this will help me to continue putting out free information through this blog.  HERE is the book.

If you have any questions regarding this book or grocery selling in general that I can answer, please leave a comment below.

19 thoughts on “Grocery Goldmine Book Review”

  1. It sounds so difficult to get approval to sell groceries on amazon. I wish I had started months ago. I don’t think I can afford 700-800 items to get started either. I hate to buy her book if it hasn’t been updated. Am I able to sell on ebay without restrictions and just build up my inventory? Would you tell me your website so I can see your inventory? Oh, BTW you did an excellent review. Oh, one other thing, I am retired,living on disability and will be no threat to anyone. I would just like to make a few extra dollars a month so I can afford to buy a plane ticket to go see my little grandchildren in Virginia. Thank you!

  2. Pingback: » Grocery Goldmine by Jessica Larrew and Beth MausOnline Selling Reviews

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  4. Ryan,

    I am trying to choose between the Online Sourcing video course and the Grocery Goldmine. I am pulled towards the latter but can’t ignore the promise of sourcing without having to leave your home! My question: I am seeing a lot of articles on dominating the ‘buy box’ on Amazon as FBA sellers and so on (I am clueless about this, btw). Do either of these courses address these factors? Does the Grocery Goldmine give tips and strategies on how to improve/boost sales on Amazon for someone entering this niche for the first time? Thanks for your help!

    Regards,
    Carol

    1. Hi Carol,

      The tips included in Grocery Goldmine are all about being successful in the grocery category. It gives ideas of what types of products to look for and include many other tips of how to be successful as well. It doesn’t specifically address how to improve/boost sales, but at the same time the entire book is about how to succeed in the grocery category. So in a sense, the entire book is about how to improve/boost your sales in the grocery category.

      If you are deciding between Grocery Goldmine and Online Sourcing Strategies, my personal opinion would be that Grocery Goldmine would most likely be a good place to start. The reason for that is because it gets you started in a focused niche, while the Online Sourcing course is information applicable to just about any category. I am thinking that having a slightly more focused product might be better since you are just starting out. With that said, I think there is a lot that can be learned from either product. Let me know if you have further questions.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

      1. Thanks again for the quick response. You confirmed what I was thinking would be a good starting point 🙂

        I have a question that may sound silly. Since you have experience selling in the grocery niche, I hope you will be able to answer it. Is it legal to buy stuff from local retail stores and sell them online for a higher price? For instance, some stores says they don’t sell their products in bulk or wholesale and that they are strictly for individual sale. If I walked into a store and bought 20-40 identical items, will I be questioned at the counter?! If yes, how do I respond? lol

        Regards,

        Carol

        1. You are very welcome!

          That is not a silly question, and yes it is legal to buy items from a store and resell at a higher price. This is essentially what every retail store is doing, they buy something at a lower price from a source, and then resell it for a higher price to their customers. Personally, I have never seen an instance where a store had posted that items were only for individual use and not for resale, but if I saw one of these signs I would likely ignore it.

          It is possible that you will be questioned about why you are buying so many of the same item. You are under no obligation to answer, but some reasons I have used are: it’s such a great deal, I am buying for a friend that lives out of the state and can’t get these, I am a personal shopper, it’s my favorite flavor, or I can’t find these anywhere so I am stocking up. Most often if you are asked the cashier/manager will propose a solution, such as “you must really like this flavor…” and you can just say Yes and that’s it. Being honest and saying you are reselling could be an option as well, but in general I try to disclose as little information as possible, and sometimes have a little fun by making a joke or saying I am buying a bunch for some ridiculous reason. Hope that helps!

          Best Regards,
          Ryan

  5. This is a very good review. I heard about Jessica on the Smart Passive Income podcast and asked a question with no answer over facebook. I wanted to get a feel for what her content was like. You gave me that. I really appreciate it.

    1. Hey Jake,

      Glad to hear you found it helpful! Feel free to reach out if you ever have any questions in the future.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  6. Ryan,

    Wondering if you have bought the new videos – Online Sourcing Strategies by Matt Carlett & Jessica Larrew? If so, please share your thoughts.

    Thanks,

    Lei

    1. Hi Lei,

      So far I have not, I have am considering it but won’t have time to go through them in the next few days at least. I will be sure to provide an update if I do end up purchasing the videos.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  7. Thanks for the review Ryan as I just got turned on to the whole FBA business by listening to Pat Flynn’s podcast w/ Jessica and Cliff. Her site led me to yours and I really enjoy your honest takes and your growth as you start out.

    Keep up the good work!

    1. Thank you Bob! Glad to hear you found my site, feel free to reach out if there is anything I can do to help.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  8. Thanks for such a thorough review! I love to read reviews and see how my guides benefit other people. It’s great to know that even as someone who has been successfully selling groceries you were able to glean a lot of good information! Our goal was to provide useful information for both beginners and established sellers!

    Thanks again!

    1. You are very welcome, and thank you for providing all the info you do in the book! I definitely learned a lot of tips that I will be able to apply, and am really excited to see the results.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

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