I have had several requests from readers asking me if I had a chance to go through the latest product released by Jessica Larrew.  In the past couple of days I have gone through all of the information and will be sharing a review in today’s post.

The product is titled Online Sourcing Strategies: A Video Course for Amazon Sellers by Jessica Larrew and Matt Carlett.  This product consists of 14 separate videos that in total are around 2 hours of footage, a couple of downloadable files, and many links to websites that they are using to help them source online.  Each video is about a separate topic related to sourcing online.  Both Jessica and Matt are full time FBA sellers and both do a significant portion of their sourcing for inventory online.

A little background about my online sourcing experience before I get into the review.  In the month of March I spent about $3,500 in products purchased online to resell, which represents almost 30% of my total spending on inventory for the month.  The amount I have been spending on inventory purchased online has been about 20-30% of my total spending on inventory since I started full-time back in September.  So, I wouldn’t consider myself an expert at online sourcing, but I am far from a beginner as well. Keep my experience level in mind as I go through this review.

Online Sourcing Strategies – Review

The first video discusses some of the perceived pitfalls of selling online and a brief discussion of why it works.  One important thing to note is that Matt is generally looking for a minimum return on investment of 50% when sourcing online.  This is not to say that you can’t get 100% returns when sourcing online, it’s just that he is willing to go down to 50% returns since there is less work involved as the products are shipped directly to your door. After this video there is a downloadable PDF that includes some recent products that Jessica and Matt have sold successfully that were sourced online.

The next 4 videos go over tools that Matt and Jessica are using to help them source online and how to install and properly use each one.  Prior to going through the videos I was already using 3 of these 4 services, but the one that I was not using has already (in the 24 hours since going through the course) helped me to identify 2 different products that I have purchased that I should be able to sell for a decent profit.  These 4 videos go through step by step how to use each tool.  This is pretty basic info if you have already used them, but if you have not used them before then they are great.  So in my case I found 1 of the 4 videos to be very helpful, and the other 3 to be re-emphasizing what I already knew.  This may not be the case though if you have not sourced online before.

The next 4 videos go over some tips and tricks of online sourcing, and goes over Matt’s strategies for purchasing products from both amazon and eBay to resell on amazon.  There are some good strategies in these videos for finding products to purchase, particularly on eBay and amazon, to resell.  I spent over $1,500 on purchases from eBay and amazon last month alone for products to resell, so I knew much of this information, but this video covers several of the strategies that I am using, and I can attest to the fact that they are profitable strategies.

The 10th video covers 5 websites that often share deals that have resale potential.  Prior to watching the videos I was aware of all 5 of these websites, but I was not utilizing them in the manner that Matt discusses.  All 5 of the sites do help to locate deals, and I have purchased items for resale from 3 of the 5 sites shared (prior to going through the course).

Next, there is a downloadable excel file that shows how Jessica and Matt keep track of their online orders.  My current system of keeping track of all of my online orders is pretty lackluster, so I am definitely going to try out the file they are using.

The next 2 videos discuss ways to lower your cost of goods through cash back sites and per the sales page “Jessica’s favorite way to save extra cash on your finds, and where to look for these special savings.”  I won’t give away what this method is as it’s not stated on the sales page, but it’s something that I have not been utilizing properly when I source online.  I was previously aware of some of the sites mentioned in these 2 videos, but not all of them, and the new information learned will allow me to save a significant amount at certain stores that I purchase from regularly.

The last 2 videos discuss ways to outsource the entire process of online sourcing from finding items to sell, to actually processing the products to send into FBA.  I have not utilized any of what is discussed in these last 2 videos to this point in my business, but it’s definitely some food for thought, and I will likely be trying out these strategies in the future.

That covers the course, so what does this course cost and what are my overall thoughts?

This course is fairly expensive with a price tag of $57.  is it worth it?

Personally, I felt like about 70-75% of this was information that I had already learned from my own experiences sourcing online.  The remaining 25-30% that I learned will definitely help me earn significantly more than the $57 price tag in the coming months.  The 2 main things I learned that will help me to do this are: a free tool that helps me to identify items to resell, and a great way to lower my cost of goods (I was aware of something similar, but not the particular resource I learned of which is better).

I think this course is tailored more to someone who is just getting started with online sourcing.  If you have minimal experience sourcing online, then I think this course would be great to help you find all of the tools that you need to source online and gives you an idea of how to identify deals.

I am 100% confident that the new information I learned in through this course will allow me to earn many times over the $57 it cost.  With that said, I still walk away wishing it would have a slightly lower price tag.  I think the reason for that is that most of what is shared in the course are ways to use free resources.  I suppose I wish I could have found them myself without going through the course.

I am a fan of ridiculous analogies, so here’s how I look at it.  Let’s say you want to try out the Paleo Diet and are looking for the best recipes for meals to make.  Here are the 2 most likely options as I see them:

Option #1: you search through free recipes online from various websites and pick 14 recipes for your meals for the next 2 weeks.   You go to the store to buy the ingredients, prepare all of the food, eat the food, and then clean up the mess you made cooking the food.

Option #2: you decide to buy a Paleo Diet cookbook from one of the top cookbook authors related to the Paleo Diet, one with a customer review rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars based on 842 customer reviews (book actually exists).  You go through the same process of buying, preparing, eating, and cleaning up as in option #1.

So, it seems like you go through the same basic steps in both options, but let’s look a little deeper.  In option #1, I am willing to bet that of the 14 recipes you picked from free resources online several of these meals did not turn out very well.  Leaving your cooking skills aside, this is likely due to having several recipes that just weren’t very high quality.  In these several meals (let’s say 3 or 4) that weren’t very high quality the time you spent buying the ingredients, preparing the food, eating the food (because you have to eat it if you made it, even if it’s not good), and cleaning up, the time spent going through this process is essentially wasted (yes it was a learning experience, but could it have been avoided?) since the result was not desirable.

Now, let’s say you choose option #2 and select 14 recipes that look good from this top Paleo cookbook that you purchased.  I am not going to claim that you won’t end up with any low quality meals from going through this cookbook, but I am willing to bet that it would be less, let’s say 1 or 2, compared to the 3 or 4 picking from the free online recipes.  In option #2 less time is wasted because fewer undesirable outcomes were reached.  The main reason for having more desirable outcomes in option #2 compared to option #1 is due to the fact that you purchased tried and true recipes from an expert in the Paleo Food recipe business.  By spending some money up front you are able to save yourself from wasting time trying out recipes that just aren’t very good.  So is it worth buying the proven cookbook to avoid some undesirable experiences? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that for you.

When you really boil  it down (pun intended), the Online Sourcing Strategies videos are Jessica and Matt’s tried and true recipes for sourcing online successfully.  In the videos they are laying out what they have learned about sourcing online in a way that others can learn from and replicate.  They have gone through the bumps and bruises of learning online sourcing by sorting through all of the various resources out there, and now they are sharing their successful strategies so that anyone who purchases the course can accelerate their success sourcing products online.

While I would have liked to see it come in at a slightly lower price tag, I don’t think it is very likely that you would go through this entire course and not increase your profits by many times the cost of the course.  With that said, I don’t think this course is absolutely necessary for success sourcing online.  You could definitely learn many of these strategies through trial and error, it just depends on if you would rather go through trying yourself, or paying to see methods other successful sellers use.

If you are interested in purchasing this course, HERE is a link to the product detail page.  In the interest of full disclosure this is an affiliate link and if you purchase through it I will earn a commission.  The price is exactly the same using this link, and if you choose to purchase through the affiliate link, I truly thank you.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.