Selling Goji Juice?

If you've already been researching goji juice a little, you probably came across a company called FreeLife. This is pretty much the largest company selling goji products, and not only sells goji juice itself, but makes much of its profits through an affiliate marketing network. We’ll go over FreeLife to begin with since it is the company most responsible for hyping up goji juice, and then we’ll go over some other options you might want to consider if you really want to sell goji products.

FreeLife almost resembles another company, the Morinda Company, who first hyped up the health drink noni juice. Although noni juice has been alleged by many to have no significant potentials for curing arthritis, high blood pressure or cancer (the claims by the company) the juice nonetheless is still marketed and sold as a cure-all health drink. After a settlement with several states in the US, the company is no longer allowed to make such health claims, but they still push it as a highly powerful health product.

Like Morinda, FreeLife uses a multi-level marketing network to sell its product, and thus, if you go to their site you will likely have been enticed to join this network to sell goji juice. Is it worth it? Is FreeLife just another Morinda, hyping up a product that really has no value? Well, not entirely. Although goji juice may be overpriced for the average consumer (as is noni), the company is careful not to make any unsubstantiated health claims about its product. Additionally, scientific studies with goji berries have indicated that the agents found in the berries have much more far-reaching potentials than some of the most promising compounds that have been isolated from noni. For example, polysaccharides found in goji berries have been proven to have significant effects on cancer regression and have been found to have anti-aging and neuroprotective properties. The berries also contain the compounds germanium and selenium, which are known to have health promoting and anti-cancer effects on the body.

But the question still remains: To sell goji or not to sell goji? At first glance, the literature explaining the marketing network at FreeLife seems quite complex. Why is this? Well, it appears to be designed to encourage a commitment for one thing. It forces you to commit a lot of time and effort to selling the product, otherwise you will make nothing, or even lose money. That’s right. You’ll notice that you are forced to buy a case of goji juice every month unless you are able to sell it. Furthermore, you only get paid on the cases you sell after that first case. I personally located and spoke with someone who is part of the network, and they notified me that they have no problem selling that first case, however, and generally they said they sell at least a couple of cases in addition to this. This person was in the natural healing business, however.

If you believe you are up to the task of gaining some exposure for your product and your new business, and you have the time to commit to the endeavor, it might be worth it for you. If, however, you are looking for a get rich scheme, this is not it. Like any form of honest money making, it requires work. You’ll have to build a loyal customer base and you’ll have to learn to market your product. This may involve advertising locally or using the Internet, or both. You’ll also make quite a lot more money if you are able to sign up other people to sell the product under you in the network. If you are able to do this you’ll make a percentage of what they make.

Personally, it is my hope that someday goji berries will be just as common in North America as blueberries, raspberries and grapes. This would be a huge benefit to our society in terms of nutrition and health. But until then, goji berries will remain a high-priced product in the functional foods industry, slowly decreasing in price as more and more people buy the juice and actual berries. Already we can see the prices coming down with the increased popularity. This includes prices on the juice, sold through the marketing network as well as through regular companies, and the berries.

This brings me to another issue. If you do want to sell goji juice, there may be another option besides FreeLife. You can now purchase the berries in bulk at wholesale prices from companies like GojiBerries.us. I have not yet found a bulk juice supplier, but if you’re interested in getting in on the goji action, you might want to explore the option of selling the dried berries in bulk. GojiBerries.us has informed me that they will be offering bulk juice buying in the future. Buying the dried berries at wholesale prices beats getting only a small percentage of the profits from selling the juice, in my opinion, but it also might be a little more complicated. In the end, however, you’ll have to check out your options and go with what fits your needs.