Considering buying the Wholesale Underground by Marvin Leonard? There's lots of buzz around this course, but what exactly is it? and is it worth buying?
This is my Wholesale Underground review, so stick with me and see what I think. The course currently costs $997 and aims to show you how to start, grow and scale your own wholesale business on Amazon.
What is Wholesale Underground?
The business model works by buying products from local distributors that sell brand name products under a wholesale agreement. You then list them on Amazon.
In theory it's a simple business model, however the margins can be tight, especially in competitive markets. Apparently you never see or touch the inventory either, which is very similar to dropshipping.
Marvin Leonard shows you how he goes from $0 to $10,000 in sales.
Who is Marvin Leonard?
Marvin claims to have made a lot of mistakes along his journey with Amazon wholesaling so decided to create this course to help others out.
He's a Youtuber who focuses on topics including Amazon FBA, entrepreneurship and online marketing. Currently as of today he has 5 thousand subscribers but most videos only have a few hundred views.
Most videos are informative and provide clear examples. He's been on Youtube for 2.5 years but has only amassed 200,000 views which is quite small.
Over on Instagram he claims to be a multi-6 figure Amazon seller, and there's a link to his free training, which is a webinar on how he quit his job and built a wildly profitable Amazon FBA business by selling brand name products.
The Wholesale Underground Review
The course is hosted on Teachable which means your videos look great on all devices including tablet, mobile and desktop. HD videos are available.
At the time of publishing there's 70ish videos in the course, that goes into a lot of detail. Additionally you get access to a private Facebook group to connect with other students. At the time of posting there was 190 members.
When I looked there was only 2 new members this week, 21 posts in the last month and zero activity for the last 2 days. The group started in February 2019.
The course is split up into 6 chapters or modules and offers around 10-15 videos in each. Videos are around 5-6 minutes on average with some much shorter, and some longer.
Chapter 1
This module looks at the process of getting started, setting up in business etc. It's important to know that International Sellers are really going to struggle with this business model. Most USA companies will not work with you, without a reseller ID.
It should be made clear on the sales page, but it's not. Red flag for me. Following on there is an introduction to Amazon FBA and operating your back office.
Chapter 2
This module is all about building your foundation, which according to Marvin is required or your empire will fall. You learn how to use the buy box, how to price products, know your competitors and listing your products.
Additionally you learn about the tools you need to use and how to read and interpret the graphs in the dashboard. Marvin recommends using AMZ Scout Pro and RevSeller, which are two tools you can checkout before purchasing the course as they have fees.
Learn how to order the right quantity of products, and how to know your inventory limits. You'll learn to do product checklists and working out the profit you will make.
Lastly in this long module (17 videos) you get two real life product research examples.
Hot Tip #1
This business model requires buying and holding stock, which is very risky, especially if you're a beginner. Wholesalers don't offer dropshipping, so you'll need to use a 3rd party fulfilment provider to pack your products and ship them to Amazon.
This shipping fee costs money that eats into your margins plus Amazon charge expensive fees to hold your stock after 6-12 months.
Chapter 3
This is the longest module in the course with 21 videos on everything you need to know about suppliers including authorized suppliers vs resellers.
You'll learn how to look into suppliers, ask the right questions and getting introduced to the world of supplier research.
You learn about using a tool called Helium which is used by most major Amazon sellers. Additionally use Google to find and research, as well as products to stay away from.
Marvin knows his stuff, a very informative aspect to the course.
Chapter 4
This module is all about relationships and building trust which can help you negotiate like a pro. Marvin gives you guidance on networking and turning a No into a Yes.
You will learn how to maintain contact and how to send the right type of emails to get a response. You'll also learn how to apply to ungate.
Chapter 5
Payments is the name of the game in this module of Wholesale Underground and you'll learn how to place and pay for your first wholesale order.
There's a guide on shipping using SPD shipments and how to create one. You'll also learn how to use a less than truckload shipment.
Here we get exposure to using a 3rd party prep company that can look after our stock and hold it for us to make our lives easier. Ultimately we are paying them to store it though.
Finally learn how to create bundled products and reconcile shipments.
Chapter 6
This module is the last module of the course and includes random videos on various topics such as expanding with multi-channel fulfilment, what to do if you make a bad purchase and how to create a website in under 6 minutes.
You will learn how to hire your first assistant and how to get his course for free by becoming an affiliate for the course. Lastly is advice on the personal mentoring.
There's four bonuses at the time of writing this article including:
- The Master of Money
- The Golden Snitch Method
- How to Ungate Yourself in Toys
- How to Ungate in Grocery and Gourmet.
Pros
- Marvin knows a lot about wholesaling and it's a good starter course
- You learn how to buy, connect with suppliers and use a 3PL center
- How to list on Amazon and use various tools
- How to start and setup your business
- How to build relationships and ungating.
Cons
- Very little product research or niche selection ideas
- Doesn't really tell you how to sell products properly
- Very expensive course given the content
- Lifetime mentorship costs an extra $300.
Verdict
Yes it's a good course if you have no idea how to buy wholesale and start an Amazon business, but Amazon is tricky and knowing what to sell is the hard part. You can lose a lot of money buying in bulk, which is why beginners prefer dropshipping as it's zero risk.
You need to store your products at Amazon and to bundle them together and get everything ready for Amazon requires a 3PL provider to help you. Shipping fees for all these services can dramatically affect your profit margin, which was not discussed in the course.
It's an expensive course given the other Amazon FBA courses out there but you do get mentorship from Marvin directly so this is definitely worth the extra money.
It's a tricky one to conclude, as if you wanted to do Amazon FBA there's plenty of other courses that offer a more rounded solution, but they might not go into the detail around wholesaling. I'll leave it up to you to decide.
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Last Updated on April 1, 2020 by Rhys Dale
Rhys is the owner and chief editor at Im Rhys and is living in Chisinau, Moldova. With over 15 years experience in eCommerce and Affiliate Marketing he has started many successful 6 and 7 figure businesses. After successes with USA and China dropshipping, he expanded into building 70+ micro affiliate websites in 30 different niches that generate money on autopilot. He now helps his wife to run her social media agency as well as travelling the world at every opportunity.