We've scanned the internet to check the reputation of Private Label Masters is it a scam or is it legit? Is Tim Sanders the real deal or is he a fraud?
We've gone through his course and looked at his reputation over the last 4 years to give you the hard facts.
Why Some Think It's a Scam?
1. They Do Not List the Price of the Course
They make you schedule a call with their sales team without ever finding out about the price of the course. The cost of enrollment is $5000.
2. It's Expensive & Unclear Refund Policy
At $5000, it's one of the more expensive Amazon FBA coaching programs out there, and that raises some red flags for people.
Their refund policy is quite unclear as well:
3. Some negative reviews?
You can't please every customer. I found this review in their FB Group. Support is one thing to keep an eye out for. But our team only found this 1 complaint on the internet for Tim. We didn't see any on Reddit or Quora.
SUMMARY
Some people think everything is a scam. There is more to investing in a course than just getting video training. You also get direct access to Tim & other high level Amazon sellers that you can reach out to and ask questions anytime. The community aspect alone is immense advantage than someone trying to figure out all of this on their own. The problem is, some coaching programs do aggressive upselling of these "masterminds" where they charge $20K, $30K and use a lot of hype & FOMO to prey on the students' hopes and dreams. From all accounts, we do not see that type of practice from Tim Sanders.
If Tim is so successful, why is he teaching it?
A common question people ask. Why would Tim teach it to others and create competition for himself if he's already succeeding with Amazon FBA? It has to be a scam...
This is a scarcity mindset. There's more than enough to go around in Amazon for others to become successful.
There are some fake gurus out there that's never been successful in the business they're teaching but went into coaching for the money, because coaching is lucrative. Our team has verified that Tim's FBA business is real.
Being an entrepreneur is about diversifying income streams. Coaching is just another way to monetize a skill or knowledge. And some people enjoy the challenge of mentoring people, like my mentor Dan. Believe it or not, selling physical products on Amazon can get dull, so making an impact in people's lives might be more enjoyable for Tim.
3 Things We like about Tim Sanders
1. Transparency
Before you can even apply for their course, they let you know you will need an upfront capital of $8000 minimum to start an Amazon FBA business. Some gurus try to hide the fact that you need significant start up money for FBA saying you can get started with $3K which is unrealistic. We feel that having $10K to $15K is much more preferable, but I think Tim setting the expectation of having $8K MINIMUM is pretty fair.
2. Longevity
Tim has been coaching since 2018.
Although he's not as active on YouTube like other Amazon gurus, he's still decently active with 12 videos posted in 2021.
His videos are solid and have great feedback from the audience.
You can't be a scammer for this long and not have anyone expose you.
3. Tim is an active Amazon seller
In the above picture, Tim is showing that he is currently averaging 7 figure revenues every 30 days.
It's very important that gurus can show the sales they're getting today as opposed to what they did 5 years ago.
Anyone can get lucky once, but the real skill comes when you can sustain that success long-term. Tim clearly has that real skill.
Is Private Label Masters worth $5000? How does it compare with Free Courses?
Some people make the claim that gurus are scammers because they are selling information that you can get online for free.
Let me dispel that myth for you, because my team actually went through some of the top FREE Amazon FBA courses out there and made a clear comparison for you.
Category
Private Label Masters
Best Free Amazon Course
Length
15 hours, thorough
4.5 hours, only covers the basics
Community
private FB group of students that you can ask questions to
none
Live Mentorship
Tim provides once weekly live streams
none
FB strategies
Tim shares some great strategies of getting more reviews using FB ads, hacks
not covered
In life, you get what you pay for. $5000 in the grand scheme is not much when you're able to get support, community & updated training for life.
Every free course me and my team went through, we felt pale compared to the depth & advanced tactics covered by Tim Sanders in great detail.
Therefore, I do not endorse these free courses. They're usually a lead magnet to these course creator's actual paid course.
Private Label Masters vs. Amazing Selling Machine
I've been a long-term member of the famous Amazon Selling Machine (ASM) which is another high-ticket FBA program priced at $5000.
The major difference is that ASM has been around for much longer (since 2011) and has way more members, whereas Tim started his program in 2018.
However, more members don't always mean it's better, sometimes the programs with fewer students provide more one-on-one time with the head coach.
I liked Tim's approach for product research way more using Viral Launch, it's quick and efficient.
ASM uses MBS and the entire research process feels more drawn out.
Another thing I like about Tim's training is that he gets on camera and shares his screen often.
ASM guys are never on camera. They do share the screen sometimes but 80% of the training is them talking over slides like these.
I'm personally not a huge fan of slides. There are many parts of the ASM training where I wish they would just show us what they're talking about in real life, on the screen.
ASM is great for the community aspect because they've been around the longest and they have so many students.
However, I'm going to have to give the training edge to Tim Sanders. It was easier to get through and I liked the breakdown of the strategies more, especially the product research and Facebook ads to get more reviews section of the training.
People blame courses for their failures & call it a scam
Be careful where you get your advice, because often the ones spreading negative news are the ones that are upset because they tried something and failed. Most people never fully commit, they fail because they give up too easily.
Your Amazon FBA Success Rate depends on your ability to fail & learn from mistakes and be able to have the financial resources to keep going. Don't quit your day job to start FBA, you need that steady source of income to invest into this business for a while. Until the business fully gets off the ground, which can take 1.5 to 2 years.
Just having 1 profitable product is not enough & not advisable to quit your day job.
Under estimating the initial investment and failing to reinvest back into the business is one of the main reasons for Amazon FBA failures.
20% of all FBA sellers made $100,000 in profit or more. Amazon is growing in its use-base exponentially each year. With the right mentorship, there's no reason you can't succeed.
The biggest issue I see is that, there's a lot of gurus out there promising people that Amazon FBA is easy and doesn't cost much to start. This creates false expectations that lead many new sellers to fail because they're not properly prepared.
Why Some Courses are Actual Scams? (or should raise red flag?)
I actually know quite a few fake gurus out there in the local lead generation business. These people never succeeded with the actual business, so they copied the course material from a legit course and try to sell it, the problem with these people is that they can't speak from experience so the actual ongoing support and mentorship is very poor to non-existent.
Tim Sanders checks out.
Conclusion
After much due diligence, my team has concluded that Tim Sanders is the real deal, not a scammer. Not just your typical FBA coach, but one of the higher tier ones because he's currently operating an 8-figure business, does live mentorship in his program & displays consistency of coaching since 2018.
Private Label Masters is definitely not a scam.
You can read our full Private Label Masters Review for an in-depth run-down & comparison against other FBA courses, pros & cons, and even learn about the few places where I felt the course may have felt short.
All-in-all, Tim's Private Label Masters made it on our Best Amazon FBA Course list of 2022.
Kudos Tim. And keep it up.
My Online Business Portfolio in 2024
Amazon FBA: $15K NET per month (After 50% split with a partner)
Local Lead Generation: $52K NET per month
Amazon FBA is a great business model but like all businesses it has its challenges, particularly how competitive it's becoming as more big brands & suppliers began selling on FBA themselves 2-3 years ago.
Another business model I've had a lot of success with is local lead generation. It's simple and less competitive. It might be a better fit for some people.
Click here to learn all about it: Local Lead Generation vs. Amazon FBA
I joined PLM in 2020. Tim Sanders is a legit course however because of their advise I lost and made serious mistakes. Losing my entire savings of $35,000. Its super high risk and I just would not recommend it.