Wealth Assistants is an automation company by Ryan Carroll that offers done-for-you Amazon and Shopify dropshipping stores with automation services. The company offers various packages and also offers financing options for credit required to purchase products. Wealth Assistants even comes with a guarantee that if you don't recoup your initial investment from within a year of the first sale, they will waive their annual fee and scale your business until you hit $10K/month income. We'll cover all details in this Wealth Assistants review.
Dropshipping is not a sustainable, passive income business model that you can do on your own. You need a team in order to automate the processes and scale them. Ecommerce automation services can help you do that, but at a high cost and with a profit split.
If you don't have access to large amounts of capital and are looking for a passive income business model that you can do on your own, check out local lead generation. It's a business you can start with very little capital. It works by creating and ranking your site on Google, which you then rent out to local businesses. It's a type of digital real estate, and you are the landlord who collects the predictable monthly rent. You only need to repeat the process in order to scale.
Are Automated Dropshipping Services Legit?
Done-for-you automated dropshipping services are legit. It is difficult to get multiple seller accounts on Amazon, so some companies offer automation services for a share of the profits as a way to scale their business. Many people believe that done-for-you ecommerce stores and automation services are scams because these companies charge exorbitant fees and the client bears all the risk.
The automation company can earn a healthy share with a successful store, yet the company loses nothing if it does not perform well. Many automation companies use dropshipping methods that are against marketplace policies because they are easier, cheaper, and faster. The largest marketplace, Amazon, is very strict with dropshipping and suspends hundreds of accounts daily.
To make people even more skeptical, many companies make you sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that legally prevents you from talking negatively about them. This behavior can make people wonder whether automated Amazon FBA is a pyramid scheme or scam.
Ecommerce is a long-term business. Many automation services also oversell the "get-rich-quick" scheme to get clients. While you can start having cash flow immediately, a new dropshipping store will take time to grow successfully.
How Does Wealth Assistants Do Amazon Dropshipping Differently?
One of the biggest pros of Wealth Assistants is that they operate within Amazon's policies. Most other companies have the supplier ship it directly to the customer, which can get your account banned. Ryan calls his business model a dropshipping-Amazon FBA hybrid.
Wealth Assistants owns and operates its own warehouse in Southern California. All chosen products are shipped to this warehouse for quality check and photographed for the listings. The products are then repackaged and shipped out to Amazon, who will handle the fulfillment. While the item is in transit, the listings will already be live on Amazon Prime.
Pros and Cons of Wealth Assistants
Pros
Ryan and other members of his team are very knowledgeable with dropshipping on Amazon and Shopify.
Done-for-you ecommerce store with a team to run all the day-to-day operations for you.
They operate within Amazon's dropshipping policies.
They have a great money-back guarantee, though it's still too early to tell if they will fulfill the guarantee.
Cons
The course over hypes the potential income. Dropshipping has low profit margins. Wealth Assistants claim they include all Amazon fees in the product price, but that would reduce the chance of winning the buy box.
The success of your business entirely depends on the performance of their team.
Apart from the expensive service fees, you will need access to a lot of capital to fund your business.
Price
The price depends on the service and package that you choose, which can cost anywhere from $35K to $200K.
Refund Policy
Money-back / buy-back guarantee if they cannot meet quotas. Amazon automation comes with a 12-month guarantee, while Shopify automation comes with a 24-month guarantee.
Origin
September 2021.
Reputation
Ryan and his company have been featured in many publications since mid-2022. There isn't any more information regarding him or the company, as it appears they only started operations in April 2022, and there are no customer reviews outside of the official website.
Who Is Ryan Carroll?
Ryan Carroll is an ecommerce entrepreneur from Miami, Florida. Originally from Southern California and working as a real estate agent, he developed a passion for ecommerce after meeting mentor Fred Lam in 2016. He founded his automation service company, Wealth Assistants. in 2021.
From 2016 to 2017, Ryan invested in real estate and worked as a real estate agent. Towards the end of 2016, he founded his ecommerce company, Carroll Holdings, after being mentored by Fred Lam.
Ryan was awarded the ClickFunnels 2 comma award in October 2022. He already has a following of over 30,000 on his Instagram.
Who Is Wealth Assistants Automation Services For?
The Amazon and Shopify automation services by Wealth Assistants are for people who have access to large amounts of capital but have little time to run their own business. Price range depends on the profit split, meaning the more you invest, the higher the long-term potential returns.
Amazon Marketplace Management
The goal of this service is to create and fully manage your Amazon store to reach their goal of:
They also make sure you know that this is not 100% hands-off. There will be a few things you need to handle on your end at the start and as needed. You will need to work with the Wealth Assistants team to get your account set up and apply for your new business entity, seller's permit, and tax exemption. You will also be responsible for the business's yearly income tax.
Lastly, you also have to secure your capital to fund the purchase of products (Wealth Assistance has a credit team that can help you get 0% interest credit cards with $50-$150K limits).
What Do You Get With Amazon Marketplace Management?
After the onboarding process, the team handles 5 aspects of your business. These are:
Sourcing top selling brand name products from their network of vendors at wholesale pricing. Products are sold with a 20%-25% markup.
Items are quality checked and professionally photographed at the Wealth Advisors warehouse in Southern California before being shipped to the Amazon FBA North Carolina main hub. Products will take 2-3 days to ship to Amazon and will be pre-sold before they even ship out of the Wealth Advisors warehouse.
Creating high converting optimized product listings. Your products will be sold on Amazon Prime.
Dealing with customer support and reviews to ensure your store has good ratings and performs well.
Regular updates on your store's performance by the management team. After the Amazon probation that can last up to 90 days, the team will begin scaling your business to reach the target.
Initial Costs and Recurring Fees
The initial onetime fee will depend on which profit split you choose. In addition, there is a $2,500/year recurring renewal fee, as well as the option to purchase a lower profit split. It can take 6-8 weeks for your store to be setup and go live.
Pre-existing Amazon store acquisition
You have the option of buying pre-existing Amazon stores that already have a good history of selling on the platform. These accounts are least likely to get suspended or reviewed and can sell exclusive brands that are barred from new seller accounts. You can earn faster as you skip the whole probationary period, and you can get same-day to weekly payouts from Amazon.
There is also a recurring renewal fee of $2,500/year + the option to buy into a lower profit split. Transferring ownership and sourcing products typically takes 8-10 weeks.
Guarantee
In case you do not recoup your initial investment back within 1 year from your first sale, you will have two choices based on the signed agreement.
- Have Wealth Assistants buy the store from you at the price difference of what you didn't make back.
- Wealth Assistants will waive the yearly renewal fee and continue to scale your business for free until you hit the $10K/month target.
Shopify Brand Management
Wealth Assistants' Shopify automation is more high end and is for those who have a lot of capital. The goal of this service is to create and fully manage your Shopify store to reach a ROI of 60%. You are expected to reach the target of:
Like their Amazon automation service, this is not 100% hands-free. You still need to be involved in creating your store and taking care of credit and working capital responsibilities. The onboarding process will take 1-3 months.
What Do You Get With Shopify Brand Management?
The service starts in 2 phases:
- Month 1 - Onboarding process, during which you will secure funding and set up the foundations of your Shopify store.
- Month 2 - The team will work on sourcing the products and checking the quality. They will also set up social media accounts for your store. Lastly, they will work on your accounting setup.
- Month 3 - The team will setup collaborations with influencers. They will also run organic testing and launch advertisements.
It is during this phase that you can expect your first $10K/month in revenue. To find your flagship product, the team will qualify and test one new product per week for one month.They will also implement email and SMS marketing and Google Shopping retargeting campaigns to get repeat purchases and build brand loyalty.
The team will optimize your product page. They will also set up cross-sells and upsells to increase the average order value.
After the testing phase, the Wealth Assistants team will also create organic viral content on popular social media platforms, as well as run paid marketing ads. Your business is expected to have a cash flow of $100K/month within a year.
Initial Costs and Recurring Fees
Unlike their Amazon automation service packages, they have only one offering for Shopify automation. After the first 90 days, there will be a $1500/month operating expense to be taken out of the total revenue.
If you want to invest more, you can also purchase multiple stores.
In addition, there is a 2.9% + 30¢ Shopify payment processing fee per product sold. Once you earn back your $200K investment, there will be a recurring renewal fee of $5,000/year.
Guarantee
Wealth Assistants gives 3 guarantees for this high cost investment.
- If you do not recoup your initial investment in 24 months, the company will pay you the difference.
- If your net profit does not reach $400K by the 36 month, they will pay you the difference.
- You also have the choice of liquidating your store at anytime for the price of your initial investment minus your net earnings and a 20% early out fee.
Are Clients of Wealth Assistants Successful?
Since this is a long-term business model and the company is fairly new, I couldn't find any client success stories yet. There is 1 verified review on Trustpilot and it looks promising:
There are also several comments from people who looked into them on a Reddit thread:
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Wealth Assistants does have an affiliate program, so take the reviews you see with a grain of salt. They pay $3K for each Amazon referral and $5K for each Shopify store referral.
Are Done-For-You Automated Dropshipping Stores Worth It In 2024?
Ecommerce is a booming industry and is expected to grow to 23.6% of all sales by 2025 in the United States alone. If you are willing and can afford the high prices of automation services, it could definitely be worth it. However, you should at least be aware of the risks and disadvantages of a dropshipping business.
While dropshipping is more forgivable on customizable marketplaces like Shopify, it is likely to get you suspended on Amazon. It is difficult to build a brand that creates customer loyalty when selling already branded products. You have to constantly be on top of trends to follow what products are currently in demand. Profit margins are low and will be even lower when splitting with an automation service. You also have no control over the supply chain.
Check out some other automation alternatives:
Hands-Free Automation is a company that offers Amazon FBA private label, Shopify dropshipping, Airbnb, and semi-trailer trucking automation services.
Elite Automation offers Amazon FBA wholesaling automation services for a 70:30 split.
Philip Smith's Loan Broker Network is a done-for-you loan brokerage business with additional lead generation training.
Automated Ecom Profits is an Amazon automation service that builds and manages Amazon stores for investors willing to pay the franchise fee and the $20,000 capital.
Learn how to set up your own automated cash cow YouTube channel through Dylan Miller's Tube Money Masterclass. You can even set up your own automated Amazon Kindle Publishing business without writing a single book using Sophie Howard's method.
Best Passive Income Model of 2024
All business models have their pros and cons. I've done many business models, and local lead generation's pros outweigh the cons by a ton. With this business model, you don't have to worry about automation in order to create passive income. It works by creating and ranking a site on Google using tactics such as SEO. You then rent your sites to local businesses, which pay for the leads they get. This gives you a stable monthly cash flow.
You don't even need to worry about competition, as this is done in local areas, and there are hundreds of niches that you can get into. Once you get the hang of it, you simply have to repeat the process to scale your business. Your sites can stay ranked on Google for years without you even having to update them. These qualities make Local Lead Generation the best passive income model that can create time and financial freedom.
WA was a total scam. They absolutely were not following amazon policy. I lost 55k. They took my money, stopped responding and then shut their doors. There are 100s of people that lost 10's of thousands of dollars. Some spent over a 100k on a store that was supposed to already be bringing in 10k a month. They never got a store.
Great article and very factual from my recent experience with WA. I’m going through the set up process now and will be launching my store this next month. Stay Tuned.
Thanks Mitch! I’m glad you found the article helpful, and wish you luck in your Amazon journey. Please keep us posted.
Good luck Mitch. I signed with WA 6 months ago and my amazon store still isn't open. I keep getting excuses and promises. Keep me updated on your journey.
Hey Mitch. How are your store’s startup gone?
Did you do it?