What are the positives and negatives of wholesaling?

[John Guillory]

I have recently been learning about wholesale real estate and creative finance and thought that they were amazing ways to get into real estate without needing large amounts of capital on hand or taking out a high interest loan. That seems to hold true after some significant research, however, I see a trend that labels wholesalers as shady individuals. I of course want to avoid this, and was wondering the best method/ information i needed to avoid this stereotype. And maybe a bigger question i had for the more knowledgeable individuals is: Is the practice of wholesale real estate shady in itself or is it just a lot of the people that it attracts?