There is no denying that e-commerce is king and eBay is one of those platforms that are making the most of this popularity.
Whether you are planning to start an eBay business based on dropshipping or you already have field experience, you are well aware that there are tons of essential tasks that you have to tackle on a daily basis.
Your responsibilities as an eBay seller run the gamut: from developing strategies for your online business, product and market research, writing optimized title and optimized description for your products, answering customer queries, and so on.
The list of the time consuming task that you must deal with never ends, which is why you need to consider hiring and training an eBay virtual assistant.
Before you question if you could even afford hiring an eBay VA, take time to learn about what virtual assistants do and how they can save you precious time while helping grow your online store.
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What is a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual assistant services are provided by an individual or an agency – it depends on the scope of the job you need help with and your budget. A virtual assistant for an eBay seller is a remote worker from countries like India or the Philippines.
Their responsibilities are similar to that of a personal assistant with the exception that they help with running your eBay business remotely.
When you hire eBay virtual assistant, they can provide a wide range of services depending on your needs.
The services of an eBay virtual assistant includes digital marketing, data entry, inventory management, market research, email management, content writing, and essential tasks such as responding to customer queries and to create listings.
The type of service offered by an eBay VA will depend on their expertise. However, they can be trained to perform the tasks that you need most help with to run a successful online store.
eBay selling might appear like a passive source of income; in reality, there are many tasks involved if you want to boost ecommerce sales.
This is where a VA comes in – they can help with the repetitive yet relevant tasks for your eBay store. Designating the time consuming task to your virtual assistant allows you to focus on the core aspects of your business that enable you to expand and grow.
There are plenty of advantages when you hire eBay VA. First off, you must choose virtual assistants who are from the aforementioned countries since this gives you access to low-cost workers.
The average rate for eBay virtual assistants is $2 per hour for those with basic knowledge of administrative tasks or managing your eBay account. The rate might go up for those with more expertise in the dropshipping business, yet it remains affordable.
When Do I Know I Am Ready to Hire a VA?
If you are new to eBay selling, the decision to hire an eBay assistant is something that is not part of your plan. After all, you need to bring in a steady stream of income from the ecommerce sales to be able to afford paying for a virtual assistant.
Timing is critical when hiring an eBay selling assistant. You want to be able to manage the daily, essential tasks while growing your business.
If you are serious about scaling your online business, a virtual assistant could be your most valuable tool.
There are two scenarios when hiring an assistant for your online store proves beneficial:
1. You can hire an eBay seller virtual assistant if you have built a steady income for your business. Allocating certain tasks to your eBay assistant will free up your precious time, so you can focus on scaling your business.
2. You can hire an eBay seller virtual assistant if you want to start a dropshipping business but don’t have the time to handle the necessary tasks to get your eBay business off the ground.
Basic tasks such as creating product listings and managing your eBay account can take up several hours of your day. If you are doing this business as a side hustle, it can be difficult to manage on your own.
Important Tips Before You Hire eBay Virtual Assistant
Are you serious about starting your eBay store? If you want to sell online as a primary source of living, there are important things to consider before you choose to work with an eBay virtual assistant.
• You must have a steady stream of income.
• You must be familiar with how the eBay dropshipping business model works and earn profit from it.
• You must use your profits to grow your eBay business.
If budget is not an issue, then go ahead and hire a virtual assistant to help scale your eBay business. You can train the eBay VA that you hire to help with running and managing your online business.
However, you should always be aware that this is a huge financial investment and you must weigh the benefits and drawbacks before you take the risk. Or else, you could end up in debt if you are not making enough ecommerce sales for your online store.
Where to Find an eBay VA
The next step is to look for eBay virtual assistants online. There are many platforms available that allow you to find a pool of talents to consider for your eBay VA.
Two of the leading platforms online would be Upwork and OnlineJobs.ph.
Upwork is an international platform of remote workers, not just eBay virtual assistants. You can use this online marketplace to hire people that would fit the job description of what you need to scale your business.
For example, you can find talents who can help with content writing, digital marketing, and virtual assistants with basic knowledge to expert know-how on administrative tasks and dropshipping.
OnlineJobs.ph is a marketplace dedicated mainly for finding virtual assistants in the Philippines. If you prefer to hire eBay VA from the Philippines, you can start your search on this platform.
In addition to the two platforms above, you can also find an eBay virtual assistant from Facebook groups dedicated for dropshipping eBay sellers. For example, the ZIK Analytics group on Facebook feature many experienced virtual assistants as part of its community.
You can publish a post searching for an eBay assistant and you will be able to reach many potential VAs with plenty of experience.
The 5-Step Hiring Process
Let’s get down to the actual process of hiring an eBay virtual assistant for your dropshipping business.
Step 1: Job Posting
The first step to hire eBay virtual assistant is the job post. You can choose a platform that would target the skills and talent that you need from an eBay selling assistant. The job posting must contain a detailed job description.
Explain clearly what skills you are looking for in an eBay virtual assistant. By setting your expectations from the start, you will be able to screen applicants and ensure you have the right virtual assistant for the job.
Aside from choosing an eBay VA based on the skill, make sure that they have a good internet connection. Professional virtual assistant services must be fully equipped with a PC, tablet, or any device that will enable them to perform the daily tasks.
Step 2: Screening Applicants
If you want to run a successful online store, you need to choose the most qualified eBay virtual assistant. You can screen your applicants based on a few factors:
• The proficiency in the English language is important. Communication is important when hiring virtual assistants and language proficiency is vital to that.
• The effort they put into writing the job application is also critical. It reflects on their commitment to the job and their attention to detail. These are important qualities you need in an eBay virtual assistant.
• The experience level of the eBay seller virtual assistant is an advantage. If you can find someone with experience in dropshipping, that is highly advantageous in growing your eBay account.
Once you have created a shortlist of virtual assistants, you can set them up for a Skype interview.
Step 3: Interview Process
As mentioned above, you need to conduct a face-to-face interview with your prospect virtual assistants. You can conduct the meeting on Skype.
The purpose of the meeting is to learn more about the qualifications and experience of each applicant. At the same time, you need to pay attention to a few things that would help you find the best candidate:
• Check who shows up on time for the meeting
• Check the quality of their internet connection
• Check their work setup
• Check the level of their English proficiency
• Check their motivation for working and get to know them personally
It is difficult to know one’s expertise as a virtual assistant from one video interview. Therefore, the next step of the hiring process is important to find the right assistant for your eBay selling business.
Step 4: Testing
This part is crucial in finding the best eBay virtual assistant.
Test your VA skills by giving them a test job. When assessing the quality of their work, focus on three important factors:
1) if they understand the instructions, and
2) the ability to meet the deadline, and
3) the quality of the work output.
You can also provide training materials for the eBay virtual assistant that you have shortlisted for the job. The training materials must be able to support the skills and tasks that you need them to do, once officially hired.
You can record a video that they can watch on demand, which explains the tasks that you need them to do. Use loom.com for recording the video tutorial.
You can also write down a detailed brief with instructions on how to perform a certain task. Give them access to a CSV sheet that you can check later for evaluating their work output.
Step 5: Hire eBay Virtual Assistant
After the interview and the test jobs, you can evaluate the results and hire a virtual assistant (or two). It comes down to your budget and how much time you can dedicate for the hiring process.
Let your virtual assistants know that they are under a trial period. Give them a few weeks or a month to work for you so they can integrate better.
This trial period will give you time to fully assess their capabilities before you decide who gets to stay for the long-term (if you only have the budget for one eBay seller assistant.
Managing a Virtual Assistant After Hiring
Your work is not done yet once you’ve hired your eBay virtual assistant. You need to develop an efficient system to maximize the services of a virtual assistant to scale your business.
Monitor your VA’s performance on a regular basis. If you can do it daily, then that’s even better. Ask them to populate a CSV sheet when doing product and market research.
You can double-check the results of their research via the CSV sheet and keep track of how well these products are doing on your online store.
Crunch the numbers to determine the profits you are making from the products that your virtual assistant has listed. Your goal is to generate more profit than the money you are paying your eBay VA’s salary.
This is the best way to determine if there is a return on investment for the virtual assistant services.
For example, your virtual assistant has listed 810 products and generated 220 sales out of those products. The 220 products sold are equivalent to $750 in sales.
If your VA’s monthly salary is $400, this means that you are earning a profit of $350 per month.
The actual ecommerce sales performance will vary based on the niche of your eBay store, but you get the idea on how to track and evaluate a VA’s performance.
You can check out the full guide on how to hire your virtual assistant for an eBay business in the video from ZIK Analytics.
FAQs on Hiring and Training an eBay Virtual Assistant
What does a virtual assistant really do?
eBay virtual assistants can do a variety of tasks that you need to grow your business. They can be trained to help create listings for products, conduct market research, email management, or basic tasks to manage your eBay seller account.
How do I find eBay assistant?
You can find talented Vas from online platforms like Upwork and OnlineJobs.ph. There are also dedicated Facebook groups where you can find and hire eBay VA.
How much is a virtual assistant for eBay?
Virtual assistants can charge $1 to $20 per hour. It will vary on the experience and expertise of your chosen VA, as well as the scope of the tasks you designate for them to do.
How do I hire a good eBay VA?
You need to follow the hiring and training process listed here. It is important to screen your applicants properly, so giving them a test job is a great way to assess their skill and knowledge in managging an eBay business.
