E-commerce VA.

Also posted as

Shopify assistant, Amazon VA, product data assistant, ecommerce ops assistant, listing specialist

Core loop

Product data → listings → orders and inventory → support → weekly numbers

Hours

20–40/wk. Support seats often need overlap with the store's peak hours.

Hardest part

Being responsible for an account you do not control the settings of

Easiest way in

Product data cleanup on a fixed price. Provable in a week, low risk for the client.

Progress is saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere.

1. 01

   How a store actually works

   You can explain the difference between a storefront and a marketplace, follow an order through its whole lifecycle, and never confuse a product with a variant or a SKU again.Time splitRatesRed/green flags24 min

   • A storefront is the merchant's own shop, like Shopify. A marketplace is someone else's shop that you sell inside, like Amazon. On a storefront you own the rules. On a marketplace you obey them or get suppressed.
   • A product is the thing. A variant is a version of it: size, colour, pack count. A SKU is your internal code for a specific variant. One product, five sizes, three colours is one product and fifteen SKUs.
   • The order lifecycle: placed, paid, fulfilled, delivered, and then possibly returned or refunded or charged back. Every one of those states has a different owner and a different clock.
   • Money is not one number. Revenue minus refunds minus fees minus cost of goods is what the owner actually keeps, and confusing revenue with profit in a report will lose you credibility fast.
   • FBA means Amazon stores and ships it. FBM means the merchant ships it. Which one applies changes who handles the return, who eats the shipping, and what you can promise a buyer.
   • You are staff, not the owner. You report numbers and flag risks. Pricing strategy, advertising budget and product decisions belong to the person whose money it is.

   Worked example — One product, written properly

   Before

   Waterproof jacket - blue/green/black, S M L XL, $89

   After

   Product: Tidewater Coastal Shell Jacket

   Variants: 3 colours x 4 sizes = 12 SKUs

   SKU pattern: TW-JKT-CST-{COLOUR}-{SIZE}, e.g. TW-JKT-CST-NVY-M

   Each SKU carries: barcode (GTIN), price, compare-at price, cost, weight, inventory quantity, location

   Shared at product level: title, description, vendor, product type, tags, images, SEO title, meta description

   Channel mapping: Shopify handle coastal-shell-jacket / Amazon parent ASIN with 12 children

   Everything downstream, imports, inventory, reporting, ads, breaks if the SKU structure is sloppy. Fix it at the start or fix it forever.

   Where the hours go

   Where an ecommerce VA's week goes

   40 hrs/week at a small DTC brand doing a few hundred orders a month across Shopify and Amazon.

   • Customer support: emails, returns, WISMO30%

     "Where is my order" is the single most common message in all of ecommerce.

   • Order and fulfilment ops20%

     Exceptions, stuck orders, address fixes, courier chasing.

   • Product data and listings18%

     Uploads, edits, variant fixes, image handling.

   • Inventory tracking and reordering14%

     Small slice, biggest financial consequence. A stockout on a hero product is brutal.

   • Reporting and admin10%

     Daily numbers, weekly summary, reconciling payouts.

   • Marketing support: email, ads, content8%

     Where you grow into the higher-paid work. Volunteer for this.

   Half the week is support and order problems. Get ruthlessly efficient at those two, and you free up the hours to learn the work that actually pays.

   What this pays

   What ecommerce VA work pays

   Ecommerce splits sharply. Uploading products is the cheapest work in the VA market; running ads or inventory forecasting is among the best paid. Same job title, triple the rate.

   Swipe the table sideways →

   Experience	Hourly (USD)	Monthly (USD)	What changes it
   Entry — listings and data entry	$3.50–5	$600–850	Product uploads, image renaming, basic edits. Highly replaceable.
   Junior — store ops + support	$5–7	$850–1,200	Orders, returns, customer emails, simple Shopify edits.
   Mid — listing optimisation + inventory	$7–11	$1,200–1,800	You write listings that convert and stop the store running out of stock.
   Senior — PPC / marketplace specialist	$10–17	$1,700–2,700	Amazon PPC, Klaviyo flows, marketplace strategy. Directly tied to revenue.
   Lead — ecommerce manager	$15–25	$2,500–4,000	You own the P&L levers: margin, ad spend, inventory, and other VAs.

   This table has 4 columns and scrolls horizontally on small screens.

   Same skill, different client

   • Verse's job board (median)$3.50

     Most live ecommerce posts are asking for the entry tier. Read the scope before the rate.

   • Amazon PPC specialist$10–17

     Highest-paid ecommerce niche for VAs, per 2026 agency rate cards. Worth specialising in.

   • US brand, direct$7–18

     Especially DTC brands doing $1M+. They understand that a good ops person pays for themselves.

   • Per-listing project work$8–25 per optimised listing

     Good side income and an easy first sale. Sell 20 listings, not 20 hours.

   Sources: Verse's live board (n=2,081), OnlineJobs.ph ecommerce tiers ($4.50–12), 2026 agency rate cards ($10–17 for Amazon PPC).

   Red flag / green flag

   Spot the difference

   Same situation, two ways it can go.

   The job post says

   Red flag

   "Ecommerce VA. Manage our Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Walmart stores. Handle all customer service, run our Facebook and Google ads, do SEO, design graphics and manage inventory. $500/month."

   That's four specialist roles. At $500/month for 160 hours, you'd be earning $3.12/hr to be personally responsible for a business's entire revenue operation. When something breaks, and it will, it's your fault.

   Green flag

   "Shopify + Amazon VA for our skincare brand (~600 orders/mo). Daily: order exceptions, customer emails via Gorgias, inventory check. Weekly: listing updates, reorder report. $1,100/mo, 30 hrs/wk, 2 hrs PST overlap. Not your job: ads, design, or SEO."

   Two channels, an order volume so you can judge the workload, named tools, and an explicit 'not your job' list. That last line is the strongest green flag in any ecommerce post.

   You're given store access on day one

   Red flag

   Accepting the owner's own login and password over Slack, with full admin rights.

   Two problems. Sharing credentials breaks Shopify and Amazon's terms and can get the store flagged. And if anything goes wrong — a deleted product, a refund error, a breach — there's no audit trail separating you from them. That ambiguity always resolves against the VA.

   Green flag

   "Can you add me as a staff account with my own email? For Shopify: Orders, Products, Customers, and Reports — I don't need Settings or Finances to start. For Amazon: a User Permissions invite. That way everything I do is logged under me, and you can revoke it in one click if we ever part ways."

   You've asked for less access than offered, explained why, and made the audit trail point at yourself deliberately. Owners find this reassuring, and it protects you when something inevitably breaks.

   Do this

   Pick any real store with variants and reverse-engineer its structure by browsing the public site. Map its products, variants, collections and navigation.

   Hand in: A one-page structure map: how many products, the variant logic, the collection hierarchy, and three things you would restructure.≈ 40 min

   Check before you call it done

   • You distinguished products from SKUs with actual counts
   • You described the collection logic, not just the menu labels
   • You proposed a SKU naming pattern for their catalogue
   • Your three restructure suggestions each have a reason attached

   Mark module done
2. 02

   Shopify admin without breaking anything

   You can build out a store in a development environment: products, collections, navigation, pages, shipping and the legal pages, and you know what you must never touch on a live store.WorkflowTools1 template40 min

   • Get a Shopify development store or a trial and build in there. Nobody will hand a stranger their live admin, and a screenshot of your own store is the credential.
   • Never edit a live theme directly. Duplicate it, edit the duplicate, preview, then publish. This one habit separates people who get kept from people who get quietly removed.
   • Collections come in two flavours. Manual collections you curate by hand, automated collections build themselves from conditions on tags, type or price. Automated ones scale, so build the tags to support them.
   • Navigation is not the collection list. Menus are their own structure and can point anywhere, so a tidy collection list with a chaotic menu is still a bad store.
   • Shipping settings are where real money leaks. Zones, rates, weight brackets and free-shipping thresholds all interact, and a wrong weight on one variant can quietly under-charge every order.
   • The legal pages, refund, privacy, terms and shipping policy, must exist and must match what support actually does. If the policy says 30 days and you tell buyers 14, that is now the owner's problem.
   • Apps are not free. Every one adds monthly cost and often page weight. Do not install anything on a client store without written approval.

   Worked example — The pre-change checklist you run every time

   1. What exactly changes, in one sentence, and which SKUs or pages it touches.

   2. Do I have written approval from the owner for prices, discounts or policy text?

   3. Backup: theme duplicated, or products exported to CSV with a dated filename.

   4. Make the change on a small sample first. Two products, not two hundred.

   5. Verify on the live storefront, not just the admin. Check mobile.

   6. Log it: what, when, who approved, and how to reverse it.

   Six steps, about four minutes. It is the difference between one bad afternoon and a catalogue you cannot un-break.

   Workflow

   Making a change on a live store without breaking it

   Any edit to a live, revenue-generating store. Treat every one as potentially destructive.

   1. 1

      Ask what the change is FOR before you make it

      "Change the product title" usually means "we're not ranking" or "customers are confused". Knowing which changes what you do.

   2. 2

      Duplicate the theme before touching anything visual

      Shopify: Online Store → Themes → Duplicate. Ten seconds, and it's the difference between a mistake and a disaster.

   3. 3

      Screenshot the before state

      Every time. When someone says "it used to say something different", you'll want the receipt.

   4. 4

      Change one thing, then check the storefront

      Not five things then check. When something breaks, you want to know exactly which change did it.

   5. 5

      Test the full path: product → cart → checkout

      Especially after touching variants, inventory or shipping. A broken checkout is silent and it costs money every minute.

   6. 6

      Log it

      Date, what changed, why, who asked, before/after. Five seconds now, saves an hour of forensics later.

   Where this breaks: Bulk-editing during peak hours. Do bulk operations when the store is quiet — usually 2–6am in the store's main market, which for a PH-based VA is conveniently the middle of your shift.

   Tool comparison

   The ecommerce stack

   Learn Shopify admin and one helpdesk properly. Everything else you can pick up on the job — but nobody will let you near a store if you can't navigate the admin confidently.

   Swipe the table sideways →

   Tool	Best for	Learning curve	Cost	Verdict
   Shopify adminLearn first	The platform behind most small DTC brands.	Easy — a week on a free dev store	Free to practise (dev store)	Start here today. Create a free development store, build a fake shop, break it. This costs nothing and is the fastest route to hireable.
   Amazon Seller Central	Marketplace selling. Utterly different mental model to Shopify.	Hard — the UI is hostile by design	Client's account	Painful but valuable. Amazon skills pay the most in ecommerce precisely because most people give up learning it.
   GorgiasLearn first	Ecommerce-specific helpdesk. Pulls order data into the ticket.	Easy — 2 days	$10+/mo (client pays)	The one most named in ecommerce job posts. Macros and rules are what make you fast — learn those, not the interface.
   Zendesk / Freshdesk	Bigger operations, multi-channel support.	Medium	Client's	Same concepts as Gorgias, more enterprise. Learn one helpdesk and the rest transfer in a day.
   Klaviyo	Email and SMS flows. Where a surprising share of DTC revenue comes from.	Medium — a couple of weeks	Free to 250 contacts	The highest-leverage skill on this list. An abandoned cart flow you build can be traced directly to revenue, which is the best possible argument at rate review time.
   Google Sheets	Inventory, reorder points, reconciliation, every report.	Easy to start, deep to master	Free	Genuinely more important than any app here. VLOOKUP, pivot tables and conditional formatting will do more for your rate than a fifth platform.

   This table has 5 columns and scrolls horizontally on small screens.

   Copy-paste

   Steal this

   Swap the bracketed bits and send.

   Store change log

   One sheet, every change, forever. The first thing you show when someone asks what happened.

   Copy template to clipboard

   Date	Time	What changed	Where	Why / who asked	Before	After	Tested	Reverted?
   Mar 4	03:15	Product title	SKU TW-114	Owner — not ranking for "reef safe"	"Sunscreen SPF50"	"Reef-Safe Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50"	✅ PDP + search	—
   Mar 4	03:40	Price	SKU TW-220	Owner Slack 3/3	$24.00	$21.60	✅ cart + checkout	—
   Mar 5	02:10	Inventory sync off	App: StockSync	Was overwriting manual counts	On	Off	✅	—

   RULES
   • Log BEFORE you make the change, not after. If you get interrupted, the record still exists.
   • "Why" must name a person and a date. "Owner asked" with no date is worthless in a dispute.
   • Anything you can't revert in under 5 minutes needs written approval first.
   
   ⚠ NEVER WITHOUT WRITTEN APPROVAL
   • Deleting products (archive instead — deletion loses order history)
   • Changing prices on live products
   • Editing anything in Settings: shipping, taxes, payments, checkout
   • Installing or uninstalling apps
   • Bulk operations over 50 records
   • Anything touching customer data or refunds

   Do this

   Build Tidewater Supply Co in a Shopify development store. Ten products with variants, three collections including one automated, a working nav, an About and a Contact page, one shipping zone with two rates, and all four legal pages.

   Hand in: Screenshots of the admin and the live preview, plus your change log for the build.≈ 110 min

   Check before you call it done

   • At least one automated collection driven by tags
   • Every variant has a SKU following your naming pattern, plus weight
   • Shipping rates make sense against the product weights
   • The refund policy states a specific number of days
   • The theme you edited is a duplicate, and you can say which
   • The change log has a reversal note for each entry

   Mark module done
3. 03

   Product data and the CSV import that eats catalogues

   You can build a product master sheet and run a bulk import without overwriting live data, with a QA pass that catches errors before customers do.Workflow2 templates42 min

   • The master sheet is the source of truth: SKU, parent, title, vendor, type, category, price, compare-at, cost, barcode, inventory, variant options, weight, dimensions, tags, SEO title, meta description, image filenames, status.
   • One row per SKU. Not one row per product with sizes crammed into a cell. Every tool you will ever use expects one row per sellable unit.
   • The dangerous part of a CSV import is blank columns. In many importers a blank cell does not mean leave it alone, it means set it to blank. Export the current data, edit that file, and only include the columns you intend to change.
   • Test on two products first. Always. Import a two-row file, check the result in the admin and on the storefront, then run the rest.
   • Title conventions matter more than clever copy. Pick a formula, apply it everywhere: Brand + Product + Key Attribute + Size or Pack. Consistency is what makes a catalogue searchable and filterable.
   • Image filenames are data too. sku-01.jpg, sku-02.jpg beats IMG_4471.jpg, and it makes matching images to rows in a bulk upload possible at all.
   • Build the QA pass as a checklist someone else could run: duplicate SKUs, missing barcodes, prices below cost, zero weights, titles over the character limit, orphan variants, broken image links.

   Worked example — Product data, before and after

   Before

   SKU: (blank) | Title: coastal shell JACKET blue large | Price: 89 | Weight: 0 | Tags: jacket,waterproof,blue,large,new,sale,Blue,Waterproof

   SKU: (blank) | Title: Coastal Shell Jacket - Blue - L | Price: 89.00 | Weight: 0 | Tags: jackets

   Image: IMG_4471.jpg

   After

   SKU: TW-JKT-CST-BLU-L | Title: Tidewater Coastal Shell Jacket - Waterproof, Blue, Large | Price: 89.00 | Compare-at: 109.00 | Cost: 41.20 | Weight: 620g

   Barcode: 0850041234567 | Inventory: 14 | Option1: Colour/Blue | Option2: Size/Large

   Tags (controlled list): jacket, waterproof, mens, outerwear-ss26

   SEO title: Coastal Shell Jacket, Waterproof - Tidewater Supply Co

   Images: tw-jkt-cst-blu-01.jpg, tw-jkt-cst-blu-02.jpg, tw-jkt-cst-blu-03.jpg

   Duplicate row merged. Net: 340 SKUs became 331 real SKUs, 9 duplicates removed.

   The before rows are two records for the same physical jacket. That is how a store ends up overselling something it does not have.

   Workflow

   A CSV import that doesn't eat the catalogue

   Any bulk product upload or update. This is the single most destructive routine task in ecommerce.

   1. 1

      Export the current catalogue first. Always.

      This is your rollback. Save it somewhere dated and named. Skipping this step is how people lose 800 products at 3am.

   2. 2

      Export a template rather than building a CSV from scratch

      Export 2–3 existing products and use those exact columns. Handmade CSVs fail on column names and ordering you can't see.

   3. 3

      Test with 3 products before the full run

      Non-negotiable. Import three, check them on the storefront, then do the rest. Three broken products is a fix; 800 is an incident.

   4. 4

      Watch the handle and SKU columns like a hawk

      In Shopify the Handle is the unique key. A wrong handle doesn't create a new product — it OVERWRITES an existing one. Silently.

   5. 5

      Check the variant rows

      Variants are child rows with a blank title and a repeated handle. Sort or filter a CSV wrong and you'll orphan every variant in the file.

   6. 6

      Verify on the storefront, not just in admin

      Check a parent product, a variant, a price, an image and the inventory count. Admin can look correct while the storefront is broken.

   Where this breaks: Opening the CSV in Excel. Excel silently mangles data — it strips leading zeros from SKUs, converts long numbers to scientific notation, and reformats dates. Use Google Sheets, and set every column to plain text on import.

   Copy-paste

   Steal these

   Swap the bracketed bits and send.

   CSV import pre-flight

   Run this every time. The one you skip is the one that costs a weekend.

   Copy template to clipboard

   IMPORT: [what] | Store: [name] | Rows: [n] | Date: [date]
   
   BEFORE
   [ ] Full catalogue exported and saved as [date]-backup-products.csv
   [ ] Backup file OPENED and confirmed not empty (a 0kb backup is not a backup)
   [ ] Template exported from the live store, not built by hand
   [ ] File opened in Google Sheets, NOT Excel
   [ ] All ID/SKU columns formatted as plain text
   [ ] Owner approved the change in writing
   
   DATA CHECK
   [ ] Handles unique — no accidental duplicates (Data → Remove duplicates to check, then undo)
   [ ] Handles match existing products EXACTLY where updating
   [ ] No trailing spaces (TRIM every text column)
   [ ] Prices are numbers, no currency symbols, no commas
   [ ] Inventory quantities are whole numbers
   [ ] Image URLs are public and load (spot-check 5 in a browser)
   [ ] Variant rows have the parent handle repeated and title blank
   [ ] Required fields present on every row
   [ ] Special characters and accents render correctly (encoding is UTF-8)
   
   TEST RUN
   [ ] Cut 3 rows into a separate test file
   [ ] Import the 3
   [ ] Check each on the STOREFRONT: title, price, images, variants, stock, add-to-cart
   [ ] Only then run the full file
   
   AFTER
   [ ] Product count before: [n] → after: [n]. Does the difference match expectations?
   [ ] Spot-check 5 random products
   [ ] Check one variant-heavy product specifically
   [ ] Test a real add-to-cart and reach checkout
   [ ] Logged in the change log
   [ ] Backup file kept for 30 days
   
   IF IT GOES WRONG
   1. Stop. Don't run a second import to "fix" the first.
   2. Tell the owner immediately. Immediately.
   3. Re-import the backup file.
   4. Verify the count matches the pre-import number.

   Product data standards

   Agree once with the owner, then apply mechanically. Consistency is most of what makes a catalogue look professional.

   Copy template to clipboard

   [BRAND] PRODUCT DATA STANDARDS
   
   TITLE FORMAT
   [Brand] [Product name] — [key attribute], [size/count]
   e.g. "Tidewater Reef-Safe Mineral Sunscreen — SPF 50, 100ml"
   • Under 70 characters where possible
   • No ALL CAPS, no "!!!", no emoji
   • Attributes in a fixed order: type → key feature → size
   
   SKU FORMAT
   [BRAND2]-[CATEGORY2]-[VARIANT]-[SIZE]
   e.g. TW-SC-MIN-100
   • Uppercase, hyphens only, no spaces
   • Never reuse a retired SKU
   • SKU never changes once live — the whole system depends on it
   
   DESCRIPTION STRUCTURE
   1. One sentence: what it is and who it's for
   2. 3–5 bullets: benefits, not features ("won't sting your eyes", not "pH 7.2")
   3. Specs block: size, ingredients/materials, weight, care
   4. Shipping and returns line
   
   IMAGES
   • Main: product on white, square, minimum 2000×2000
   • 2–4 lifestyle shots
   • 1 scale/size reference shot
   • 1 back-of-pack or ingredients shot
   • Filenames: brand-product-variant-01.jpg (never IMG_4471.jpg)
   • Alt text on every image — accessibility AND search
   
   INVENTORY
   • Track quantity: ON for everything physical
   • Continue selling when out of stock: OFF unless it's pre-order
   • Low-stock alert at [reorder point]
   
   NEVER
   • Copy a competitor's description (copyright, and it's obvious)
   • Claim health, medical or safety outcomes without approved wording
   • Use "best", "#1" or "guaranteed" without something to back it
   • Leave a variant with no image — it looks broken and it kills conversion

   Do this

   Build a 40-SKU product master sheet for Tidewater from invented data, deliberately including six errors of different types. Then write and run the QA checklist that catches all six.

   Hand in: Master sheet, an import-ready CSV, a QA checklist, and a QA log showing the six errors found and fixed.≈ 90 min

   Check before you call it done

   • One row per SKU, no size lists inside cells
   • A documented SKU naming convention
   • A controlled tag list, no casing duplicates
   • The QA checklist covers duplicates, pricing, weights, character limits and images
   • Your notes state which columns you would exclude from an update import and why

   Mark module done
4. 04

   Amazon Seller Central fundamentals

   You can navigate Seller Central, read a policy warning correctly, and know exactly which situations you escalate instead of solving.Red/green flags1 template42 min

   • Amazon is a rules engine with a shop attached. Everything you do is constrained by category requirements, restricted claims, and image standards, and breaking them suppresses the listing rather than showing you an error.
   • The vocabulary is non-negotiable: ASIN is Amazon's identifier for a product, the detail page is the listing, a flat file is the spreadsheet template used for bulk catalogue updates, and a child variation sits under a parent.
   • Account Health is the page that matters most. Order defect rate, late shipment rate, valid tracking rate, policy violations. A VA who checks it daily and reports changes is worth keeping.
   • Buyer messages have a response window. Answer within it, keep it inside Amazon's messaging system, and never push a buyer to email or off-platform contact.
   • Never touch reviews. No asking for positive reviews, no incentives, no review removal services, no responding to a negative review as the buyer. Review manipulation gets accounts suspended, and the account is not yours to gamble with.
   • When a listing is suppressed or flagged, read the actual notification. It names the attribute or policy. Fix the attribute, or open a case with the specific policy reference and evidence attached.
   • Ask for a Seller Central user account with defined permissions. Never work from the owner's master login, because then nothing that happens can be attributed to anyone but them.

   Worked example — A policy notification, handled

   Before

   Owner, 11:40pm: "amazon took down the jacket listing?? fix it"

   After

   "Read the notification: listing suppressed, not removed. Reason: missing required attribute (Country of Origin) on 4 child SKUs after the category update on 2 Aug.

   Not a policy violation, no Account Health impact. I checked, ODR unchanged at 0.4%.

   Fix: flat-file update on those 4 SKUs. I've staged it, ready to submit on your approval since it touches live listings.

   Timeline: submissions on this category have been processing in about 30 minutes today.

   Prevention: I've added Country of Origin to the master sheet as a required column so new uploads can't miss it."

   You diagnosed it, ruled out the scary version, staged the fix, asked for approval, and closed the hole. That is the whole job in five lines.

   Red flag / green flag

   Spot the difference

   Same situation, two ways it can go.

   An Amazon listing gets suppressed and the owner is panicking

   Red flag

   Opening five support cases in a row, editing the listing repeatedly, and posting in seller forums for advice — all within an hour.

   Duplicate cases get auto-merged and slow everything down. Repeated edits can re-trigger the same flag. Panic activity on Amazon reliably makes things worse and takes longer.

   Green flag

   "Listing TW-114 suppressed at 06:12 UTC. Reason given: 'missing required attribute — sunscreen SPF value'. I've screenshotted the error, checked the category requirements, and the SPF field is genuinely empty. Fixing that one field now and opening ONE case referencing it. Expect 24–48hrs. Meanwhile the same product is live on Shopify — I'd point the ad spend there today."

   Diagnosed the actual error, made one targeted fix, one case, a realistic timeline, and proposed a way to protect revenue in the meantime. That last part is what an ops person does.

   Handling a negative review or feedback

   Red flag

   Emailing the customer offering a refund or a free product if they'll remove the 1-star review.

   Direct violation of Amazon's policies on review manipulation. It's detectable, and the penalty lands on the seller account, not on you. Account suspension can end a business.

   Green flag

   Use the official channels only: request removal if it breaks Amazon's guidelines (profanity, seller feedback left as a product review, review about shipping on an FBA order), and otherwise post a public, calm reply. Then fix the underlying cause — if three reviews say the bottle leaks, the packaging is the problem, not the reviews.

   Stays inside policy, and treats reviews as data rather than as a reputation problem to be suppressed. Owners who ask you to break platform rules are asking you to risk their business; say no clearly.

   Copy-paste

   Steal this

   Swap the bracketed bits and send.

   Amazon daily health check

   Fifteen minutes, first thing, every day. Catches most problems while they're still small.

   Copy template to clipboard

   AMAZON DAILY — [date]
   
   ACCOUNT HEALTH (Seller Central → Performance → Account Health)
   [ ] Account Health Rating — [score]. Any change from yesterday?
   [ ] Policy violations: [n] — any NEW ones?
   [ ] Order Defect Rate: [n]% (must stay under 1%)
   [ ] Late Shipment Rate: [n]% (under 4%)
   [ ] Valid Tracking Rate: [n]% (over 95%)
   [ ] Cancellation Rate: [n]% (under 2.5%)
   
   LISTINGS
   [ ] Suppressed listings: [n] — [which, and why]
   [ ] Inactive listings: [n]
   [ ] Buy Box: do we hold it on our top 5 ASINs? [y/n each]
   [ ] Any listing hijacked by another seller? (check the offer list on hero ASINs)
   [ ] Pricing errors / price alerts
   
   INVENTORY
   [ ] Anything under [n] days of cover: [list]
   [ ] Restock recommendations reviewed
   [ ] Stranded inventory: [n] units — [why]
   [ ] FBA shipments in transit — any stuck at "checked in"?
   
   ORDERS + CUSTOMERS
   [ ] Unshipped orders past due: [n]
   [ ] Buyer messages unanswered — MUST be under 24 hrs, including weekends
   [ ] A-to-Z claims: [n]
   [ ] Returns needing action: [n]
   [ ] New negative reviews (1–3 star): [n] — [ASIN, what they said]
   
   ADS (if in scope)
   [ ] Yesterday's spend: $[n] | Sales: $[n] | ACOS: [n]%
   [ ] Any campaign out of budget before noon?
   [ ] Any search term burning spend with zero conversions?
   
   ⚠ ESCALATE TO OWNER IMMEDIATELY
   • Any new policy violation
   • Account Health rating drop
   • A hero ASIN suppressed or hijacked
   • Stockout within 7 days on a top seller
   • ODR approaching 1%

   Do this

   Work through Seller Central's public help documentation on account health metrics, listing requirements and case creation. Then write an escalation matrix for Tidewater.

   Hand in: A one-page escalation matrix with three columns: I handle it, I flag it and wait for approval, I never touch it. At least fifteen scenarios.≈ 70 min

   Check before you call it done

   • Refunds, price changes and product claims sit in the approval column
   • Review manipulation and account-level appeals sit in the never column
   • Each row names the evidence you would attach when escalating
   • You defined what counts as urgent enough to wake the owner
   • There is a line about working from a permissioned user account, not the master login

   Mark module done
5. 05

   Listing optimisation that stays inside the rules

   You can rewrite a weak listing so it converts better and still passes marketplace review, without inventing a single claim.Workflow2 templates38 min

   • Search on a marketplace is not Google. Buyers type what the thing is, plus one qualifier. The title's job is to match that phrase and then be readable by a human.
   • Title formula for most categories: Brand, Product, Key Feature, Material or Model, Size or Quantity, Colour. No ALL CAPS, no promotional words, no emoji, no competitor names.
   • Bullets are objection handling, not a feature dump. Each one takes a reason someone hesitates and answers it: will it fit, will it last, is it actually waterproof, what is in the box.
   • Never write a claim the owner cannot back. Medical, safety, environmental and performance claims are the fastest route to a suppressed listing, and "the supplier said so" is not evidence.
   • Images sell more than copy. Main image on plain white, product filling most of the frame, then lifestyle, scale reference, detail shot, what-is-included, and a size chart if there are variants.
   • Keyword research without a paid tool: marketplace autocomplete, the related searches, competitor titles, and the questions and reviews on competing products. Reviews tell you which objection to answer in bullet two.
   • Backend search terms are for synonyms and misspellings, not repetition. Do not repeat words already in the title, and never use another brand's name.

   Worked example — The Coastal Shell Jacket listing, rewritten

   Before

   TITLE: BEST Waterproof Jacket!! Coastal Shell - Amazing Quality - #1 Rated Outdoor Coat 2026

   BULLET 1: High quality materials

   BULLET 2: Great for hiking, camping, fishing, walking, travel, everyday, gifts

   BULLET 3: 100% waterproof, will keep you dry in any conditions, doctor recommended

   BULLET 4: Buy now! Limited stock! Free shipping!

   After

   TITLE: Tidewater Coastal Shell Jacket, Waterproof 10K Rated, Sealed Seams, Packable, Men's, Navy

   BULLET 1: RATED FOR REAL RAIN - 10,000mm waterproof rating with fully taped seams, tested in sustained rainfall rather than a light shower.

   BULLET 2: PACKS INTO ITS OWN POCKET - Folds to roughly the size of a 1L bottle at 620g, so it lives in a daypack instead of at home.

   BULLET 3: FITS OVER LAYERS - Cut with room for a mid-layer. If you are between sizes, size down, our size chart is image five.

   BULLET 4: ADJUSTABLE WHERE IT MATTERS - Hood, cuffs and hem all cinch, so wind does not get in around the edges.

   BULLET 5: WHAT YOU GET - One jacket, one stuff pocket, two-year manufacturing warranty. Registration not required.

   SEARCH TERMS: rain shell, packable raincoat, taped seam jacket, waterproff jacket, hiking rain coat

   Every claim in the after version is a specification, not an adjective. "Doctor recommended" on a jacket is the kind of line that gets a listing pulled and an account flagged.

   Workflow

   Optimising a listing that isn't converting

   A product with traffic but poor conversion. Traffic without sales is a listing problem, not a marketing one.

   1. 1

      Separate the two problems first

      No impressions = a discoverability problem (keywords, category). Impressions but no clicks = main image and title. Clicks but no sales = the listing body, price, or reviews. Fix the right one.

   2. 2

      Look at what the top 3 competitors do differently

      Not to copy. To find what customers apparently expect that you're not providing — a size chart, an ingredients shot, a comparison table.

   3. 3

      Mine your own reviews and support tickets for language

      The best listing copy already exists in what customers write. If five people say "doesn't leave a white cast", that phrase belongs in your bullets.

   4. 4

      Fix the main image first

      Highest leverage single change available. It determines click-through, and click-through determines everything downstream.

   5. 5

      Rewrite title and bullets around benefits, with keywords worked in naturally

      Keywords must appear, but stuffed listings convert badly and Amazon's own guidance discourages them. Readable beats dense.

   6. 6

      Change one thing at a time and wait 14 days

      Change five things at once and you learn nothing. You need enough time and traffic to tell signal from noise.

   Where this breaks: Optimising a listing for a product with 6 reviews at 3.2 stars. No copy fixes that. Fix the product or the review count first, or you're polishing something nobody will buy regardless.

   Copy-paste

   Steal these

   Swap the bracketed bits and send.

   Listing optimisation brief

   One per product. Diagnose before you write — this is what separates optimisation from redecorating.

   Copy template to clipboard

   LISTING: [product] | SKU/ASIN: [n] | Date: [date]
   
   CURRENT PERFORMANCE (last 30 days)
   Sessions/impressions: [n]
   Click-through rate: [n]%
   Conversion rate: [n]%  ← benchmark: 10–15% on Amazon, 2–4% on Shopify
   Units: [n] | Revenue: $[n]
   Reviews: [n] at [n] stars
   
   DIAGNOSIS — tick ONE primary problem
   [ ] Not being found (low impressions) → keywords, category, backend terms
   [ ] Found, not clicked (low CTR) → main image, title, price, review count
   [ ] Clicked, not bought (low CVR) → images, bullets, description, price, reviews, shipping
   [ ] Bought, then returned → product or expectation problem, not a listing problem
   
   COMPETITOR SCAN — top 3

   Competitor	Price	Reviews	Main image style	What they have that we don't
   —	—	—	—	—

   VOICE OF CUSTOMER
   From our reviews: "[actual quote]" ×[n] people said something similar
   From support tickets: "[the question we get asked constantly]"
   → These phrases go in the listing verbatim.
   
   CHANGES — one at a time, 14 days apart
   1. [Change] — hypothesis: [what I expect and why] — measure: [metric]
   2. [Change] — hypothesis: — measure:
   
   RESULT AFTER 14 DAYS
   [Metric] went [n] → [n]. Keep / revert / iterate?

   Product listing copy skeleton

   Works for Amazon and Shopify with small adjustments. Fill every slot, cut nothing.

   Copy template to clipboard

   TITLE (Amazon: under 200 chars, front-load the important part)
   [Brand] [Product Type] [Key Benefit/Feature] — [Size/Count], [Secondary Attribute]
   
   BULLETS (5, Amazon) — start each with a benefit in caps, then explain
   • WON'T STING YOUR EYES — [explanation in one sentence, includes a keyword naturally]
   • REEF SAFE, ACTUALLY — [proof, not a claim. A certification, an ingredient, a test.]
   • LASTS THROUGH 80 MINUTES OF SWIMMING — [the specific, testable number]
   • NO WHITE CAST ON DEEPER SKIN — [address the objection your reviews keep raising]
   • [SIZE/VALUE ANGLE] — [why this size, who it's for]
   
   DESCRIPTION
   Para 1: Who this is for and the problem it solves. Two sentences.
   Para 2: How it works / what's in it. Specific.
   Para 3: What's in the box, size, care.
   Para 4: Shipping, returns, guarantee.
   
   BACKEND KEYWORDS (Amazon, 250 bytes)
   • No repeats of anything already in the title or bullets — wasted space
   • No competitor brand names — policy violation
   • No commas needed, spaces are enough
   • Include: misspellings, synonyms, Spanish terms, use cases
   
   WHAT KILLS LISTINGS
   ✗ Keyword stuffing — hurts conversion and Amazon discourages it
   ✗ ALL CAPS everywhere
   ✗ Unverifiable claims: "cures", "prevents", "FDA approved" (unless it is)
   ✗ "Best", "#1", "top rated" without a citable source
   ✗ Mentioning competitors by name
   ✗ Contact details, URLs, or asking for reviews in the listing

   Do this

   Take two deliberately bad dummy listings you write yourself and optimise both. Do the keyword research using only free marketplace autocomplete and competitor reviews.

   Hand in: Before and after for both listings, a keyword sheet showing where each term came from, and an image shot list.≈ 80 min

   Check before you call it done

   • Titles follow one stated formula and stay under the category character limit
   • Every bullet answers a specific buyer objection
   • No unsupported claims, no promotional language, no competitor brands
   • Backend terms contain synonyms and misspellings, no title repeats
   • The shot list includes a scale reference and a what-is-included image
   • You noted which competitor review sentences drove which bullet

   Mark module done
6. 06

   Support, returns and the daily operations checklist

   You can run the daily order and inventory routine and answer customers with macros that sound like a person, not a template.Workflow2 templates36 min

   • Build the daily checklist first: unfulfilled orders, failed payments, stuck shipments, low stock, out of stock, suppressed listings, unanswered messages, open returns. Same order, every shift.
   • A macro is a starting point, not the message. Personalise the first line and the specific detail, keep the rest. Buyers can smell a pure template and it doubles your ticket count.
   • Classify every ticket: where is my order, damaged or faulty, wrong item, sizing, return request, refund request, pre-purchase question, complaint, fraud or safety. The mix tells the owner what to fix.
   • You resolve within policy. Anything outside policy, or any refund above the agreed threshold, goes to the owner with a recommendation attached and a one-line reason.
   • Fraud, safety and legal threats are immediate escalations regardless of how small they look. A product that injured someone is not a customer service ticket.
   • Returns need a log, not an inbox. RMA number, order, SKU, reason, condition on arrival, resolution, date closed. The reason column is the most valuable data in the whole store.
   • Inventory exceptions are your early-warning job. Something selling faster than reorder lead time is a stockout in three weeks, and you say so in week one, not week three.

   Worked example — A damaged-item reply, macro versus human

   Before

   Dear Valued Customer, We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. Please provide photos of the damaged item and we will investigate this matter accordingly. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Best regards, Customer Service Team

   After

   Hi Renee,

   Sorry, that zip should not have failed after three weeks. That is a manufacturing fault, not wear.

   I've already put a replacement Coastal Shell in navy, medium on hold for you. Send me one photo of the zip and it ships today, no need to return the old one, it will not resell.

   If you'd rather have a refund, say the word and I'll process it instead.

   Marisol, Tidewater Supply Co

   The second one resolves in one exchange instead of four, and it only works because someone agreed the replacement threshold in advance. Get the authority first, then be fast.

   Workflow

   The daily open and close

   Start and end of every shift. Same order, every day, so nothing depends on remembering.

   1. 1

      OPEN: check for anything on fire

      Site up? Checkout working (place a real test order occasionally)? Payment gateway healthy? Any app broken overnight?

   2. 2

      OPEN: clear order exceptions before touching the inbox

      Failed payments, address errors, stuck fulfilments, high-risk fraud flags. These cost money by the hour; emails don't.

   3. 3

      Work the support queue oldest-first, with one exception

      Oldest first, EXCEPT anything about a payment taken twice or an order that hasn't shipped past its promise date. Those jump the queue.

   4. 4

      Process returns and refunds in one batch

      Batching is faster and keeps your decisions consistent. Inconsistent refund decisions are how customers learn to escalate.

   5. 5

      CLOSE: inventory and low-stock check

      Anything under its reorder point goes in the report. Never let a stockout be a surprise.

   6. 6

      CLOSE: send the daily numbers

      Six lines. Orders, revenue, tickets open, anything broken, anything needing the owner. Takes 4 minutes, buys enormous trust.

   Where this breaks: Answering the easy emails first because they feel productive. The angry customer whose order vanished has been waiting three days and is about to file a chargeback, which costs the store the money AND a fee.

   Copy-paste

   Steal these

   Swap the bracketed bits and send.

   Support macros — the seven you'll use daily

   Load these into Gorgias/Zendesk in week one. Personalise the first line every time so they don't read as canned.

   Copy template to clipboard

   1. WISMO — "WHERE IS MY ORDER" (the most common message in ecommerce)
   "Hi [name] — just checked on order #[n]. It shipped [date] and it's currently [status] in [location]. Tracking: [link]. Expected [date].
   [If late:] It's running [n] days behind, which I'm sorry about — [honest reason]. I'm watching it and I'll message you [day] if it hasn't moved."
   
   2. ORDER GENUINELY LOST
   "Hi [name] — order #[n] hasn't moved since [date] and I'm not willing to keep you waiting. I've sent a replacement today, [tracking]. No need to return the original if it turns up — keep it or pass it on."
   (Replace before refunding where you can. Replacements keep the customer; refunds end the relationship.)
   
   3. RETURN REQUEST
   "Hi [name] — no problem at all. Here's your return label: [link]. Pop it in the post within [n] days and I'll refund [amount] to your original payment method as soon as it's scanned — usually [n] working days.
   Out of interest, what didn't work about it? Genuinely helps us."
   
   4. DAMAGED ON ARRIVAL
   "Hi [name] — that's not okay and I'm sorry. Replacement's already on its way: [tracking]. Please don't bother returning the damaged one.
   If you can send a photo when you have a second, it helps me push back on the courier — but no rush and no obligation."
   
   5. WRONG ITEM SENT
   "Hi [name] — that's our mistake, sorry. The right item ships today: [tracking]. Return label for the wrong one is here: [link], at our cost. Nothing else needed from you."
   
   6. OUT OF STOCK AFTER ORDERING
   "Hi [name] — I have to be straight with you: [item] sold out between your order and our warehouse picking it. That's a stock sync failure on our side.
   Three options: (1) I refund that item today and ship the rest, (2) I hold the whole order until [restock date], or (3) I swap it for [alternative] and refund the difference. Which do you prefer?"
   
   7. DISCOUNT CODE DIDN'T WORK
   "Hi [name] — checked, and [reason: it expired [date] / it doesn't apply to sale items / minimum spend is $[n]]. I've refunded the difference on order #[n] anyway, [amount], back within [n] days. Sorry for the confusion."
   
   RULES
   • Never open with "We apologise for any inconvenience"
   • Say what you're DOING, not what you're sorry about
   • Never say "unfortunately" — say what you CAN do
   • Refund/replace decisions under $[n]: just do it. Over $[n]: ask the owner.
   • Every reply ends with something resolved or a specific date

   Daily store report

   End of every shift, same shape. Six lines the owner reads on their phone in 30 seconds.

   Copy template to clipboard

   [Store] — [date]
   
   Orders: [n] ($[revenue]) | AOV $[n]
   Support: [n] in, [n] resolved, [n] open (oldest: [n] hrs)
   Returns/refunds: [n] ($[n])
   
   ⚠ NEEDS YOU
   [Only what genuinely needs a decision. If nothing, write "Nothing."]
   
   BROKEN / WATCHING
   [Anything failing, degraded, or trending wrong. "Nothing" is a valid answer.]
   
   LOW STOCK
   [SKU] — [n] units, [n] days cover at current rate
   [SKU] — [n] units, [n] days cover
   
   TOMORROW
   [What I'm doing first]

   Do this

   Write a Tidewater support macro bank of twelve, covering the common ticket types, plus the returns log and the daily operations checklist.

   Hand in: Twelve macros with personalisation slots marked, a returns log template, a daily checklist, and a refund authority table.≈ 75 min

   Check before you call it done

   • Every macro has at least two personalisation slots
   • None of them contain the phrase 'valued customer'
   • The refund authority table names a value threshold and who approves above it
   • The returns log captures reason and condition, not just resolution
   • The daily checklist is in a fixed order and fits on one screen
   • Fraud and safety escalation is written as a separate, unmissable rule

   Mark module done
7. 07

   Reporting a store owner will actually read

   You can produce a weekly dashboard with the right metrics and, more importantly, two or three honest reads of what changed.Time splitRed/green flags1 template36 min

   • Seven numbers is enough: orders, revenue, average order value, conversion rate, refund rate, units by top and bottom SKU, and inventory risk. More than that and nobody reads it.
   • Every number needs a comparison. Against last week, and against the same week last year if the store is seasonal. A number alone is decoration.
   • Know the definitions cold. Conversion rate is orders divided by sessions. AOV is revenue divided by orders. Refund rate should be stated as a share of orders and as a share of revenue, because they tell different stories.
   • Inventory risk is the section that saves the owner money: what stocks out before the reorder arrives, and what has not moved in 90 days and is tying up cash.
   • Write the read, but stay in your lane. "Conversion dropped from 2.4% to 1.6% the same day the free shipping threshold went from $50 to $75" is your job. "Put the threshold back" is the owner's decision, though you can say what you would try.
   • Never present revenue as profit. If you do not have cost of goods and fees, say the number is gross and label it that way.
   • Same format, same day, every week. A dashboard that changes shape every week is impossible to compare and it will stop being opened.

   Worked example — Tidewater, week 34

   Orders 218 (prev 241, -9.5%) / Gross revenue $14,802 (prev $17,110, -13.5%) / AOV $67.90 (prev $71.00)

   Conversion 1.6% (prev 2.4%) on 13,600 sessions (prev 10,040, +35%)

   Refunds 11 orders, 5.0% of orders, 6.2% of revenue (prev 3.1% / 3.4%)

   Top SKU: TW-JKT-CST-NVY-M, 34 units. Bottom: 41 SKUs with zero sales in 90 days, $9,100 at cost.

   READ 1 — Sessions up 35% but conversion nearly halved. Traffic quality, not demand. The new TikTok campaign started 18 Aug and its landing page is the homepage, not the jacket.

   READ 2 — Refund rate doubled and 7 of 11 refunds are the same SKU, TW-BOOT-TRK-42, all cited sizing. The size chart image is missing on that listing.

   ACTIONS I'VE TAKEN — Size chart drafted for the boot listing, waiting on your approval to publish.

   DECISIONS I NEED — Where should the campaign traffic land? And do you want the 41 dead SKUs on a clearance collection?

   Two reads, one action taken, two decisions requested. That structure is why an owner keeps reading the email instead of skimming a chart.

   Where the hours go

   Which ecommerce numbers deserve your attention

   Priority weighting for reporting, not a data split. Most VA reports invert this completely.

   • Margin and profit per order28%

     Revenue is vanity. A store can grow itself into insolvency.

   • Inventory cover and stockout risk24%

     The most preventable way small stores lose money.

   • Conversion rate and AOV18%

     Where your listing and support work actually shows up.

   • Repeat purchase rate14%

     The cheapest revenue in ecommerce, and almost always ignored.

   • Refund and return rate10%

     A rising return rate is an early warning of a product problem.

   • Traffic and sessions6%

     Context only. Useful to explain a change, useless as a goal.

   If you learn to report on margin and inventory cover instead of revenue and traffic, you stop being an assistant and start being an operator. That shift is worth several dollars an hour.

   Red flag / green flag

   Spot the difference

   Same situation, two ways it can go.

   The weekly report you send the owner

   Red flag

   "Great week! Revenue was $18,400 and we got 340 orders, up from last week. Traffic is up too. Everything looks good!"

   No comparison basis, no margin, no problems named. "Everything looks good" from someone whose job is to spot problems means either nothing is being watched, or something is being hidden.

   Green flag

   "Revenue $18,400 (up 12% w/w) on 340 orders, AOV $54. But: 22% of that revenue came from the 30%-off code, so gross margin was 41% vs our usual 58%. We made more money and kept less of it. Two SKUs will stock out inside 9 days. Recommend we stop the code Friday and reorder TW-114 today."

   Revenue with margin attached, the uncomfortable truth stated plainly, and two specific recommendations. Owners of small businesses live and die on cash and margin, not on revenue.

   Copy-paste

   Steal this

   Swap the bracketed bits and send.

   Weekly store report

   In the email body, same structure weekly. The 'what I'd do' section is what gets you promoted.

   Copy template to clipboard

   [STORE] — week ending [date]
   
   MONEY
   Revenue: $[n] ([+/-n]% w/w, [+/-n]% vs same week last year)
   Orders: [n] | AOV: $[n]
   Gross margin: [n]% ([+/-n] pts) ← if this dropped, explain it here, not later
   Discount as % of revenue: [n]%
   Refunds: $[n] ([n]% of revenue)
   
   CUSTOMERS
   Conversion rate: [n]% ([+/-n])
   New vs returning: [n]% / [n]%
   Repeat purchase rate: [n]%
   Support tickets: [n] ([n] per 100 orders ← this is the quality metric)
   Top 3 ticket reasons: [reason] [n], [reason] [n], [reason] [n]
   
   INVENTORY
   ⚠ Stockout risk within 14 days: [SKU] ([n] days), [SKU] ([n] days)
   Overstock / slow movers: [SKU] — [n] days of cover
   Reorders placed: [SKU] × [n] units
   
   TOP + BOTTOM
   Best seller: [SKU] — [n] units, $[n]
   Biggest faller: [SKU] — [n] units ([+/-n]%). My read: [reason]
   
   WHAT I'D DO NEXT WEEK
   1. [Specific, with the reason and the expected effect]
   2. [Specific]
   3. [Specific]
   
   NEEDS A DECISION FROM YOU
   [One thing. What the options are, and what I'd pick.]

   Do this

   Build the Tidewater weekly dashboard from invented but internally consistent numbers across four weeks, including one deliberate anomaly you have to diagnose.

   Hand in: A four-week dashboard sheet plus one written weekly summary with two reads, actions taken, and decisions needed.≈ 70 min

   Check before you call it done

   • Every metric has a prior-period comparison
   • Revenue is labelled gross or net, correctly
   • Refund rate is shown by orders and by revenue
   • There is an inventory risk section with a cash number attached
   • Your two reads name a probable cause, not just the change
   • You separated what you did from what you need the owner to decide

   Mark module done
8. 08

   Capstone: one simulated week at Tidewater

   You finish with a portfolio that proves accuracy under a workload, which is the only thing an ecommerce client is actually buying.Rates2 templates90 min

   • Run one full simulated week rather than producing disconnected samples. The tickets should relate to the SKUs, the refund should show up in the dashboard, the stockout should appear in the exception report.
   • Consistency across the pack is the whole trick. If the returns log says TW-BOOT-TRK-42 and the dashboard says TW-BOOT-042, a detail-oriented client just learned you are not detail-oriented.
   • Show the before and after on the product data explicitly. It is the single most persuasive artefact in this niche, because every store owner knows their catalogue is a mess.
   • State plainly on every file that the store, products, customers and orders are simulated. Nobody is impressed by leaked client data and the good clients are actively put off by it.

   Worked example — The nine files

   1. Product master sheet, 40 SKUs, before and after tabs

   2. Import-ready CSV plus the QA checklist and QA log

   3. Two optimised Shopify product pages, screenshotted from your dev store

   4. Two Amazon-style listings, before and after, with the keyword sheet

   5. Inventory exception report with a stockout forecast

   6. Order and returns tracker for the simulated week

   7. Twelve support macros plus the refund authority table

   8. One marketplace case or escalation writeup with evidence attached

   9. Weekly dashboard with two reads, plus the escalation matrix from module 4

   Add a three-minute Loom walking through the before and after of the catalogue. Ecommerce owners hire fast when they can see the mess disappear.

   What this pays

   Pricing the Tidewater skill set

   Ecommerce is one of the easiest niches to sell fixed-price projects in, because the deliverable is obvious. Use projects to get in, then convert to retainer.

   Swipe the table sideways →

   Experience	Hourly (USD)	Monthly (USD)	What changes it
   Listing optimisation (per product)	1–2 hrs each	$8–25 per listing	Easiest first sale. Offer 5 free to a small brand to build proof.
   Store audit + fix list	4–8 hrs	$150–400 one-off	Great door-opener. Roughly half convert into ongoing work.
   Catalogue migration / bulk upload	Per 100 SKUs	$100–350 per 100 SKUs	Price by SKU count, never by hour. You'll get faster; keep the upside.
   Store ops retainer — 20 hrs/wk	$7–12 effective	$600–1,100	Support, orders, listings, daily report.
   Full ops retainer — 40 hrs/wk	$8–15 effective	$1,300–2,500	Adds inventory, reporting, email flows. This is the goal.

   This table has 4 columns and scrolls horizontally on small screens.

   Fixed-price projects beat hourly in ecommerce because deliverables are countable. Get faster, earn more per hour, and nobody argues about your timesheet.

   Copy-paste

   Steal these

   Swap the bracketed bits and send.

   Ecommerce VA portfolio one-pager

   Store owners care about two things: will you break my store, and will you save me time. Answer both above the fold.

   Copy template to clipboard

   [YOUR NAME] — Ecommerce Ops VA
   [email] | Works [hours] [timezone] | [portfolio link]
   
   PLATFORMS
   Shopify admin · Amazon Seller Central · Gorgias · Klaviyo · Google Sheets (pivot tables, VLOOKUP)
   
   WORKED EXAMPLE — TIDEWATER (practice scenario, not a paid client)
   A simulated week at a DTC brand running Shopify + Amazon, ~600 orders/month.
   
   What I built and ran:
   1. Daily open/close checklist — order exceptions, support queue, low stock, daily report [link]
   2. CSV import pre-flight — the checklist that stops a bulk upload eating a catalogue [link]
   3. Store change log — every edit, before/after, with a rollback plan [link]
   4. 7 support macros covering ~80% of incoming tickets [link]
   5. Listing optimisation brief for an underperforming SKU, with diagnosis [link]
   6. Weekly report showing margin, not just revenue [link]
   
   HOW I WORK WITH LIVE STORES
   • My own staff account, minimum permissions — never your password
   • Theme duplicated before any visual change
   • Full export before any bulk operation
   • Every change logged with before/after
   • Written approval required for: prices, deletions, settings, apps, anything over 50 records
   
   WHAT I'LL TELL YOU THAT OTHERS WON'T
   Revenue up doesn't mean profit up. My weekly report leads with margin and inventory cover, because that's what actually decides whether a small store survives.
   
   4-minute walkthrough: [Loom link]

   First-week onboarding request

   Send on day one. Getting this right prevents about 80% of first-month problems.

   Copy template to clipboard

   Hi [name] — excited to get going. Here's what I need to be useful fast.
   
   ACCESS (my own accounts please, never your password)
   • Shopify: staff account for [your email] — Orders, Products, Customers, Reports. I don't need Settings or Finances yet.
   • Amazon: User Permissions invite — [the specific sections]
   • Helpdesk: agent seat
   • Shared drive folder for exports and backups
   
   ANSWERS I NEED
   1. Who decides on refunds over $[n]? What's my limit to act alone?
   2. What's the shipping promise we make, per region?
   3. Return window and who pays return shipping?
   4. Reorder point per SKU — or should I work that out and propose it?
   5. Which 5 products make you the most money? (Not the most sales — the most money.)
   6. What's gone wrong before that you don't want repeating?
   7. Who do I contact if the site goes down and you're asleep?
   
   WHAT I'LL SEND YOU
   • Daily: 6-line report at end of my shift
   • Weekly: full report with margin and stock risk
   • Immediately: anything broken, any stockout risk inside 14 days, any policy warning
   
   FIRST WEEK PLAN
   Day 1–2: read-only. Watch the queue, learn the products, ask questions, change nothing.
   Day 3–4: take over support with you spot-checking my replies.
   Day 5: first weekly report, plus a list of what I think is worth fixing first.
   
   Anything you'd add or reorder?

   Do this

   Assemble the nine files into one folder for Tidewater Supply Co, ensuring every SKU, order and ticket cross-references correctly, then write the index page and record the Loom.

   Hand in: A public-view folder link you can paste into any application.≈ 90 min

   Check before you call it done

   • SKU codes match identically across all nine files
   • The refund in the returns log appears in the dashboard numbers
   • The stockout in the exception report matches the inventory in the master sheet
   • Every file is labelled as simulated data for a fictional store
   • The index explains each file in one line, ordered by what a client cares about
   • The Loom is under four minutes and shows the data before and after
   • You checked the share link in a private browser window

   Mark module done

Six situations that come up in real work. Pick an answer for each, then check. Nothing is recorded.

1. 01You need to update prices on 200 products via CSV. What is the safest approach?

   ABuild a fresh CSV with SKU and price columns only, and import itBExport the current products, edit the price column in that file, test two rows, then importCExport, edit in a new spreadsheet, and import the whole thing at onceDEdit them manually, imports are too risky

2. 02An Amazon listing is suppressed. First move?

   AOpen a support case immediatelyBRelist the product as a new ASINCRead the notification to find the named attribute or policy, then fix that specific thingDMessage the owner and wait for instructions

3. 03A customer's refund request is $40 over the threshold you were given.

   AApprove it, keeping the customer happy is the pointBDeny it, rules are rulesCSend the owner a one-line recommendation with the reason and the ticket, and hold the replyDSplit it, refund up to your threshold only

4. 04Conversion rate fell from 2.4% to 1.6% while sessions rose 35%. What do you report?

   AThe store is broken, something is wrong with checkoutBNothing, sessions are up so traffic is going wellCThat a traffic-source change most likely brought lower-intent visitors, naming the campaign and its start dateDThat the products need lower prices

5. 05A supplier suggests you post a five-star review on the client's product to help the launch.

   ADo it, it's one reviewBDo it from a different accountCRefuse and tell the client the request was madeDAsk the client to do it themselves

6. 06Your first day. The client sends their Shopify owner login and Amazon master credentials.

   AUse them, they offeredBUse them but enable two-factor on your own deviceCAsk for a staff account with the permissions the work needs, and explain in one line whyDRefuse to start until they hire a security consultant

Walk away when you see these

Not every one of these is a scam. Some are just clients who will cost you more than they pay you, which ends the same way.

• Asks for fake, incentivised or exchanged reviews

  Direct marketplace policy violation. Suspensions are frequently permanent, and you were the one clicking.

• Wants you working from the owner's master login

  Both Shopify and Amazon support staff accounts. Without one, every mistake in the account is attributable to you with no way to disprove it.

• Product photos or copy lifted from another seller

  Counterfeit and IP complaints kill listings and accounts, and the person who uploaded them is you.

• Refuses to approve prices, discounts, refunds or claims in writing

  You will be blamed for every judgment call you were forced to make alone. Get an authority table before week one ends.

• "Just adjust the inventory numbers so it stays live"

  That is overselling. It becomes cancellations, defects on the account, and eventually a suspension.

• Asks you to handle chargebacks or payment credentials

  Financial disputes need account authority you should never have, and personal payment details are never your business.

• Holds you responsible for policy violations on settings you cannot see

  Responsibility without access is the definition of a setup. Ask for the access or decline the responsibility.

• Pays per listing at a rate that only works if you skip QA

  Piece rates on catalogue work quietly incentivise errors, and the errors are the thing you are being hired to prevent.