Ask two sellers about their ecommerce virtual assistant pricing and you’ll hear $6.50 an hour from one and $45 from the other. Neither one is wrong, because they hired two very different people.
That is why the cost of a VA varies much. The platform is not what determines the price. Three things determine the price: where the VA lives, how you hire the VA and how hard the VA’s job is. Hiring a VA for your Amazon, Shopify or TikTok Shop store? Here is how much a VA actually costs in 2026 with benchmarks so you can budget for 2027 without guessing.
Key Takeaways
In 2026 and 2027, most businesses hiring a capable ecommerce virtual assistant land in one of these bands:
- Offshore VA (dedicated or through a recruiter): $4 to $10 per hour, up to $18 for experienced Shopify VAs. A recruiter finds and replaces people, and you manage the VA day to day. Amazon’s core band is $6.50 to $10. Shopify runs $5 to $9 at entry level and $9 to $18 at mid level. TikTok Shop spans $3 to $12, depending on the role.
- Managed VA from an agency: $8 to $20 per hour. Quality checks, backup and replacements are handled for you.
- Freelancer on Upwork or Fiverr: $10 to $20 per hour for general VAs, and more for experts. You do the vetting and replacing yourself.
- US or UK VA: $25 to $50 per hour for Amazon and Shopify work. Choose this when you need the same working hours and native English.
- Specialist freelancer (PPC and similar): $45 to $150 per hour.
- Agency retainer: $1,500 to $5,000+ monthly, most common for Amazon PPC and TikTok Shop creator management. Amazon PPC agencies often charge 10 to 20% of ad spend instead.
Price depends on the job, not the platform. Everyday tasks like answering emails, processing orders and entering data stay at the lower end of the range on any platform. Specialized work costs more: running Amazon ads, customizing a Shopify store or setting up its apps, and managing TikTok creator programs.
Full-time quotes can mislead. Some monthly prices cover only 80 to 120 hours, not 160, so divide the price by the hours you actually get to find the real hourly rate.
A $1,360/month Amazon VA pays for itself if it saves you about 6 to 7 hours a week, assuming your time is worth $50 an hour.
What a Virtual Assistant Costs by Hiring Model
| How you hire | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer (Upwork, Fiverr) | $10 to $20/hr for general VAs; experts cost more | One-off projects or short tasks. You do the vetting and replacing yourself. |
| Overseas VA through a recruiter | $4 to $10/hr, with experienced Shopify VAs reaching up to $18/hr | Ongoing, daily work. The recruiter finds and replaces people, and you manage the VA day to day. |
| Managed VA from an agency (e.g., Crew27 Marketing) | $8 to $20/hr | You want quality checks, backup and replacements handled for you. |
| US/UK-based VA | $25 to $50/hr | You need the same working hours and native English. |
| Agency retainer | $1,500 to $5,000+/month | You’re paying for results, not hours. |
Amazon VA Pricing
- Offshore VA: $6.50 to $10/hr
- US/UK VA: $25 to $50/hr
- Agency retainer: $1,500 to $5,000+/month
Why Amazon PPC Costs More
A VA who monitors campaigns and pulls reports fits the normal hourly rate. Strategy is a different price:
- Agency: $1,500 to $5,000/month, or 10 to 20% of ad spend
- In-house specialist: $80,000 to $120,000/year (about $6,700 to $10,000/month)
- Example: at 20% of spend, $100,000/month in ads means $20,000/month to an agency
Shopify VA Pricing
- US/Canada/UK VA: $25 to $50+/hr
- US ecommerce coordinator: $22 to $35/hr
- Per-task freelancer: $30 to $100 per task
Offshore Shopify VAs cost less: $5 to $9/hr at entry level and $9 to $18/hr at mid level. The rates above are for US-based help.
Skill sets the price
Running the store (orders, listings, updates) sits at the low end. Changing the store is a different price:
- App integrations
- Landing pages
- Light Liquid edits
This work sits at the high end of the range.
Monthly budget
$800 to $1,500/month is the sweet spot for most stores (DDIY). At US rates of $25/hr, that buys about 32 to 60 hours, which is part-time help. At entry-level offshore rates, it buys roughly full-time help.
TikTok Shop VA Pricing
TikTok Shop prices depend on the role. Editing and posting content sits at the low end. Running your affiliate and creator program costs more, because that’s where most of your sales come from.
Hourly rates
- Content / editing VA: $3 to $5 per hour. Edits videos, writes captions and schedules posts.
- Growth lead (through a VA company): $8 to $12 per hour. Manages listings and promotions, runs creator and affiliate outreach, and supports ads.
- TikTok Shop expert (Fiverr): $20 to $30 per hour. Best for one-off setup or strategy projects.
Monthly rates
- Full-time VA: about $1,000 per month. This is for an ops, community or affiliate role with 1+ year of experience, working only on your shop.
- Agency affiliate manager: $1,200 to $1,700 per month. Handles creator outreach and sample management.
- Managed full-time TikTok Shop VA: $1,500 to $2,500 per month. Comes with agency backup and replacement.
- Creator-management retainer: $2,000 to $5,000 per month. The agency recruits, messages and reports on creators for you.
Dedicated vs Shared VA Support: Price Differences
A dedicated VA works only on your store. A shared VA splits time across several clients, and you buy a block of hours.
Shared plans cost less per month because you buy fewer hours, not because each hour is cheaper. Offshore shared hours cost about the same as dedicated ones, or slightly more.
| Hiring model | Dedicated VA | Shared VA |
|---|---|---|
| Offshore, per hour | $4–$12 (Direct) $6–$15 (Agency) |
$7 to $15 |
| Offshore, per month | $1,000 to $1,920 (full-time agency); $480 to $1,280 (direct hire) | $80 to $600 (10 to 40 hours) |
| US-based, per hour | $25 to $59 | $25 to $47 |
| US-based, per month | $4,000 to $9,440 (full-time) | $250 to $1,880 (10 to 40 hours) |
| Best for | Steady daily work, 15 to 20+ hours a week | A few hours a month, simple tasks, or testing delegation |
Go dedicated if you have 20+ hours of steady weekly work, or if mistakes would cost you. Go shared if your workload is uneven or you’re still testing delegation. Either way, divide the plan price by the hours included so you know the real hourly rate.
What a VA Team Costs as Your Store Grows
| Stage | What you’re buying | Amazon | Shopify | TikTok Shop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | One part-time VA (about 80 hrs/month) | $600 | $2,000 | $320 |
| Growth | A full-time VA, or a VA plus content help | $1,360 | $4,000 | $1,320 |
| Scaling | Your VA team plus a specialist (PPC agency, advanced Shopify VA or affiliate manager) | $3,860 to $4,360 | $5,600 | $3,200 to $3,700 |
Takeaway: Most stores start at $300 to $600/month offshore and add specialists only when sales justify it. US-based Shopify help costs several times more at every stage.
Is a VA Worth the Cost? A Simple Break-Even Test
Break-even hours = monthly VA cost ÷ value of your hour
- A $1,360/month Amazon VA ÷ $50/hr = 27.2 hours a month, or roughly 6.3 hours a week.
- A $1,360/month Amazon VA ÷ $80/hr = 17 hours a month, or roughly 4 hours a week.
Track your own hours in Seller Central, Shopify admin or TikTok Seller Center for two weeks first. If the delegable work is below your break-even number, wait. If it’s above, the hire should pay for itself before you count stockouts or missed cases.
The exception is demand. If listings don’t convert or the product isn’t differentiated, a VA will only run a business that isn’t selling. Fix demand first.
Where Crew27 Marketing Fits on Price
Crew27 Marketing is a managed ecommerce VA agency. Our trained assistants handle listings, customer support, orders, PPC support and TikTok Shop setup across Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop and Walmart. Plans run monthly, hourly or full-time with no long-term contracts, and you can scale up as your store grows. That places us in the managed VA band of roughly $8 to $20 per hour, above a recruiter-placed VA and well below a US-based hire. Exact rates depend on your scope, so request a quote and see the current plans on the packages page. You can also read about the services we offer.
Want a Real Number? Get a Quote for Your Store
A rate table gives you a budget. Your actual price depends on your platform, your hours and the work you hand off. Tell Crew27 Marketing what’s eating your week, and we’ll scope the right VA and price it before you commit. Not sure what to delegate yet? Book a 30-minute call and we’ll go through your workload together. Ready to move? Request a quote. You can also compare our support packages first.
