Starting a business is not an easy thing to do. You need to be brave enough to deal with gaps in knowledge, patient enough to wait for things to happen, and willing to make countless mistakes. It takes commitment, smarts, and a little luck.
You also need an endless amount of hours to dedicate to small and repetitive tasks. Especially when it comes to hosting your business on reselling platforms. While we might not love having to sink our whole weekend into answering customer DMs it’s a huge part of what will make us successful.
So, what if there was a way to have someone else deal with all those things you don’t love about owning a business? What if you had hours and hours to do only what you enjoyed instead? The answer is getting a virtual assistant.
If you’re a Poshmark reseller then this article will help make your life so much easier. We’ll talk about having Poshmark virtual assistant (VA). What they are and how they can ease your workload. We’ll also discuss how to find the perfect poshmark VA for your business and some alternatives if you’re not ready to onboard one just yet.
What is a virtual assistant?
Before we talk about how a virtual assistant can help your business, the first step is to define who they are and what they do. A virtual assistant (also known as a VA) is an independent contractor you can hire to take care of the stuff you’re too busy to do.
They’re a small business owner’s dream since they can work anywhere from a couple of hours a week to a full-time shift. While they mostly work online (hence the virtual) you can still find some in your local area if you need someone to do in-person tasks.
A great VA will have a mix of soft and technical skills to fit perfectly into the type of work you need them to do. Below we put together a rough list of the skills most VAs should offer.
- Social Media – If answering customer DMs for 4hs a day sounds like the worst thing to ever happen to you, then you probably need a VA. They can take care of incoming questions, schedule your posts, create graphics, and even do captions and hashtag research.
- Customer Service – Have you ever answered the same question 6 times in a row? Did it make you want to pull your hair out? A VA will take that off your plate and make sure your customers are getting quality service pre and post-purchase.
- Business Development – In the world of reselling businesses specifically trend research is key. If it’s not your favorite task you can ask your VA to take care of that for you. They can do in-depth reporting so all you need to do is hit your local thrift stores for the right pieces.
- Accounting – One of the biggest problems resellers tend to have is that the numbers part of the business is not their strong suit. They much rather do the creative side. The good news? A VA can absolutely upkeep your books for you.
- Logistics – From chasing down a courier to making sure packing supplies are ordered and delivered to your front door, a good VA will keep everything running smoothly. They can even drop by the post office to ship out orders if you choose one in the same city as you.
- Inventory – This skill is also better suited to VAs in your geographical area, but if you find it hard to keep physical track of your inventory they can help. They can catalog, store, and tag items exactly how you need them to.
How is a Poshmark virtual assistant different?
When it comes to VAs that specialize in Poshmark businesses, their skillset can be a little different. While they can still keep your inventory updated and handle your social media account, they can also do tasks specifically related to the platform.
For example, a virtual assistant can research what accounts to follow for your business. They know that the right user can put your items in front of the right people and potentially bring in tons of sales. Not only can they look into what accounts to follow but they can also do the following themselves.
A good Poshmark virtual assistant will also already understand the importance of sharing a listing and exactly when to do so. From sharing your own closet to community shares, they can build the right strategy for you. The outcome of that is your listings ending up at the top of key search results.
What to look for in a Poshmark virtual assistant?
Finding a Poshmark virtual assistant (or any VA for that matter) should always start with choosing someone with the right skills. But, that’s not all you need to look out for when choosing the perfect person.
Here are some additional things to check out before committing to anyone:
- Types of skills – As we mentioned in the section above, finding a VA with specific Poshmark platform skills can save you a lot of time. Instead of training them on how everything works you just have to give them your login info. They might even end up teaching you a thing or two instead.
- Experience – The more experience your potential Poshmark virtual assistant has the less onboarding you’ll have to do. While those with more experience do tend to be more expensive, sometimes it’s worth the extra investment upfront to save yourself time and effort. And, someone with experience can also become a great source of knowledge for things you might be stuck on.
- Reviews – The same way you check for reviews when you buy anything else, you should also do it when shopping for a VA. It’s, most of the time, the one place you can find unbiased opinions on their quality of work. Plus, if they reply to any publicly it can also give you a glimpse into how they deal with customer service situations.
- Proven stats – This one is not something you want to overlook. While them knowing what they’re doing is great, a virtual assistant that can actually prove they’re great is a game-changer. Any kind of report, numbers, or proof on how they’ve helped previous Poshers should go to the top of your list.
- Price – This has less to do with fitting in your budget and more to do with how confident they are in their abilities. While this of course isn’t a one size fits all thing, how much they’re charging can give you some clue. Someone who charges significantly under market value might be quite new to the game.
Where to find a good Poshmark virtual assistant?
If you’ve already decided that a Poshmark virtual assistant is exactly what your business is missing, now it’s time to start the search. Here are a few places your next favorite employee might be hiding:
- Facebook groups – This is one of the biggest hidden secrets when it comes to filling any kind of job. Most VAs want to be found so they’ll hang around online spaces where they know Poshmark business owners are. Some good Facebook groups include this one, this one, and this one. A friendly reminder to always remember to read the group rules first!
- Word of mouth – You probably talk to a few other Poshmark sellers already. Use that network to your advantage and ask them if they know any good Poshmark virtual assistants. They might not, but they might be able to ask their own contacts instead.
- Social media – This one will bring up a sea of options, so be sure to have a premade list of what you’re looking for. You can start the search by looking up “Poshmark virtual assistant” and see what pops up in terms of hashtags and users. From there just go down the rabbit hole until someone catches your eye.
- Gig platforms – While you can find some very experienced people with this tactic, most of the time it’s better for business owners with a smaller budget. Websites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Contra are all good options. These are all online marketplaces for independent freelancers to offer their services. But, because the landscape is so competitive you’ll find a large array of pricing options with visible reviews you can choose from.
- Job boards – If you just want the options to come to you instead of sifting through countless profiles, posting on a job board might be best. Look for one where creative and freelancing jobs tend to be plenty and then post what you’re looking for. This will also help weed out those candidates that don’t have the skills you’re posting on the job description.
How much does a Poshmark virtual assistant cost?
As with most things we pay money for, how much a Poshmark virtual assistant costs will vary quite a lot. Someone with 3 years of experience won’t cost the same as a newbie. On that same note, someone working from a country with a lower cost of living won’t price their services the same as someone living somewhere else.
On the lowest part of the pricing scale, you can have virtual assistants charging as little as $1 per hour. They tend to require lots of additional training and tend to be available for only a few hours every week. On the higher side of the pricing scale, there will be VAs charging upwards of $100 per hour. While they might be very worth the return in investment if they can bring in tons of sales, it is a big chunk of money to commit to upfront.
Another thing to keep into account is that many Poshmark virtual assistants specifically will charge on an action-based system. Pricing per action means that you pay based on how many shares, likes, or follows they perform within a specific timeframe.
As a reference point, the company Virtual Posh Assistant will charge $59 a month for up to 3000 shares per day. Their next tier offers 3550+ shares a day for $99. Their highest price point gives you 4000 shares a day, 500 targeted follows, and 500 community sharebacks for a 6-month timeline at $480 total.
Compared to using a poshmark automation software here, the price can seem quite steep. Most automation software tools will run you well under $60 per month.
What are the risks of hiring a Poshmark virtual assistant?
While we can’t deny there are tons of benefits to hiring a Poshmark virtual assistant, there are also some risks that are worth mentioning. For starters, there’s the obvious of giving someone access to all your login information.
They’ll be able to see all your analytics, all your conversations with customers, and any other sensitive information you might be storing on your account. You run the risk, however unlikely, that they’ll lock you out of your business and steal it for themselves. The good news is that there are ways you can prevent this from happening. Softwares like Lastpass offer a secure vault-type situation where you can store and manage all your passwords and login details. Your VA can have their own account, you’ll share the info with them with the actual password hidden, and they’ll be able to access your Poshmark account without ever knowing the actual password.
Another big risk is getting put into what some people call share jail. On Poshmark frequent sharing or any kind of weird type of pattern will get your account flagged. From there it’s a short step to having your account suspended or permanently banned. One way around this is to hire a VA that has specific Poshmark experience. You don’t want to risk your hard-earned business work going down the drain because of a preventable mistake.
Are there alternatives to a Poshmark virtual assistant?
If a virtual assistant to help with your Poshmark business isn’t something you want to commit to just yet, there are some alternatives you can explore. Specifically, Poshmark bots.
These bots are actually software designed to complete those repetitive yet simple tasks that eat up most of your free time. Some just require a download to add it as an extension to your browser, while others can be downloaded right onto your laptop. The first option means they’ll only be in use when your browser is open while the second option will run as long as it has internet access.
A Poshmark bot can help with essentially the same things an actual virtual assistant can and generally, for a much lower price. They can do things like sharing your listings, following other accounts, and doing regular community shares.
What they can’t do however is the more detailed tasks a VA can. Things like dealing with customer service issues, chasing down lost shipments, or keeping inventory of all incoming pieces. Another big thing worth noting is that using a bot instead of a VA means the risk of leaked information or a stolen account is much, much lower.
What are the best Poshmark bots available today?
There are so many Poshmark bots available today that you’ll be hard pressed not to find one that works for your needs. However, there are some that have become more popular than others thanks to the features they offer.
The poshmark bot that we recommend is one by SellerAider. It’s a poshmark bot that supports poshmark compliant features which speed up your manual work in a “non-bot” way. You can try it out for free here
So, is a Poshmark virtual assistant right for you?
At the end of the day, it will depend on several factors. From how large your business is to the types of tasks you really don’t like doing. Even your budget will influence if it’s time to get a Poshmark VA.
If you decide that hiring a virtual assistant is the way to go then we recommend doing your research to find the right person for the job. There are thousands of options out there to choose from. From large to small agencies, independent contractors, virtual assistants that specialize in Poshmark, and those that don’t but are still great.
Make a list of all the tasks you want to be taken off your plate, choose your budget, then start your search. Once you find someone that you can connect with on a personal level and who ticks off all your workboxes all there’s left to do is sit back and watch them do their magic.