How to Work With a Virtual Assistant to Source Products Using Replen Catcher

I recently got a question from David, a user of our Replen Catcher software.

He asked me:

“Steve, I’m going to start working with a virtual assistant who will help me find products using Replen Catcher to sell on Amazon FBA. What daily goals should I set for them? How should I pay them — per product, per hour, or per day?”

I’ve been working with a virtual assistant team for about five years now in my eBay to Amazon flipping business.

Over the last year, we’ve purchased and sold over 6,300 items for around $700,000 in sales, which came out to about $175,000 in profit.

So I have a lot of real-world experience in this area.

Right now, I have two full-time sourcers in the Philippines who purchase inventory for me full time.

I found them on a site called OnlineJobs.ph. 

That’s a site where you pay a monthly subscription to post a job listing and get access to hundreds of thousands of workers in the Philippines.

You can interview and hire them directly from there.

Once you’ve made your hire, you can cancel your subscription — you’re just paying to access that pool of talent.

Aside from my two sourcers, I also have a full-time admin who handles backend work like fixing stranded inventory and high pricing errors, a part-time repricer, and a full-time bookkeeper — all based in the Philippines.

Now let’s get into answering David’s question

What Daily Goals Should You Set?

In my business, we have three main daily goals:

• How much money we want to spend each day (daily spend)
  
• The minimum ROI we’re looking for
  
• The minimum profit per item

Those are the main three numbers, but there’s more to it than that. 

You also need to make sure you train your virtual assistant on exactly what types of products you want them to go after.

When you’re doing eBay to Amazon flipping, there are certain products that can get you in trouble — things that can lead to IP complaints or counterfeit complaints.

I’ve trained my team to be able to spot which products are safe and which ones aren’t.

I even made a YouTube video called How to Fly Under the Radar that you can share with your VA.

Click Here to watch the Full Video

It’s also important to set standards for how quickly you want the items to sell.

You could buy something with a high ROI and great profit, but if it takes 10 months to sell, that might not be worth it.

In my business, most of the items we source, we aim to sell within two to four weeks.

Some categories, like books or DVDs, can take one to three months depending on your model.

We focus heavily on toys, office supplies, electronics, and tools.

DVDs and books are fine, but they often take a little longer to sell.

How to Train Them in the Beginning

Before I ever give a new VA access to my eBay account (which has my credit card stored in it), I go through a trial period.

During this period, they are only sourcing leads — no buying.

Here’s what I do:

• I have them use Replen Catcher to find potential deals.
  
• They fill out a spreadsheet with the link to the deal, the buy price, the estimated sell price, and the profit and ROI.
  
• We run everything through SellerAmp to get accurate numbers.
  
• I review every deal they submit and give them feedback.

I use Loom.com to record screen shares so they can see exactly what I’m talking about.

For the first month, they aren’t allowed to buy anything.

The goal during this time is to hit them over the head with feedback — what to look for, what to avoid, common mistakes, IP and counterfeit risk, how to read Keepa charts, how to use SellerAmp, and how to get comfortable with Replen Catcher.

We train them on how to use the Livestream, the Replens area, and how to add replens inside Replen Catcher.

Once they understand the process, we start slow.

Maybe they can buy one item per day, then two, then three, and eventually, over time, you can get to the point I’m at now where my team can spend up to $50,000 a month without my approvals. 

That only happens after months and months of training and trust.

Staying Organized with E2A Mastersheet

One tool that’s been a game changer for us is E2A MasterSheet.

It connects your eBay account to Amazon and pulls in all your purchases automatically.

With E2A MasterSheet you can:

• See exactly how much your team is purchasing
  
• Track daily and weekly spend
  
• Calculate ROI and profit
  
• Keep all your tracking numbers in one place
  
• Make listing easier and keep your whole business organized

If you’re going to have a VA sourcing and buying for you, this tool will save you a ton of time and make it easy to know exactly what’s going on in your business.

How I Pay My Virtual Assistants

I pay my team through PayPal.

They send me an invoice every week, and I check it against a spreadsheet where we track their hours and what they accomplished each day.

Some VAs prefer Wise.com because it has lower fees, but I stick with PayPal because it’s simple for me.

Paying Per Item vs Per Hour

I know sellers who pay per item, but I prefer to pay per hour.

Early on, they won’t be finding many products, especially in eBay to Amazon sourcing, and per-item pay can be discouraging.

It also makes their income inconsistent, which can cause them to look for other work.

Paying hourly gives them stability, and I can still set standards and hold them accountable.

Right now, my full-time sourcers make around $5 an hour for 40 hours a week.

Sometimes you can find good people for $4 an hour or less.

I also offer incentives if they hit certain goals, like spending a set amount in a day or hitting a profit target.

At the time I’m writing this, my team is spending about $1,000 a day, averaging a 57% ROI, with about $32 profit per item, and buying 20–25 items per day.

Final Thoughts

Working with a VA is an investment.

The first couple of months are a negative ROI because you’re training, giving feedback, and helping them learn.

But if you take the time to train them right, set clear goals, and use tools like Replen Catcher, SellerAmp, Keepa, and E2A MasterSheet, you can build a sourcing team that runs like a well-oiled machine.