Pricing: Shopify VA and Store Operations | ScaleWise VA

Pricing

Priced by the work, not by a package.

A dedicated VA is billed by the hour, at the rates below. Store operations and builds are quoted after a 30-minute call, because they depend on your store. Most VAs are matched and briefed within 3 to 5 business days.

  • Dedicated VA

    $4 to $8+ an hour

    One trained VA on your listings, orders, support and daily store tasks. The rate depends on the role and experience.

    • The same person every time
    • From 5 hours a week
    • Month to month, two weeks’ notice
    • Every hour logged in Tarly with task detail
    • A two-week trial at the agreed rate
    Book a 30-min callEvery role and rate

  • Monthly retainer

    Quoted per store

    Ongoing operations for a growing store: daily store management, customer support, design and growth work from a dedicated team.

    • Dedicated specialists on your store
    • Hours scoped to your monthly volume
    • Weekly check-ins and a monthly review
    • Direct access on Slack or email
    • Time and activity visible in Tarly
    Book a 30-min callStore management

  • Project

    Quoted per project

    Fixed-scope work with a clear deliverable: new store launches, redesigns, migrations and one-off builds.

    • A discovery and scoping call
    • A defined deliverable and timeline
    • One point of contact
    • Source files and documentation handed over
    • 30 days of support after launch
    Book a 30-min callStores we have worked on

What store owners say

4.9 from 17 reviews on Fiverr

  • Alwaz manages our Shopify store as a virtual assistant. I highly recommend him to anyone seeking support within his areas of expertise, he consistently completes tasks efficiently and effectively.

    Memduh G. Store founder and CEO · Upwork

  • Smart suggestions and very responsive. For the first time I am confident my Shopify store is in the right hands.

    Rex M. United States · Fiverr, repeat client

  • Alwaz is efficient, reliable, and proactive. He made our store operations smooth and stress-free. Highly recommended.

    Carey N. United States · Fiverr

Not sure which fits?

Two minutes, or a side-by-side.

Take the quiz

Five questions about your store, and a recommendation for the way in that fits it.

The 2-minute quiz

See how we compare

Cost, hours and what you get, set beside the other ways to get the work done.

Questions

About the price.

Alwaz Tahir

Reviewed by Alwaz Tahir, founder of ScaleWise VA. Updated .

How much does a Shopify VA cost?

From $4 to $8 or more an hour, depending on the role and the VA’s experience. Every role and its rate is on the hire page, and the rate is agreed before anyone starts.

Is there a minimum or a contract?

A dedicated VA starts from 5 hours a week, month to month, with two weeks’ notice. There is no long contract to sign.

Can I try a VA before committing?

Yes. The first two weeks are a trial at the agreed rate, so you see the work before you settle in.

How is a monthly retainer priced?

By the hours your store needs each month, which we scope on a 30-minute call from your order volume, your support load and the work you want done. You get a written quote after the call.

How do I see what I am paying for?

Every hour is logged in Tarly, our own portal, with the task it was spent on, so the invoice matches work you can read.

A price for your store, in writing.

A 30-minute call about what the store needs, then a written quote. No package to fit into.

Book a 30-min callOr see every VA role and rate
Question 1 of 5What best describes your store?

Compared

Hiring in-house vs ScaleWise VA

A salary buys one person's week, plus employer costs, holiday, equipment and the hours you spend recruiting and training. A ScaleWise VA team buys the store's work: Shopify-trained people from day one, cover when someone is away, written procedures, and hours that follow the season instead of a fixed headcount.

What you pay forIn-house hireA salary, plus employer contributions, holiday and equipment on top of it, whether the month is busy or quiet.ScaleWise VAHours. Hourly VA tiers start at $4 to $8 an hour depending on the work; most clients are on a monthly retainer scoped to their volume.
CoverIn-house hireNone by default. Holiday, sickness and notice periods are yours to absorb or to hire around.ScaleWise VAA second person on the team knows each store. Cover is part of the arrangement, not an extra.
Time to startIn-house hireAdvertise, shortlist, interview, notice period, onboarding. Weeks at best.ScaleWise VAA discovery call, a scope, and a start. Most engagements begin within a week of the call.
Shopify knowledge on day oneIn-house hireWhatever the candidate brings. Training is your time.ScaleWise VAShopify is the whole job. Flow, metafields, catalogue structure, apps, the admin at scale.
ProceduresIn-house hireLive in the person's head unless you write them down and keep them current.ScaleWise VAEvery recurring job has a written procedure in our portal, with a record of who has read it.
OversightIn-house hireYou, or a manager you also pay for.ScaleWise VATime logs and screenshots on every invoice, and one person (the founder) you talk to about all of it.
Where the work happensIn-house hireIn your building, at a desk you provide.ScaleWise VAInside your Shopify admin and your helpdesk, from Islamabad, covering your working hours wherever you are: US, UK, European or Australian.
Ending itIn-house hireNotice periods, and in the UK and EU a process. Fair to the employee, slow for you.ScaleWise VATwo weeks' notice on a retainer. No severance, no process.
Book a 30-min call

Compared

An Upwork freelancer vs ScaleWise VA

Running a store is daily work, and daily work needs cover, a second opinion and procedures that outlive any one person. A single freelancer brings none of those, and the platform takes a cut of every hour on both sides. A ScaleWise VA team brings all three, with no platform fee and the time behind every invoice.

What you payUpwork freelancerThe freelancer's hourly rate plus Upwork's client fees: a marketplace fee on every invoice and a one-time contract initiation fee per contract. The freelancer pays a separate service fee out of their side, and since July 2026 Upwork sets that fee per contract by algorithm, so the rate you see is not the rate they keep.ScaleWise VAHourly tiers from $4 to $8 an hour on the Hire pages, or a monthly retainer scoped to volume. No platform fee on either side; you pay us directly.
ContinuityUpwork freelancerOne person. When they take a better contract, get ill or go quiet, the work stops and the search starts again.ScaleWise VAA team of ten. Every store has a second person who knows it, and the procedures are ours to keep current, not one person's memory.
OversightUpwork freelancerUpwork's work diary if you use hourly contracts; otherwise trust. You review the output yourself.ScaleWise VATime and screenshots captured in our own portal on every invoice, a written procedure per job, and a founder you can call.
Finding the right personUpwork freelancerYours to do: post, screen, interview, test. Most owners spend more on this than they expect and do it more than once.ScaleWise VADone once, by us, when we hire. You get the person who fits the store and a replacement if the fit is wrong.
BreadthUpwork freelancerOne skill set. The listings person is rarely also the support person and the Flow person.ScaleWise VAListings, support, inventory, store fixes, builds and ads inside one arrangement, with the right person on each.
Track record you can checkUpwork freelancerThe profile's reviews, which are real but tell you about past clients' tasks, not yours.ScaleWise VA15 public case studies with the client named, and 4.9 from 17 reviews on Fiverr where we also sell.
ExitUpwork freelancerEnd the contract. Whatever they knew leaves with them.ScaleWise VATwo weeks' notice; the procedures and the clean store stay with you.
Book a 30-min call

Compared

A Shopify agency vs ScaleWise VA

A build agency is paid for the launch. We are paid for the store: new builds, redesigns, custom apps and integrations, and then the daily work after launch, the listings, the inbox, the inventory, the fixes and the ads, by one team, month after month.

The unit of workShopify agencyA project with a scope, a timeline and a handover. Retainers exist but are priced from developer day rates.ScaleWise VABoth: scoped projects (a new store, a redesign, a migration, a custom app) and a month of operations scoped in hours to your volume.
Who does the workShopify agencyDesigners, developers, a project manager, an account lead, priced at senior day rates for every task.ScaleWise VADevelopers for the build work, and Shopify operators for the daily work: catalogue, support, inventory and ads, each task priced for what it is.
After launchShopify agencyA support period, then a change request process. Small jobs queue behind big ones.ScaleWise VAThere is no after launch. The daily work is the engagement.
Custom developmentShopify agencyApps, checkout, integrations, complex theme work.ScaleWise VACustom Shopify apps, integrations with your ERP, 3PL or CRM, theme work, Flow and metafields. The code and the repository are yours.
PricingShopify agencyQuoted per project or per retainer; rarely printed, and varies too widely by agency and market to summarise honestly here.ScaleWise VAHourly VA tiers from $4 to $8 an hour on the Hire pages; retainers scoped from a discovery call.
ProofShopify agencyA portfolio of launches, usually silent about what happened to the store afterwards.ScaleWise VA15 case studies about building and running stores: what the engagement was, what we did, what changed.
Ending itShopify agencyThe project ends by design. Retainers by notice.ScaleWise VATwo weeks' notice. Procedures stay with you.
Book a 30-min call

Compared

Alternatives to Belay, Wing and MyOutDesk for a Shopify store

A generalist assistant learns Shopify on your time. A ScaleWise VA operator arrives already knowing the catalogue, orders, returns, the customer inbox, the theme and the apps, and why the Flow broke, with hours scoped to the month instead of a full-time package.

What they are forGeneralist VA agencyExecutive, administrative and customer service assistants, placed with a business and managed by the agency. Shopify is one skill among many, if present.ScaleWise VAShopify store operations only. Ten people, all of whom work in Shopify admin every day.
Published priceGeneralist VA agencyMyOutDesk: "starting at $1,988/mo" for a full-time dedicated assistant, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (its pricing page, September 2026). Belay: no prices published; a flat monthly fee quoted on a call. Wing: the pricing page now goes to a call booking; no prices published.ScaleWise VAHourly tiers from $4 to $8 an hour on the Hire pages; monthly retainers scoped to volume from a discovery call. Hourly work has no minimum commitment.
Minimum commitmentGeneralist VA agencyTypically a monthly package, full-time at MyOutDesk. Part-time and hourly options vary by agency.ScaleWise VANone on hourly. Retainers are monthly, two weeks' notice to end.
Location and hoursGeneralist VA agencyBelay places US-based assistants. MyOutDesk and Wing place assistants offshore, largely in the Philippines, working your hours.ScaleWise VAIslamabad, covering every time zone our stores are in: US, UK, European and Australian hours.
Who you talk toGeneralist VA agencyThe assistant and an agency success or account manager.ScaleWise VAThe founder, plus your assigned operator. One accountable person for the whole arrangement.
Evidence of hoursGeneralist VA agencyVaries. Some agencies provide time tracking; ask which tool and who sees it.ScaleWise VATarly, the portal we built: time, activity and screenshots captured with the team member's consent, visible on every invoice.
ProofGeneralist VA agencyTestimonials and client logos, mostly from professional services, real estate and executive support.ScaleWise VA15 Shopify case studies with the client named, and 4.9 from 17 reviews on Fiverr.
Book a 30-min call