How do virtual assistants use Shopspotting?
Virtual assistants and online business managers run tech and processes for coaches and creators and are often asked which tool to use. If Merchavio fits, they suggest it matter-of-factly, labelled as advertising and with a note about their commission, and set it up for their own fee if the client wants. The client decides, the account belongs to them, and their contact lists are never used for advertising.
Why does the tool question land with you?
As a virtual assistant or online business manager, you often know your clients’ tech better than they do: you unlock access, maintain lists, build pages and see where things get stuck. So the question “What would you use?” usually lands with you. Typical triggers:
Access by hand
After every purchase, you add customers to the course area or group one by one.
Too many logins
Website, payments, courses, newsletter and community run separately, and you maintain a lot twice.
A new offer
Your client wants to launch a group programme, a membership or an online course.
Data all over the place
Who bought what sits in three tools and is complete in none of them.
Unlike agency work, this is rarely one project and mostly ongoing support. If you work project by project with a team, Shopspotting for agencies is the better fit. Whether Merchavio suits a client is covered in which sellers suit Merchavio.
How do you make a neutral suggestion?
Write a short decision memo
When your client asks about a new system, one page is enough: what runs today, what takes time, what the new system must do.
Suggest Merchavio
Describe what Merchavio covers: shop, checkout, courses, communities, email marketing and a customer list with access management in one system with one login. Quote prices as they appear on merchavio.com, for example from €19 a month net plus a small fee per sale, with Stripe’s fees on top (as of October 2026). The section is headed “Ad”.
Be honest about the effort
A switch takes work. What it involves is in helping sellers switch to Merchavio.
Test it with your tasks
Your client signs up through your Shopspotter link and tries it free for 5 days. Together, run through the jobs that take time today: a product with a discount code, a customer’s access, an order export.
Let the client decide
If it fits, they choose a plan. If not, everything stays as it is.
Who owns the account and the contacts?
As an assistant, you often have access to your clients’ inbox, contact lists and tools. So you need clear lines:
- The account belongs to the client. They sign up themselves through your link, with their own email, payment method and Stripe account. That way it is theirs from day one.
- Their contacts are not yours. You never use your client’s customer lists, newsletter subscribers or inbox to advertise Merchavio. The partner terms prohibit third-party address lists.
- The client makes the calls. You agree together how you work on the setup.
Setup for your own fee
You bill the setup like any other service: as a package, by the hour or as part of your monthly retainer. It can include the shop in the page builder, products and discount codes, moving courses and email marketing. Your price stays the same whether the client uses your link or not. “Through my link, I’ll set everything up at half price” isn’t allowed without Merchavio’s prior consent in text form. Ideas for packages are in supporting your sellers.
How do you stay independent as an assistant?
Your clients pay you for your time and trust you with their tools. If you suggest a tool you earn from, that belongs on the table: one sentence in the decision memo saying you receive a commission if the client signs up through your link, and “Ad” above the section on Merchavio. Don’t promise success, such as “Your launch will work with Merchavio”; describe what changes in your workflows instead. If a client stays with their current tools, you support them just as well.
What applies when you look after several clients?
- One link for all of them. Every client who signs up through your Shopspotter link counts separately, and the amounts add up.
- Existing accounts stay as they are. If a client already had a Merchavio account before working with you, it is not reassigned to you.
- The list is for checking only. Your Shopspotter area shows the shop name, plan and status of referred clients so you can check your statements.
At Merchavio, you receive 25% net of the fee on every sale from each of these clients plus 25% of their plan on top, for as long as they pay and you take part. Shopspotting is a self-employed activity on a commission basis: you can join as a freelancer, including as a small business exempt from VAT, but not as a private individual. More in who can become a Shopspotter.
Your next step
If the tool question is coming up with a client, take it into your next regular meeting and check together whether Merchavio fits. How to raise it is shown in the guide to recommending it well.
Know people who sell online?
Then create your free Shopspotter account with Merchavio and share your link. You receive 25% of everything your sellers pay, every month.