Role Overview
Clients hire Product Research Assistants because they need reliable opportunities, not guesswork. Your job is to surface product ideas that match clear criteria and fit the business model—whether that’s Amazon FBA, FBM, or dropshipping. This role exists to save clients from wasting time and money chasing bad bets. You help them move faster by doing the groundwork: filtering, verifying, and presenting only what’s relevant and viable.
This is not just about “finding trending products” or dumping a list of links from TikTok or Amazon. Clients don’t pay for clutter—they expect judgment. If you flood them with unqualified items or miss red flags, it can easily lead to lost capital, ad spend, and supplier headaches. But when you understand what makes a product make sense for the model, the right finds can directly translate to cash flow, growth, and momentum. That’s what this role is really measured by: the quality of ideas and the quality of thinking behind them.
Standards You Must Meet
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Product ideas must meet the model — FBA, FBM, or dropshipping — and align with the client’s stated filters (niche, pricing, demand, etc.); no loose-fit picks.
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You’re expected to validate, not just list — clients will look for evidence of demand, supplier feasibility, margin potential, and low risk.
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Every report or batch must feel curated, not crowded — overdelivering junk is still underdelivering.
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Red flags like poor reviews, high return rates, or shipping red tape must be caught — not passed for the client to clean up.
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Your research should help the client move faster, with confidence — if they have to recheck your work, that’s a failure.
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Trends are only useful when they’re tested against the business model — viral ≠ viable.
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You are judged by the commercial viability of your picks, not just how many you find.
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If you can’t explain why a product makes sense, don’t submit it — clarity beats volume every time.
What You’ll Be Doing
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Source products that directly match the client’s stated filters for niche, selling price, and target platform.
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Cross-check supplier offers, reviews, and logistics to confirm sourcing viability before submitting any product.
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Calculate basic profitability estimates based on pricing, shipping, and platform-specific fees.
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Flag and filter out products with obvious risks — oversaturation, poor reviews, vague supplier terms, or shipping delays.
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Present each product with concise rationale and data to explain why it fits the client’s model and goals.
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Limit submissions to high-potential picks — avoid flooding clients with weak, duplicate, or loosely matched items.
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Track and prioritize current trends, but only propose those with real potential under Amazon or dropshipping rules.
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Review feedback from past batches and refine your filters to improve accuracy and relevance over time.
What You’ll Hand Over
- A curated shortlist of 3–5 product opportunities per research cycle, all meeting agreed viability criteria.
- A summary slide or report per product showing demand, margin, supplier options, and decision logic in plain terms.
- A flagged risks log highlighting any saturation, pricing instability, or IP issues tied to specific product leads.
- Supplier lead sheet with contact links, MOQ info, cost estimates, and initial feasibility notes per product.
- A rejection tracker showing which products were ruled out and why, so the client sees your critical thinking, not guesswork.
Tools You’ll Need to Use
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Helium 10 — Essential for analyzing product demand, competition, and keyword data within the Amazon marketplace.
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Jungle Scout — Used to validate product ideas and monitor sales trends across Amazon categories.
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Keepa — Critical for tracking historical pricing, sales rank, and stock data on Amazon listings.
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DSers (or similar Shopify-integrated dropshipping tool) — Required for managing supplier connections and streamlined product imports for dropshipping stores.
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AliExpress — Must-know platform to source viable products and assess supplier reliability for both pricing and fulfillment.
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Amazon Seller Central (view-only or client-shared access) — Vital for checking listing quality, performance metrics, and backend data when available.
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Google Sheets — Standard for organizing product research, tracking KPIs, and syncing with client workflows.
Why Work Smarter
If you cannot automate basic workflows — like sending scraped data to a sheet, triggering alerts for winning products, or syncing supplier info across tools — the client is wasting money paying for manual labor that tech can do. Platforms like Zapier, Make, and n8n are not optional upskills anymore — they’re fast becoming the minimum expected competency.
This is not strictly required today, but it’s close. Within the year, task automation will be the silent standard. OES trains for it now because the market already rewards it.
Why Your Work Matters
Right now, product research isn’t just a task—it’s a profit lever. Every pick you get right moves the client closer to revenue. Every pick you get wrong costs them ad spend, time, or worse—broken systems and bad reviews. Clients operate in tight margins and faster cycles, especially in Amazon and dropshipping. They don’t have time to second-guess what they’re given. That makes your judgment, not just your effort, the real value they’re buying.
This role is a direct driver of growth. No winning product means no sales, no cash flow, no momentum. But when a Product Research Assistant hits, their work creates listings that convert and campaigns that scale. That’s not support work—it’s a trigger for transactions. In OES, we don’t train assistants to just search. We train you to surface decisions.
What We Expect From You
As a Generalist Product Research Assistant at OES, you are expected to demonstrate accuracy, consistency, and sound judgment in daily tasks that directly impact client profitability. You need to move comfortably between Amazon and dropshipping workflows, understanding the mechanics and compliance boundaries of each platform. You’re not just clicking filters — you’re evaluating demand patterns, margin structures, competition, and supplier behavior. You work within our systems and SOPs while spotting gaps in logic or data that might cost the client money or trust. Being a Generalist means you know when to escalate and when to take calculated initiative — both matter equally here.
We are looking for someone who can handle operational monotony without losing sight of strategic relevance. You must show discipline in following research criteria, but also readiness to adjust when the data shifts or the client’s store demands it. The job puts you on the hook for identifying real potential products that can drive revenue without violating marketplace rules. Passive compliance is not enough—you must be actively responsible. Your work feeds real money into client stores, and we expect that level of seriousness from day one.
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OES salary standards reflect real market benchmarks, tier and experience level, ensuring fair pay for VAs and realistic expectations for clients.
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