Role Overview
Clients bring on a Product Research Expert for Etsy + Handmade because hitting the right product at the right time isn’t optional—it’s the foundation of the business. Your role is to find offers with real demand, from niches that convert, with competition levels a solo seller can win against. Handmade on Etsy isn’t about inventing trends from scratch; it’s about identifying what’s already selling, solving customer pain points, and giving the client a clear entry point backed by data. What the client wants is certainty: that the time and money they spend to develop a handmade product will lead to actual orders—not guesswork.
This is not a content or admin role. Clients don’t need someone to just gather ideas or list what’s “cute.” They need a specialist who knows Etsy’s buyer behavior, understands how handmade categories move, and flags red signals like saturated listings, declining demand, or pricing that won’t cover costs. A weak product recommendation costs more than just time—it pulls the client down a path of wasted supplies, dead inventory, and lost positioning. A strong one builds a brand. The difference between those two starts here.
Standards You Must Meet
• You surface handmade product opportunities backed by real demand data, proven sales trends, and buyer intent—never just ideas that “look promising.”
• Clients expect keyword research that confirms search volume, relevance, and seasonal timing; without it, the product won’t rank or convert.
• Your final product recommendations must be niche-specific, with a clear competitive angle a solo seller can realistically win.
• There’s zero room for recommending saturated markets or trend-chasing without validation—this is how sellers get stuck with dead inventory.
• You highlight not just what’s working, but why—clients rely on your analysis to understand the buyer psychology behind strong offers.
• Every product shortlist should include pricing benchmarks, margin feasibility, and clear go/no-go notes on profitability risk.
• If you’re handing off research that can’t directly inform a listing strategy, branding angle, or buyer positioning, it’s not good enough.
• Your work is judged by what the client does next—if it leads to wasted launch efforts, they’ll trace it back to where the call was bad.
What You’ll Be Doing
• Research handmade product categories on Etsy to isolate niches with proven buyer intent and manageable solo-seller competition.
• Conduct keyword demand validation using tools like eRank and Marmalead, including search volume, match type, and seasonal relevance.
• Evaluate top-performing listings to extract buyer psychology, pricing dynamics, and positioning clues for strategic differentiation.
• Flag risky product angles early by identifying saturated markets, unstable trends, or pricing zones that erode profit margins.
• Build product shortlists that include item cost estimates, competitive pricing benchmarks, and margin projections with clear go/no-go notes.
• Outline the competitive advantage of each product concept, identifying features, design hooks, and messaging the client can realistically execute.
• Track trend cycles using Pinterest and Google Trends to ensure timing aligns with upcoming buyer behavior shifts.
• Package and present final recommendations as client-ready research that directly supports go-to-market, listing, and branding strategy.
What You’ll Hand Over
• A data-backed shortlist of 3–5 handmade product ideas, each with demand validation, margin checks, and go/no-go notes.
• Competitor snapshot analyzing listing saturation, pricing trends, and realistic entry points for a solo seller.
• Keyword research summary with exact-match volume, seasonal timing, and buyer intent confirmation.
• Profitability breakdown table, including estimated material cost, pricing benchmarks, and projected margin range.
• Buyer positioning guide outlining what drives top listings and how to angle your offer to stand out and rank.
Tools You’ll Need to Use
• Etsy Search & Filters – To analyze trends, pricing, and top-performing listings directly from the platform.
• eRank – To audit product performance, validate keywords, and monitor competitor strategies on Etsy.
• Marmalead – For keyword optimization, decision-making on tags, and market demand checking.
• Pinterest – To spot emerging handmade trends and understand visual appeal within niche audiences.
• Google Trends – To validate seasonal behaviors and long-term demand across broader handmade categories.
• Everbee – To extract listing performance data and estimate sales volume on Etsy.
• Excel or Google Sheets – For organizing research data, tracking product metrics, and reporting findings clearly.
Why Work Smarter
If you, as a VA, cannot automate basic data extraction, tracking, or reporting processes, you are costing the client more than you’re worth. The ability to set up simple, no-code workflows that eliminate repetitive actions—like keyword scraping, trend monitoring, or updating competitor sheets—is not optional for long. This knowledge is not strictly required today, but it is quickly becoming the unspoken baseline.
At OES, we set this expectation clearly: automation is not an edge, it’s the floor. The market has moved. We match it.
Why Your Work Matters
On Etsy, product choice is profit strategy. What gets made is what gets sold—or doesn’t. That means the research behind a product idea directly impacts a client’s cash flow, ROI, and storefront survival. One wrong call sinks weeks of effort, materials, and opportunity. That’s why this role isn’t “preparation”—it’s execution. Every recommendation must reduce guesswork, control risk, and give the seller a real shot at traction.
Clients don’t have time or margin for soft data and vague intuition. They’re paying for clarity that turns into launch decisions, listings, and orders. If a product doesn’t convert, they’re not blaming competitor pricing or search algorithm—they’re looking at the person who told them it was a green light. The client’s trust in you is earned by precision, not volume. This work makes or breaks their next move, and they know it.
This is why OES treats Product Research for handmade as a cornerstone role. It’s not a task support—it’s the base layer of the business model. Done right, it sets the brand up for growth with less waste and higher upside. Done wrong, it builds a house on sand. We don’t allow that.
What We Expect From You
As a Specialist Product Research Expert in Etsy + Handmade, your job is to surface profitable, compliant, and repeatable products—fast. You are expected to handle risk-aware judgment under changing market trends, and you must know exactly when a product is a smart bet—or a wasted one. You’re not just mining ideas; you’re filtering hard, applying strategy, and pushing only what meets standard. Discipline at this level means zero tolerance for guesswork and full ownership of every pick you escalate.
We’re looking for someone who moves with precision, analyzes with a trained eye, and respects the weight of hitting profitability targets. You should already know Etsy’s ecosystem: what sells, what’s saturated, what violates policy, and what angles we haven’t tested yet. Compliance is not optional; it’s embedded in your research process. And when strategy shifts, you adjust without losing quality or momentum. This is a position of impact—and we only seat Specialists who are ready to think and act like it.
Login to Get Matched
To view salary standard, expectation based on experience level, or even request a customize or personalize version of this role, please log in.
$450 – $940
OES salary standards reflect real market benchmarks, tier and experience level, ensuring fair pay for VAs and realistic expectations for clients.
Can't find a client that fits?
You can get it here, we will match you based on your preferences - salary, set up, schedule and more. Just say the word, we got you covered!