Every way of getting ecommerce work done is a way of dividing the same seven jobs: finding the person, vetting them, training them, paying them, directing them, keeping the quality up, and starting over when it fails. Freelancers, agencies, in-house hires, and managed talent are just four different answers to the question of who carries each job. Once you see it that way, the choice gets much simpler.
Key takeaways
- The four models differ in who carries seven jobs: finding, vetting, training, contracts and payroll, direction, quality, and replacement.
- Freelancers hand almost every job back to you after the first invoice. Great for projects, expensive for recurring work.
- Agencies carry most of the jobs but keep the people: the work belongs to a team serving many clients, on their priorities.
- In-house gives you everything and costs you everything, including time and, for international hires, compliance.
- Managed talent keeps direction with you and hands the machinery to a partner. You get a dedicated person without running the hiring.
Who holds the pen
Switch between the four models and watch the seven jobs move between your side and theirs. The counts are honest: an agency really does take most jobs off your desk. Read the note under the board for what it takes in exchange.
Pick a model. The jobs land where they actually land.
Keep the pen. Hand us the machinery.
Get my custom hiring planFreelancers: fast to start, yours to run
Marketplaces are the fastest way to get a skilled pair of hands on a defined problem. The trade is that the marketplace's job ends when you click hire. Vetting is a profile and some reviews. Training is on your time. Direction, quality, and the restart when the freelancer takes a bigger client are yours. For one-off work this is a fair deal. For a role that runs every day, you have quietly become a recruiter and a manager, and the hourly rate stops being the real cost. Our cost guide works through that arithmetic.
Choose freelancers when the output can be specified in advance, you can judge it yourself, and it ends.
Agencies: outputs without a person
An agency takes almost everything off your desk, and the board above shows it honestly. What it keeps is the person. Your account is one of many, handled by a pod whose priorities are set by the agency. Vetting and training happen inside the agency, out of your sight. Direction is theirs, which is a relief until you want something done differently. And the compounding knowledge of your products, your customers, and your numbers lives in their team; when the contract ends it leaves with them.
Choose an agency when you want outputs rather than a teammate, the work does not need deep daily context, and you are comfortable with their cadence. For specialist execution that lives inside your operation every day (support, store management, email, media buying with your creative), the model fights itself.
In-house: everything, at full price
Hiring an employee gives you total control and total cost. Every job on the board is yours, including the ones founders underestimate: the weeks of recruiting, the training months, the management rhythm, and, for remote international hires, contracts and compliance most small brands are not set up for. When the volume justifies a department and there is someone to run it, in-house is the right answer. Before that point it is usually the slowest and most expensive way to get one specialist.
Choose in-house when the function is large enough to be a team, it is core to how you want to compete, and you have a manager for it.
Managed talent: you direct, the partner runs the machinery
Managed talent splits the seven jobs along the line that matters: you keep direction, because it is your business, and hand over the machinery, because it is not. The partner finds candidates continuously, vets them through a multi-stage process before you meet anyone, trains them for ecommerce before day one, handles contracts and payroll under one arrangement, and keeps regular check-ins so drift is caught early. The person is dedicated to you and works inside your tools. We describe our version in how it works and the vetting in the Hero Selection System.
The honest limits: it is one person rather than a pool, so coverage and leave need planning; adding capacity is a plan revision rather than a dial; and you still have to write down your voice, your policies, and your definition of good. Those are the parts of the job that were always going to be yours.
Choose managed talent when you want a specialist who works for you without running the hiring yourself, and the role is recurring rather than a project.
Side by side
| Freelancer | Agency | In-house | Fully managed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed to start | Days | Days to weeks | Weeks | A plan and a shortlist |
| Who the work belongs to | Someone who may leave next month | A team serving many clients | Your employee | A dedicated person on your team |
| Who directs the work | You | The agency | You | You |
| Vetting you can see | Reviews | None | Your own | Seven stages, explained |
| Ecommerce training | None | Varies | Yours | Before day one |
| Cost shape | Hourly plus your time | Retainer | Salary plus everything | One predictable arrangement |
| Best for | Projects | Outputs | Departments | Recurring specialist roles |
Questions to ask any provider
- Who exactly will do the work, and will I meet them before we start?
- How were they vetted, and can you show me the process?
- What ecommerce training have they had before they touch my store?
- Who sets their daily priorities: me, or you?
- What happens when it is not working: who notices, how fast, and what do you do?
- If I leave, what leaves with you?
Any provider should be able to answer all six without flinching. Ours are on how it works, the Hero Selection System, and the FAQ.
Switching models
Moving from freelancers or an agency to managed talent is rarely dramatic. Write down what the current provider actually does (you will find gaps). Keep your tools. Run a short overlap where the Hero shadows, then owns a slice, then owns the role. Keep the agency or freelancer for anything that is genuinely a project. And tell the new person why the work matters, not just what it is; context is what makes a dedicated specialist worth having.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is managed talent?
A dedicated remote specialist who works for you, with the hiring machinery (sourcing, vetting, training, contracts and payroll, and ongoing check-ins) handled by a partner. You direct the work; the partner runs everything around it.
Is managed talent the same as an agency?
No. An agency sells outputs produced by a team that serves many clients, on the agency's priorities. Managed talent gives you a named person dedicated to your brand, working inside your tools, directed by you.
When are freelancers the right choice?
For defined, one-off projects where you can specify the output and check it yourself: a theme fix, a batch of product photos, a migration. They become expensive when the work is recurring, because you become the recruiter and the manager.
Can I move from freelancers or an agency to managed talent?
Yes, and the transition is usually straightforward: document what the current provider does, keep your tools, run a short overlap where the new Hero shadows and then takes ownership, and keep the agency or freelancer for anything genuinely project-based.
Keep the Pen. Hand Over the Machinery.
Tell us the roles and the hours. We come back with a custom hiring plan that shows exactly who carries what, with the numbers for your situation written in.
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