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How are commission only positions considered jobs?

Jaepheth

Jaepheth

Platinum Member
I mean from the employers or employment statistics standpoint.
If people work on commission only, then couldn't the employer just offer everyone on the planet a sales job? It's not like they have to be paid unless they're making you money.

I'm just confused as to how that's really considered a job. Is there something to it I'm not aware of?
 
Jaepheth said:
I mean from the employers or employment statistics standpoint.
If people work on commission only, then couldn't the employer just offer everyone on the planet a sales job? It's not like they have to be paid unless they're making you money.

I'm just confused as to how that's really considered a job. Is there something to it I'm not aware of?
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No, you pretty much got it. They might provide some sort of benefits, but by and large it is just a huge scam. My college gets TONS of recruiters for door to door work like this. By an large, it is a huge scam. They get promised the moon "Oh, you can make over $50,000 in one summer!" but most end up just breaking even if that. Then they couple it with a MLM scheme and you end up with the perfect shady business.

They have to work like slaves as well, Many of them will knock doors from 8->8 or longer, every day.

This sort of stuff should be illegal.
 
Cogman said:
No, you pretty much got it. They might provide some sort of benefits, but by and large it is just a huge scam. My college gets TONS of recruiters for door to door work like this. By an large, it is a huge scam. They get promised the moon "Oh, you can make over $50,000 in one summer!" but most end up just breaking even if that. Then they couple it with a MLM scheme and you end up with the perfect shady business.

They have to work like slaves as well, Many of them will knock doors from 8->8 or longer, every day.

This sort of stuff should be illegal.
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Yup I tried a commission only sales job (no hourly pay at all) 3 years ago and it sucked. I never even made enough money to cover my gas and I quit after 3 months.
 
zerocool84 said:
Yup I tried a commission only sales job (no hourly pay at all) 3 years ago and it sucked. I never even made enough money to cover my gas and I quit after 3 months.
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I was 100% commission from 99-06. Commission only gigs usually pay higher commissions so if you are good, it makes it worth the risk. Plus most are commission vs draw so its pretty hard to starve. But if you're a draw monger, you'll be gone quick.

To answer the OP:
The company still pays bene's (insurance, sick, vaca time), provides you with a place to work and the product you sell.
 
rudeguy said:
I was 100% commission from 99-06. Commission only gigs usually pay higher commissions so if you are good, it makes it worth the risk. Plus most are commission vs draw so its pretty hard to starve. But if you're a draw monger, you'll be gone quick.

To answer the OP:
The company still pays bene's (insurance, sick, vaca time), provides you with a place to work and the product you sell.
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What did you sell? Those that troll my campus are usually selling pest control and security alarms.
 
LOL with the commission I make a commission only position would be a joke. Of course I work in a volume focused computer retail company so our GP on most items it less than 10%, not much room for commission. Thing is that the Gross Profit on most items is relatively low when it gets to the end sales / customer point so I have a hard time seeing any sales job being able to pay much on commission alone.
 
Cogman said:
What did you sell? Those that troll my campus are usually selling pest control and security alarms.
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I sold electronics and appliances at a retail store.

Ah hell...I don't work there anymore, so I can talk about it. I was a store manager at ABC Warehouse. Its a regional place a lot like Best Buy without DVDs and video games. Back in the day it was great money. I got paid 25% of the profit of whatever I sold. So if a TV cost $900 and I sold it for $2k, I made $275. Back then there was all kinds of markup. Then the internet came around and our profit margins shrank along with traffic.

I'm still in sales and still on commission. Last year 45% of my income was salary and 55% commission. A lot of people at my job are more like 65/35. I like getting rewarded for what I do.
 
rudeguy said:
I sold electronics and appliances at a retail store.

Ah hell...I don't work there anymore, so I can talk about it. I was a store manager at ABC Warehouse. Its a regional place a lot like Best Buy without DVDs and video games. Back in the day it was great money. I got paid 25% of the profit of whatever I sold. So if a TV cost $900 and I sold it for $2k, I made $275. Back then there was all kinds of markup. Then the internet came around and our profit margins shrank along with traffic.

I'm still in sales and still on commission. Last year 45% of my income was salary and 55% commission. A lot of people at my job are more like 65/35. I like getting rewarded for what I do.
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Yeah on items with high GP this can be good. But there are more and more places like the store I work at now where the GP on a lot of items is in the 5-10% range and sometimes it's negative on sale items!
 
Locut0s said:
Yeah on items with high GP this can be good. But there are more and more places like the store I work at now where the GP on a lot of items is in the 5-10% range and sometimes it's negative on sale items!
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I still make commmission though.
 
Locut0s said:
Yeah on items with high GP this can be good. But there are more and more places like the store I work at now where the GP on a lot of items is in the 5-10% range and sometimes it's negative on sale items!
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right

It was my job to show the features and benefits of the better models that had more profit. It was very common to take someone from a $999 big screen to a $2500 Mitsu. Or a $139 washer to a $899 Duet. We could also cut deals that no other store could. I sold a lot of TV's to managers from Best Buy and Circuit because I could sell them a TV cheaper than they could buy one.
 
rudeguy said:
right

It was my job to show the features and benefits of the better models that had more profit. It was very common to take someone from a $999 big screen to a $2500 Mitsu. Or a $139 washer to a $899 Duet. We could also cut deals that no other store could. I sold a lot of TV's to managers from Best Buy and Circuit because I could sell them a TV cheaper than they could buy one.
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See, this I can respect. The commission only jobs that I know about, I can't respect. Other than from a kid that was trying to get me for his MLM pyramid, I've never heard a good thing about the companies that recruit at my campus.

When you are working in a store where people come in every day to buy stuff, that's quite a bit different than going door to door for a living.
 
When I was in college I was sued for over 100K because I took a commission only, did good, and said fuck you I can sell without your shitty support and make all the profit starting my own biz. I ceased and desisted rather than fight it and reached amicable settlement. Just keep that in mind. You're like a independent businessman but can be sued by your "employer" for tying to be an independent businessman.
 
Zebo said:
When I was in college I was sued for over 100K because I took a commission only, did good, and said fuck you I can sell without your shitty support and make all the profit starting my own biz. I ceased and desisted rather than fight it and reached amicable settlement. Just keep that in mind. You're like a independent businessman but can be sued by your "employer" for tying to be an independent businessman.
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What were you selling?
 
Zebo said:
Paint jobs. Even got my own contractors license and bonding and everything then whole legal team came down on me.
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Well it was all done under the name of the company that hired you so... Not saying you couldn't do it better than them but you have to admit you must have been taking a risk of them suing you there.
 
I work in the towing industry Dispatching and all of our drivers are commission, they make on average if you convert to $ per hour $15-25/hour, thats not bad for a job that needs no school just a few days of on the job training is usually enough if you are a fast learner. I can operate all the trucks up to the 5 ton if i have to and ive only had maybe 20-30 hours of unofficial training and a few ride alongs. I've covered a few driver shifts when the shit hit the fan, i may not be the fastest but i can tow a vehicle and not damage it.

Sometimes they make more if its busy and obviously they take a hit when its slow. The only issue is it causes drama cause they sometimes think the dispatch is feeding certain drivers the good calls, this is called juicing. This happen on the day shift sometimes with the senior\owner operator drivers usually making more money. I dispatch graveyards and NEVER deviate from the list, i dispatch calls the the next driver on the list with no exceptions and therefore its 100% fair. My shift has the least drama of any shift at our company and all the drivers like me, they hate every other dispatcher as most juice drivers or are on powertrips as the drivers have to listen to dispatch if you dont its insubordination and you will get canned. I prefer to work with the drivers not against them and i think this is why they like me.
 
rudeguy said:
I was 100% commission from 99-06. Commission only gigs usually pay higher commissions so if you are good, it makes it worth the risk. Plus most are commission vs draw so its pretty hard to starve. But if you're a draw monger, you'll be gone quick.

To answer the OP:
The company still pays bene's (insurance, sick, vaca time), provides you with a place to work and the product you sell.
Click to expand...

I was door to door commission, much crappier then working in a store, much harder to make money. I wouldn't mind doing commission in a store but never door to door and would never recommend it to anyone.
 
No I got my own name and corporate papers too. They sued me because they said I copied their sources and methods - It was bullshit lawyer said and 100K later I would have won it. But many lawsuits are not about winning or losing.
 
zerocool84 said:
I was door to door commission, much crappier then working in a store, much harder to make money. I wouldn't mind doing commission in a store but never door to door and would never recommend it to anyone.
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it was ok back in the day. Now its just hell.

I'm ready to get out of the sales gig completely. Hopefully tomorrow will be the big day!
 
Rifterut said:
lol still waiting to get fired? You should bring a chopping block and a axe to work and set them up beside your desk 🙂
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I had my weekly coaching with my boss today and she told me it was still up in the air. I leaned in close to her and said, "When you do find out, can you email me so I know its coming? But do it in code. Email me with 'Red leader to grey squirrel, red leader to grey squirrel. The kangaroo has lost its socks."

She cracked up. I don't think she knows how to deal with someone like me. I have a meeting with her and the sales manager tomorrow morning. That should be fun. I do promise you dear ATOT...I will for sure find a way to bring up midgets.
 
Cogman said:
What sort of area are you shooting for? (if I may ask)
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drug and alcohol counseling. I was on my way to going back to school for it when I took my current job. I forsook my goals for quick money. Not something I recommend doing.
 
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