Do you ever wonder how much commission the SA make?

[Allisonfaye]

Does anyone else but me every wonder how much commission the sales associates make at your favorite dept store? Does anyone know?

 

[monarch64]

At department stores the commission rates can vary from dept. to dept. SA''s in Shoes typically make a higher % than some other departments, like juniors or domestics. To give you a very general example of what a department store SA who works in the handbag department would make, it might go something like this: hourly rate of $10, plus 2% commission on every item sold after a quota is met. The quota, or draw, means that the SA has to "cover their hours" first, so if they worked an 8 hour shift at $10 an hour, they would have to first sell $80 an hour or $1600 that day, and anything they sold after that dollar amount they would receive 2% commission on.

In my experience, commission rates have varied between 1% and 10%. An SA can make a pretty good living if they are in the right department and they are willing to work really hard and are able to remember that they are there to actually SERVE the customer.

 

[Beacon]

I read a book called "The Nordstrom Way" and it said that many depts in Nordstrom the SA gets 6.75%. But I am not sure if that is the amount they get once they have covered their wages per hour. It''s a pretty good percentage IMO.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

A relative on my Dh''s side works at Nordstrom and she made 8% and wasn''t making enough to live on so she had to move back in w/her mom. She ended up taking a job at The Rack and makes about the same as what she did on commission but with less pressure.

Seems like clothing retail jobs set a person up for failure since they need to keep up a professional/stylish image and end up using a portion of their paychecks to finance clothing!

 

[monarch64]

Date: 3/24/2008 3:06:13 PM
Author: MC
A relative on my Dh''s side works at Nordstrom and she made 8% and wasn''t making enough to live on so she had to move back in w/her mom. She ended up taking a job at The Rack and makes about the same as what she did on commission but with less pressure.

Seems like clothing retail jobs set a person up for failure since they need to keep up a professional/stylish image and end up using a portion of their paychecks to finance clothing!

You have to be very, very disciplined if you want to actually make a living working as an SA. You''re right, MC, you are encouraged to look the part and that means spending money...but the upside to this is that you''re the first to know when something is going to be marked down, plus you get a discount. What you have to try to avoid is buying something JUST BECAUSE it''s such a great deal. I always had a hard time resisting things that were 75% or more off the retail price with my discount, even if they ended up still being $100 or more. And those $20 or less items add up really fast...

 

[smiles]

i work part time in retail(not a department store but it is still a chain and ever growing) and i started off making $8/hr (which is what i asked for i was barely 17) and that quickly turned into $9 and $10 etc... almost 3 years later i am making $11.50/hr AND for every sale over a certain dollar amount I earn a few extra dollars AND i am on a bonus program so if i make more than my quota for the period of a season i make a certain extra dollar amount for every hour i worked that season. (is this confusing yet? i am trying not to be too specific to protect the company)

so if you were to look at my hourly it''s OK but i really make $14.50/hr (with the bonus) plus an extra like $10/week in comission-style bonus.... they pay very well for retail though so I do not know how department stores work. ? I would guess SA''s are paid either pretty well or pretty poorly not much in the middle...

 

[lovelee]

I know at one dept store the average annual income is 40k... ranging from 30k to over 100k..
Commissions range from 3 to 9 percent. Some are hourly plus commision and some are strictly commission only.