Comment by totalrobe | Hacker News Reader

Comment by totalrobe | Hacker News Reader

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I was in a tight spot after college (recession 2010-11) and hustled hondas and vw's for a year and while this guy makes some good points, the 'average' car salesman was not making 60k. The guys on the floor were busting their asses 10-16 hours a day, 6-7 days a week (Saturdays mandatory, no paid vacation) for 30 - 50k at most places.

It wasn't uncommon to come in at 7 AM and close up at 11 PM after dealing with idiots that demanded to drive 5 cars and then get kicked out because they had 350 FICOs and wanted a new SUV with 0 down. The majority of people had no idea what kind of car they needed or what they could afford.

The things this guy doesn't point out is that dealerships will work with banks to get deals financed that otherwise might not be, they provide loaner cars, make sure people have insurance, and they deal with title/registration paperwork that is a huge hassle. They'll also take just about any trade-in if it runs (and some that barely run) and dispose of them (something that could cost you).

Vehicles are the highest value or 2nd highest value purchase for most people. You definitely need to know your stuff when purchasing a car, and I'm totally against predatory dealership tactics, but after working in the industry I don't have faith that the average american can navigate the myriad of vehicles, processes, paperwork, and other tasks that go into buying/selling cars directly. I also have a hard time trusting an individual seller after seeing the completely wasted cars we took in on trades.

Like was brought up, part of it has to do with the averaging. If I remember correctly, base for a sales person was 30k-45k annually, and the rest was commission. The average sales person sells 10 cars a month, average commission was... I can't remember. But, you had 1 or 2 ppl in the dealership that had been there forever and/or were responsible for all the internet leads and sold 20+ cars a month. They were clearing 120k easily to bring up those averages. Maybe median would be a better # to look at here.

I currently work at a Dealership and i can second this, well except for the Sales guys "busting their asses".

The majority probably make around 50 K, but they definitely have to stay here late.

Although Saturdays are mandatory, every dealership ive ever heard of still offers two days off a week. A lot of guy's i know come in for deliveries or whatever, but they do have two days off a week.

Sorry for the rambling.

Averages are weighted by the top end. Some salesman making 100k bring up the average wage even if the median might be ~45k.

I do understand statistics but 60k is way off. The lower end of the scale would be weighted more heavily due to turnover in the profession.

http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Sales_Consultant,_Au...

That brings up an interesting question if a dealership has 10 people working there on average, but 2 of those positions have really high turnover at the end of the year you might have 8 people that worked the full year, and another 8 that only did 3 months.

The day to day average would then be a lot higher than the per person average.

I think the actual commission distribution as well as the number of people in the position would be fairly consistent and most would assume these numbers are annualized. I'm assuming Payscale does something to that effect.

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