Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products
Purchase machinery, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, or services necessary for the operation of an establishment. Purchase raw or semifinished materials for manufacturing. May negotiate contracts.
Most important skills
- Negotiation
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Speaking
- Complex Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Law and Government
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Administrative
- Mathematics
- Computers and Electronics
- Economics and Accounting
What the work involves
- Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price and in correct amounts.
- Prepare purchase orders, solicit bid proposals, and review requisitions for goods and services.
- Research and evaluate suppliers, based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, production and distribution capabilities, and the supplier's reputation and history.
- Analyze price proposals, financial reports, and other data and information to determine reasonable prices.
- Monitor and follow applicable laws and regulations.
- Negotiate, renegotiate, and administer contracts with suppliers, vendors, and other representatives.
- Monitor shipments to ensure that goods come in on time, and resolve problems related to undelivered goods.
- Confer with staff, users, and vendors to discuss defective or unacceptable goods or services and determine corrective action.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Enterprising, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (65% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (35%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (30%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 13-1020 (aggregate); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 61% of occupations compared | 63% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 78% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Higher on teamwork than 52% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 58% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 82% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 55% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 63% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 62% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 5.26%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 31.58%
- Constant contact with others: 63.16%
n = 19, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 10%
- Very important: 65%
- Extremely important: 25%
n = 20, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 5.26%
- Important: 5.26%
- Very important: 42.11%
- Extremely important: 47.37%
n = 19, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 10%
- Limited freedom: 15%
- Some freedom: 35%
- A lot of freedom: 40%
n = 20, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 10%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 50%
- Every day: 40%
n = 20, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Conflict situations
- Never: 5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 35%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 40%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 5%
- Every day: 15%
n = 20, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 5.26%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 21.05%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 47.37%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 21.05%
- Every day: 5.26%
n = 19, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 15.79%
- Fairly serious: 36.84%
- Serious: 15.79%
- Very serious: 21.05%
- Extremely serious: 10.53%
n = 19, Occupational Expert 08/2025
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O*NET-SOC 13-1023.00 · SOC 13-1020 (aggregate, low confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8