Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products
Buy merchandise or commodities, other than farm products, for resale to consumers at the wholesale or retail level, including both durable and nondurable goods. Analyze past buying trends, sales records, price, and quality of merchandise to determine value and yield. Select, order, and authorize payment for merchandise according to contractual agreements. May conduct meetings with sales personnel and introduce new products. May negotiate contracts. Includes assistant wholesale and retail buyers of nonfarm products.
Most important skills
- Critical Thinking
- Negotiation
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Persuasion
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Production and Processing
- Mathematics
- Administrative
- Education and Training
- Sales and Marketing
What the work involves
- Monitor and analyze sales records, trends, or economic conditions to anticipate consumer buying patterns, company sales, and needed inventory.
- Authorize payment of invoices or return of merchandise.
- Consult with store or merchandise managers about budgets or goods to be purchased.
- Buy merchandise or commodities for resale to wholesale or retail consumers.
- Negotiate prices, discount terms, or transportation arrangements with suppliers.
- Examine, select, order, or purchase merchandise consistent with quality, quantity, specification requirements, or other factors, such as environmental soundness.
- Recommend mark-up rates, mark-down rates, or merchandise selling prices.
- Obtain information about customer needs or preferences by conferring with sales or purchasing personnel.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (56.2% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (33.5%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (24.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except 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 | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 90% of occupations compared | 87% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 63% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 83% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 52% of occupations compared | 82% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 94% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 66% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 83% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 91% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: very 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: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 12.98%
- Constant contact with others: 87.02%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 3.95%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 0%
- Extremely important: 34.52%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 4.12%
- Very important: 3.6%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0.67%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 81.94%
- A lot of freedom: 17.4%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.46%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 12.76%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 18.12%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.68%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.5%
- Every day: 11.83%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.54%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.19%
- Every day: 5.15%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly serious: 13.52%
- Serious: 6.77%
- Very serious: 6.21%
- Extremely serious: 14.07%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 13-1022.00 · SOC 13-1020 (aggregate, low confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8