How to hire a merchandise buyer

How to hire a merchandise buyer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step merchandise buyer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a merchandise buyer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new merchandise buyer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The merchandise buyer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a merchandise buyer to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a merchandise buyer that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of merchandise buyers.

   Type of Merchandise Buyer	Description	Hourly rate
   Merchandise Buyer	Buyers and purchasing agents buy products and services for organizations to use or resell. They evaluate suppliers, negotiate contracts, and review the quality of products.	$17-30
   Grain Elevator Worker	A Grain Elevator Worker is responsible for operating grain elevators, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. They also perform tasks, such as preparing and processing grain, loading and unloading vehicles, measuring vehicles' weight according to protocols, maintaining records of all procedures, and performing regular maintenance checks on vehicles and equipment... Show more	$11-19
   Buyer	A buyer's duties include product sourcing and comparing resources for the best product range that would suit the specific needs of the business. Buyers must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to evaluate items that most likely benefit the customer and improve the sales of daily operations with cost-efficient products... Show more	$17-36

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Vendor Relations
   • Purchase Orders
   • Customer Service
   • Apparel
   • Trade Shows
   • Product Categories
   • Product Development
   • Market Research
   • Market Trends
   • Product Knowledge
   • Inventory Control
   • Payment Terms
   • Product Line
   • Retail Sales

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Prepare the merchandise assortment plan for the company, manage the OTB and purchase the merchandise.
   • Manage open-to-buy to ensure continual flow of merchandise to stores and warehouses with careful attention to advertise events and promotions.
   • Perform allocations pulls in JDA program on inbound shipments and back-stock merchandise from distribution centers.
   • Assist in implementing the POS system and develop pricing policies.
   • Enter data into the appropriate POS systems and create new identifications for new product purchases.
   • Create open to buy, allocation buying, pricing, and direct the visual presentation of all apparel.

   More merchandise buyer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your merchandise buyer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A merchandise buyer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a merchandise buyer in Nevada may be lower than in New Jersey, and an entry-level merchandise buyer usually earns less than a senior-level merchandise buyer. Additionally, a merchandise buyer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average merchandise buyer salary

   $49,264yearly

   $23.68 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level merchandise buyer salary

   $37,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average merchandise buyer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New Jersey	$56,171	$27
   2	Michigan	$53,377	$26
   3	District of Columbia	$53,116	$26
   4	Washington	$51,551	$25
   5	Wisconsin	$51,434	$25
   6	Wisconsin	$51,014	$25
   7	Massachusetts	$50,892	$24
   8	Massachusetts	$50,445	$24
   9	Massachusetts	$50,410	$24
   10	Connecticut	$50,080	$24
   11	Indiana	$49,542	$24
   12	New York	$49,207	$24
   13	Kentucky	$49,144	$24
   14	Kentucky	$49,097	$24
   15	Minnesota	$48,360	$23
   16	North Carolina	$48,004	$23
   17	North Carolina	$47,958	$23
   18	North Carolina	$47,345	$23
   19	New York	$47,291	$23
   20	New York	$46,113	$22

   Average merchandise buyer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Bob's Discount Furniture	$52,494	$25.24
   2	Sysco	$45,326	$21.79	13
   3	Glens Falls Hospital	$41,525	$19.96
   4	Seward Community Co-op	$41,380	$19.89
   5	Menards	$41,376	$19.89
   6	Helm	$41,089	$19.75
   7	PLUM	$40,764	$19.60	15
   8	San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance	$39,227	$18.86
   9	Belk	$38,790	$18.65	8
   10	Uptown Cheapskate	$36,801	$17.69	95
   11	C&S Wholesale Grocers	$36,787	$17.69	3
   12	Camping World	$36,304	$17.45	2
   13	Citi Trends	$35,217	$16.93	2
   14	Barnes & Noble	$34,271	$16.48
   15	Reeds Jewelers	$33,209	$15.97
   16	Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium	$33,170	$15.95

4. Writing a merchandise buyer job description

   A merchandise buyer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a merchandise buyer job description:

   Merchandise buyer job description example

   What's cool about this job
   
   REI is committed to becoming a fully inclusive, antiracist, multicultural organization. To fulfill our brand promise of enabling a life well-lived outside for everyone, we are seeking candidates who demonstrate shared values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism.
   
   The Merchandising Buyer is accountable for the financial performance and operational management of the Climb category. With guidance from the Sr Category Merchandising Manager (Sr. CMM), they contribute to REI's success by developing business plans and driving sales, turn, margin and in-stock goals. Responsible for end-to-end product lifecycle management including assortment design, promotional product selection and contribution to Retail and Marketing storytelling. Manages work flow internally through partnering with vendors, planning, replenishment and collaborating with cross-divisional partners. Responsible for style plan management, and partnering with Merchandising Product Specialist to coordinate product data creation and maintenance. Builds and maintains excellent relationships between vendors and REI in order to achieve mutual goals of sales and profitability. Models and acts in accordance with REI's guiding values and mission.
   
   Assortment and Product Planning
   
   * Create assortment strategies and partner with Category Planning Manager to develop initial sales forecast for product category based on corporate and specialty shop strategic objectives; financial, market and industry trends; item and vendor performance (sales, margin, markdowns, quality and in-stocks).
   * Build compelling assortments that meet the needs of our target customers by considering product attributes, intended end use, activity levels, pricing ladder, REI Brand Frame and market trends.
   * Reconcile style plan and Marketing continuities with financial and space plan at class and departmental level.
   * Set retail prices in accordance with market needs as well as corporate and vendor policies.
   * Review and resolve in-season assortment requests.
   * Work with Visual Merchandising on product presentation issues and opportunities.
   * Communicate final assortment and department direction to other stakeholders within the company, such as the departmental teams, Marketing, Visual Merchandising, Digital and Retail. Include information about cost, terms, price, distribution and marketing as needed. Coordinate and disseminate product information to Marketing through product review process and to Retail through appropriate communication processes.
   
   Vendor Relationships
   
   * Build and maintain relationships with vendors to ensure profitability.
   * Negotiate with vendors for best costs, terms, discounts, freight, co-op and marketing support.
   * Continually seek out new vendors and innovative product opportunities.
   * Gain vendor support for corporate inventory and terms initiatives.
   * Integrate Vendor Collaboration into negotiations regarding vendor marketing fund agreements with product vendors and follow up on collection as required.
   
   Business Acumen and Planning
   
   * Understand and

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right merchandise buyer for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your merchandise buyer job on Zippia to find and recruit merchandise buyer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting merchandise buyers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new merchandise buyer

   Once you've found the merchandise buyer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new merchandise buyer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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