Retail buyer vs gold buyer

The differences between retail buyers and gold buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a retail buyer and a gold buyer. Additionally, a gold buyer has an average salary of $54,119, which is higher than the $52,720 average annual salary of a retail buyer.

The top three skills for a retail buyer include gross margin, vendor relations and customer service. The most important skills for a gold buyer are customer service, store locations, and store operations.

Retail buyer vs gold buyer overview

	Retail Buyer	Gold Buyer
Yearly salary	$52,720	$54,119
Hourly rate	$25.35	$26.02
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	74,254	8,845
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Retail buyer vs gold buyer salary

Retail buyers and gold buyers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Retail Buyer	Gold Buyer
Average salary	$52,720	$54,119
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $72,000	Between $35,000 And $81,000
Highest paying City	Edison, NJ	-
Highest paying state	New Jersey	-
Best paying company	VF	-
Best paying industry	Start-up	-

Differences between retail buyer and gold buyer education

There are a few differences between a retail buyer and a gold buyer in terms of educational background:

	Retail Buyer	Gold Buyer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Akron	University of Akron

Retail buyer vs gold buyer demographics

Here are the differences between retail buyers' and gold buyers' demographics:

	Retail Buyer	Gold Buyer
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 31.5% Female, 68.5%	Male, 37.3% Female, 62.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 5.8% White, 63.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 5.7% White, 63.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between retail buyer and gold buyer duties and responsibilities

Retail buyer example responsibilities.

Manage the open-to-buy (OTB) process by monitoring stock levels
Lead team of content support/merchandisers to achieve and consistently hit KPI goals.
Manage set up of new items as well as integration into POS system.
Manage open-to-buy to ensure continual flow of merchandise to stores and warehouses with careful attention to advertise events and promotions.
Key member of development team that implement JDA MMS software.
Maintain inventory and displays for jewelry and bath/body products.

Gold buyer example responsibilities.

Coordinate and provide direction to inventory teams by managing product placement, open-to-buy, and logistics.
List eBay items and ship as well as answering questions.
Work closely with the logistics department and internal warehouse to coordinate just in time deliveries and maintain daily inventory reconciliation.
Negotiate with jewelry vendors for product re-assortments to relive inventory and increase turn.
Manage business relationship with Japanese OEM of wide-format printer engines.

Retail buyer vs gold buyer skills

Common retail buyer skills

Gross Margin, 8%
Vendor Relations, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
Retail Management, 7%
Retail Store, 6%
Market Trends, 6%

Common gold buyer skills

Customer Service, 80%
Store Locations, 8%
Store Operations, 7%
Word Processing Software, 5%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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