Timber buyer vs purchasing agent

The differences between timber buyers and purchasing agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a timber buyer, becoming a purchasing agent takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a timber buyer has an average salary of $62,879, which is higher than the $51,950 average annual salary of a purchasing agent.

The top three skills for a timber buyer include harvest, property lines and . The most important skills for a purchasing agent are purchase orders, customer service, and logistics.

Timber buyer vs purchasing agent overview

	Timber Buyer	Purchasing Agent
Yearly salary	$62,879	$51,950
Hourly rate	$30.23	$24.98
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	8,875	45,856
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Average age	47	48
Years of experience	-	6

Timber buyer vs purchasing agent salary

Timber buyers and purchasing agents have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Timber Buyer	Purchasing Agent
Average salary	$62,879	$51,950
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $97,000	Between $37,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	-	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	-	Maryland
Best paying company	-	Abiomed
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between timber buyer and purchasing agent education

There are a few differences between a timber buyer and a purchasing agent in terms of educational background:

	Timber Buyer	Purchasing Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Most common major	Forestry	Business
Most common college	University of Minnesota - Twin Cities	University of Pennsylvania

Timber buyer vs purchasing agent demographics

Here are the differences between timber buyers' and purchasing agents' demographics:

	Timber Buyer	Purchasing Agent
Average age	47	48
Gender ratio	Male, 97.4% Female, 2.6%	Male, 49.5% Female, 50.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 6.7% White, 77.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	15%	7%

Differences between timber buyer and purchasing agent duties and responsibilities

Timber buyer example responsibilities.

Survey and identify said boundaries, contract with logging contractors to efficiently harvest lands and manage contract from start to finish.
Assure suppliers comply with safety and quality alignments within company standards and manage non-conformance reporting for logistics as per company policy.
Offer financial and practical solutions for harvest and/or reforestation with respect to landowners' objectives.
Assure suppliers comply with safety and quality alignments within company standards and manage non-conformance reporting for logistics as per company policy.
Purchase all components to support NPI development builds and serve as primary interface to transition projects from development to manufacturing.

Purchasing agent example responsibilities.

Reorganize MRO to manage inventory more efficiently.
Utilize MaCola ERP system to process and manage purchase requisitions and purchase orders in coordination with manufacturing forecast.
Process purchase orders from electronically generate RFQ'S.
Develop programs with suppliers to ensure that commodities meet engineering and quality specifications while maintaining on-time delivery.
Prepare purchase orders, RFP's and RFB's, advertise solicitations, review responses and approve contract acceptance.
Send out RFQ's and award orders to the best fit and price vendor to ensure manufacturing meets critical due dates.

Timber buyer vs purchasing agent skills

Common timber buyer skills

Harvest, 80%
Property Lines, 20%

Common purchasing agent skills

Purchase Orders, 30%
Customer Service, 12%
Logistics, 5%
Inventory Control, 4%
MRP, 3%
Cost Savings, 3%