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The differences between traders and merchants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a trader has an average salary of $90,179, which is higher than the $74,999 average annual salary of a merchant.
The top three skills for a trader include portfolio, financial markets and derivative. The most important skills for a merchant are product development, gross margin, and market trends.
| Trader | Merchant | |
| Yearly salary | $90,179 | $74,999 |
| Hourly rate | $43.36 | $36.06 |
| Growth rate | 10% | - |
| Number of jobs | 17,351 | 15,395 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A trader is responsible for buying and selling financial instruments for a firm or an individual, monitoring stock movements, and analyzing price fluctuations. Traders focus on short-term and long-term trades, depending on their customers' demands and best interests. In some cases, traders also act as financial advisors to their clients, providing financial management support, and handling their account investments. A trader must have excellent knowledge of the financial industry and must be highly-analytical, dealing with consistent changes in the stock market and maintain smart decisions to achieve their clients' financial goals.
A merchant is responsible for selling goods and services for an organization to generate revenues by reaching out to existing and potential customers and discuss the products' features. Merchants must have extensive knowledge of the goods offered by the company to be able to respond to customers' inquiries and concerns accurately. They also maintain the adequacy of inventory for store orders, create purchase requests, and analyze sales performance. A merchant coordinates with the sales and marketing team to develop efficient promotional strategies and increase brand awareness on public platforms.
Traders and merchants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Trader | Merchant | |
| Average salary | $90,179 | $74,999 |
| Salary range | Between $56,000 And $144,000 | Between $47,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | White Plains, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Levi Strauss & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a trader and a merchant in terms of educational background:
| Trader | Merchant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Finance | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between traders' and merchants' demographics:
| Trader | Merchant | |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 82.1% Female, 17.9% | Male, 42.1% Female, 57.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 12.4% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 23.3% Asian, 7.4% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |