If you’re looking for a sales job that pays the best kind of bacon (a.k.a commission-paying), the sky is literally the limit. From yachts to property, virtually anything can be sold on a commission structure as long as there’s a demand for it and you’ve got the skills and experience to close the deal.
Here’s a quick look at the sales sectors where your basic salary and additional commissions could see you smiling all the way to the bank!
Best commission-paying jobs in sales
Financial Advice
Financial advice salespeople help their clients invest their money sensibly, and if you can onboard some high-earning individuals, it could be your lucky day. If you’re employed in this role, you’ll be expected to keep on top of financial trends, services, and investments to ensure the best returns for your clients. The average salary for a financial advisor job is R497,988 per year, but with added commissions, that figure could be doubled. If you’ve got inside market knowledge and experience in investments, your commission can easily increase tenfold.
Medical Device Sales
Medical reps earn big bucks and they make their money by selling equipment and machines from certain companies to surgeons and doctors. With medical rep jobs, you can expect a basic salary with commissions per sale you close with uncapped earning potential. On average, medical reps make around R445,000 per year, but that’s only in basic pay and not added commissions.
Digital Media Sales
More and more consumers are choosing digital media over traditional print, so if you sell a product that’s high in demand, you can expect big cashouts. If you’re a sales agent for digital media, it might see you selling online marketing services like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). The uncapped earning potential here is huge. And because these jobs generally come with basic pay, it just makes the positions that much more desirable.
Tech Sales
Tech is a very lucrative sector. So, a lot of companies need a little help with selling their software, apps, and programs to the global market. Companies like IBM focus on cloud and data analytics. And then there’s Symantec, which zooms in on electronic crime prevention. They all pay top salaries and commissions for their reps.
Packaged Goods
The field of consumer packaged goods is one that’s growing rapidly. The job involves strategically placing products on a national (or global) level. For this, you use a variety of network connections within the consumer industry. You’ll start off as a brand manager if you take up this gig, but you can still expect to take home around R450,000 per year even if you aren’t earning as much commission as possible.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, there are various options when it comes to landing a high commission-paying job. All you need is a willingness to succeed, experience in sales, and a go-getter attitude. At the end of the day, basic salaries don’t matter all that much in these kinds of roles. What you get out all depends on just how much you’re willing to put in!

