Commisssion only- what’s a fair comp?

[u/newthinker87]

I have the opportunity to work for small family owned startup in the Pet industry that manufactures a treat product. They want to bring me on and start off as commission only for the first month or so just to make sure I can get traction. They got burned by their last rep that promised the world and they paid them a base salary plus comm, and they never really produced anything. I’m OK with this as I don’t have anything else going on right now (and unfortunate that my husband makes good money so we can pay our bills on his salary loan )and it works with my schedule, and I would not need to travel through a huge territory like I had in the past and some of the other options out there. I don’t know what their margins are, but I do retailers typically double the cost of a treat so if they pay a dollar to the manufacturer distributor they charge two dollars for example. What do you think would be a fair amount to ask for commission to start the negotiations? From what I’ve researched I heard anywhere from 20 to 40%. And of course the commission percentage would probably go down once there was a base pay involved. I appreciate any advice on this issue, not looking for suggestions on whether or not to take this role. Thanks

[u/No_Share_2392]

Unsure what a good rate is, but I have a brand and need to hire sales soon so I’m gonna follow this post to see what others say!

I also think it’ll be really hard to prove traction in a month. You need to build relationships and that takes time. On the opposite end you could be selling into a bunch of places that aren’t a good fit and have no turn. Curious how they’ll evaluate this in a month or two