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Personal Shoppers


Overview

Personal Shoppers

Introduction

People who do not have the time or the ability to go shopping for clothes, gifts, groceries, and other items use the services of personal shoppers. Personal shoppers shop department stores, look at catalogs, and surf the Internet for the best buys and most appropriate items for their clients. Relying on a sense of style and an ability to spot a bargain, a personal shopper helps clients develop a wardrobe and find gifts for friends, relatives, and employees.

Department stores, such as Bloomingdale's, Lord and Taylor, and Nords...

Quick Facts


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Median Salary

$26,350

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Employment Prospects

Fair

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Minimum Education Level

High School Diploma


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Experience

Sales experience recommended


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Skills

Business Management
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Personality Traits

Conventional
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Earnings

Personal shoppers bill their clients in different ways: they set a regular fee for services, charge a percentage of the sale, or charge an hourly rate. Personal shoppers employed by a department store are paid by the company, are paid on commission, or some combination of hourly wage and commission.

A self-employed personal shopper may find it best to charge by the hour; when shopping fo...

Work Environment

Personal shoppers have all the advantages of owning their own business, including setting their own hours and keeping a flexible schedule. But they also have all the disadvantages, such as job insecurity and lack of benefits. Though personal shoppers do not have to deal with the stress of a full-time office job, they will have the stress of finding new clients and keeping the business afloat en...

Outlook

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that personal care and service workers, all other, a category that includes personal shoppers, will experience growth of 7 to 10 percent between 2018 and 2028, a rate that is much faster than the average for all occupations. However, personal shopping is a new business development, so anyone embarking on the career will be taking some serious risks. There is...