By James Lockett From ProperPR

Research by Nested, the modern estate agent, has revealed that estate agents earn one of the lowest basic salaries of all sales professions, with just insurance, retail and telesales seeing a lower level of guaranteed pay. 

Nested analysed the base salary, excluding commission, of 12 of the most common sales professions and found that on average, the basic take-home pay is £26,338.

However, estate agents earn a base salary of just £24,817, 6% less than the average. 

Just three sales professions offer up a lower rate of basic income compared to estate agency.

Insurance sales agents earn an average of £24,372, while retail sales executives earn just 323,415. At £21,323, telesales representatives earn the lowest basic salary of all sales professions. 

When it comes to the highest earnings sales professions, pharmaceutical sales reps sit top of the table. On average, the guaranteed income of a pharma rep is £35,228 – 42% higher than the average estate agent. 

Advertising sales reps (£30,638) and car sales execs (£30,312) also pocket a guaranteed annual income of more than £30,000. 

Head of Commercial at Nested, Alice Bullard, commented:

“Sales roles are generally commission-based and while the earning potential can be high, basic salaries are fairly low, particularly if you’re an estate agent. 

When you couple this with the fact that estate agents only pocket a small slice of the fee charged to home sellers, it’s fair to say they are probably underpaid given the vital role they play in such a momentous stage in people’s lives.

Of course, the perceived security that comes via employment is enough for some, but it’s no wonder that so many are adopting the self-employed business model in order to significantly boost their income potential.

While letting go of a guaranteed income may have been a traditionally scary prospect, platforms such as Nested now provide the support and resources needed to make the jump, for those that have what it takes to succeed in sales.”

Sales profession	Est ave annual salary (base salary excluding commission)
Pharmaceutical sales representative	£35,228
Advertising sales representative	£30,638
Car salesman/car sales executive	£30,312
Door to door sales representative	£28,338
Recruitment agent	£26,578
Medical devices sales representative	£26,558
Software sales representative	£25,466
IT sales executive	£25,201
Estate agent	£24,817
Insurance sales agent	£24,372
Retail sales executive	£23,415
Telesales representative	£21,323
Average Sales representative	£26,338
Source: Indeed

Notes:

●         Nested is the modern estate agent. Combining the best of traditional agents with powerful technology to give homeowners a radically better moving experience. 

●         Nested is a brand built on trust and not only has a 4.8-star trust pilot rating based on over 500 reviews but is also the only agent to be rated by Mumsnet. 

●         Nested is planning to launch into at least an additional 100 areas over the next 12 months, as well as moving outside London for the first time in the next few months. 

●         The company also offers unique features such as a Buying Agent, and dedicated chain managers and 

●         The company was founded in 2016 by GoCardless co-founder Matt Robinson and is backed by Balderton Capital, Northzone and Passion Capital.