<p>So, when I owned my winery (after 15 years I had to shut it down) I went through distributors and agents. Distributors typically buy the wine from me at a 50% discount from the retail price and then mark it up to the 30% discount mark and sell it to retail/restaurant at that price, where the retailer marks it up to to whatever they want. </p>

<p>So, let say I have a $10 bottle of wine. I sell it to a distributor for $5. They mark it up to $7 and sell it to retail. Retailers usually will sell it for around 100% of the price you suggest. Restaurants sell at usually 200% of retail.</p>

<p>So, on a $10 bottle of wine the distributor is making $3 a bottle. That's what we have to work with. Of that $3 there are overhead costs, profits and % goes to the salesman. I once worked with a commission only wine sales guy and he was making 10% on a case of wine. So in our theoretical exercise he makes $1 a bottle or $12 a case. I think 10-12% is typical for commission only sales. </p>

<p>Being a wine salesman is a tough business and it takes a lot of relationship building and cold calls and super thin margins. Good Luck!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-02T13:16:22.307Z
2017-05-02T15:57:54.230Z
2017-05-02T15:57:54.230Z
farmersteve
<p>Just checking other views on what commission wine representatives make off sales.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-01T17:04:33.120Z
Are you talking about wine reps that work for a distributor?
farmersteve
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-02T16:37:53.970Z
Is this the right place for this question?
dougal 5.0.0
<wine>
What is the average percentage of commission of a commission only wine representative?
Lynn Lockee
# What is the average percentage of commission of a commission only wine representative?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-01)

Just checking other views on what commission wine representatives make off sales.

**Tags:** wine

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you talking about wine reps that work for a distributor?  
> **username_2**: Is this the right place for this question?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-05-02. Score: 4

So, when I owned my winery (after 15 years I had to shut it down) I went through distributors and agents. Distributors typically buy the wine from me at a 50% discount from the retail price and then mark it up to the 30% discount mark and sell it to retail/restaurant at that price, where the retailer marks it up to to whatever they want.

So, let say I have a $10 bottle of wine. I sell it to a distributor for $5. They mark it up to $7 and sell it to retail. Retailers usually will sell it for around 100% of the price you suggest. Restaurants sell at usually 200% of retail.

So, on a $10 bottle of wine the distributor is making $3 a bottle. That's what we have to work with. Of that $3 there are overhead costs, profits and % goes to the salesman. I once worked with a commission only wine sales guy and he was making 10% on a case of wine. So in our theoretical exercise he makes $1 a bottle or $12 a case. I think 10-12% is typical for commission only sales.

Being a wine salesman is a tough business and it takes a lot of relationship building and cold calls and super thin margins. Good Luck!


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