How To Become A Vendor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a vendor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A vendor is responsible for selling or supplying goods and services to individuals and organizations and receiving payments. As a vendor, you will sell goods door to door, at trade fairs, sporting events, or on the street. You'll evaluate the market demand to determine the right amount to stock. You may have to submit bid proposals on the prices of stock for evaluation by purchasing firms. As an employee in a grocery store, you may be required to inform customers of the prices of various groceries.

To get the job, you need to have a minimum of a high school diploma. You must also have experience in a related role. You may need a sales tax permit, a tax certificate, and a general business license to operate. Essential skills include multitasking, interpersonal, negotiation, customer service, communication, and decision-making skills. Vendors are paid about $41,295 a year. Their salary varies from $22,000 to $76,000.

ScoreVendorUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,533

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

7.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.71%

Asian 5.93%

Black or African American 9.14%

Hispanic or Latino 21.07%

Unknown 6.30%

White 56.86%

Gender

female 44.65%

male 55.35%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress Level

2.9

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

1.8

Complexity Level is simple

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

10.0

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a vendor

Explore vendor education requirements

Most common vendor degrees

Bachelor's

34.6 %

High School Diploma

30.2 %

Associate

19.6 %

Start to develop specific vendor skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Knowledge	26.39%
Customer Service	25.77%
Stock Merchandise	8.51%
Purchase Orders	5.32%
End Caps	4.75%

Complete relevant vendor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New vendors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a vendor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real vendor resumes.

Research vendor duties and responsibilities

Attain prime floor display space and provide point of sale (POS) signage.
Handle various tasks from cashier, managing supply and back-stock, responsible for ordering merchandise for cereal department.
Work directly with local and national retailers to negotiate sales, places orders, and manage deliveries of wine and spirits.
Operate hand-held and truck mount RF scanning guns.

Prepare your vendor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your vendor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a vendor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Vendor Resume templates

Build a professional Vendor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Vendor resume.

Apply for vendor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a vendor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do vendors rate their job?