The automobile salesperson is one of many sales professions. The automobile salesman is a retail salesperson, who sells new or used cars. Unlike traditional retail sales, car sales are sometimes negotiable. Salesmen are employed by new

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive mainte ...

s or

used car A used car, a pre-owned vehicle, or a secondhand car, is a vehicle that has previously had one or more retail owners. Used cars are sold through a variety of outlets, including franchise and independent car dealers, rental car companies, buy h ...

dealerships.

Car negotiation

The price of a car, unlike many retail sales, is often negotiable. New cars will often have a factory window sticker (

Monroney sticker The Monroney sticker or window sticker is a label required in the United States to be displayed in all new automobiles and includes the listing of certain official information about the car. The window sticker was named after Almer Stillwell ...

in the US) listing equipment and options, and the suggested retail price or

MSRP The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

. The salesman is traditionally paid a commission rather than a fixed salary, usually based on a combination of profit margin and unit volume.

Popular culture

The automobile salesman, particularly the used car salesman, has often been a source of characters, often negative, in movies, television shows, and cartoons. History and fairy tales often characterize peddlers (people selling goods) as negative influences, or outsiders out to take advantage of people. Such salesmen are often well aware of their occupation's negative public image. As

Valerie Biden Owens Valerie Biden Owens (November 5, 1945) is an American political strategist, campaign manager and former educator. She is the younger sister of Joe Biden, the 46th and current President of the United States. In 2016, president Barack Obama nom ...

explained, Joe Biden Sr. left automobile sales for

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

when his son Joe Biden Jr. was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in 1972, because "he didn't want a United States senator to have a used-car salesman for a dad." It is a common theme for the "used car salesman" to be cast as a

shyster Shyster (also spelled ''schiester'', ''scheister'', ''shiester'', etc.) is a slang word for someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law, sometimes also politics or economics. Etymology Th ...

in popular culture.

References

{{Reflist Sales occupations Auto dealerships