Does anyone work as a buyer? Think I made a career mistake

[Ohohophelia]

Just curious, I’ve just got into the profession about a year ago and when looking at new jobs it’s only around £40K for a senior buyer in London.

Is this even a worthwhile career? If I’m never going to even earn £40K as I don’t live in London.

In what industry? It's a lucrative career
In some but you need to put your time in.

What industry would you suggest? I’m currently in professional services.

My cousin is a buyer for Marks and Spencer's. I don't know what she earns but a lot.

Ooh interesting, my sister would be ecstatic if I had this kind of job - do you know if she ever gets free food? 😂

😂 Straight to the important stuff. I don't think so. She's not in the shops, she's in an office and flying to China every minute.

My friend is a fashion buyer for the company that owns TopShop etc. is it still Phillip Green? She earns decent money but is constantly in Bangladesh or other Asian countries.

She's travelled so much but is now 44 and gutted that she's missed the boat re having DC

Interestingly my cousin also didn't have children. She's in her early forties now and travels a lot.

Totally industry dependent! Retail is notoriously low paid, automotive is good, building and related materials is ok.
As a senior buyer I was on £40k in the midlands, but considered myself underpaid. Colleagues were on between £40k and £55k. As a purchasing manager I am paid over £60k. My role's salary bracket would be around £55k to £70k.
I think it's a fab career, just the right level of people interaction without the pressure to be nice to everyone like in sales!

I was a merchandiser (not visual working with the buyers) for different high street retailers for years. If you want to work in clothing retail a lot of the work in based in London and Head Office Retail wages are considerably lower than other London industries. It’s not a massively well paid industry unless you are relatively senior. It does take time to work your way up as well.

Have a look at Glassdoor to see average salaries. My company is based in the midlands and pays buyers 37-41k according to that.

I looked into merchandising a few years ago (already worked in ecommerce), but the career path seemed a bit mad and the entire thing seemed really cliquey so I went into tech instead.

@Ohohophelia I'm in prof services on 76, job title is procurement rather than buyer but pretty much the same thing. I'd crack on for a couple of years, the potential is there