Sales and retail

How to become a wholesale and manufacturing sales representative

Official title: Wholesale and manufacturing sales representative

Also called: Manufacturers sales agent, Manufacturers representative, Wholesale sales manager, Wholesaler

Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives sell and promote wholesaler or manufacturer products.

Main tasks

Sell wholesale and manufacturing products
Recommend the best products to customers
Explain products and their features
Answer customer questions
Negotiate prices and sales terms
Prepare quotes and sales estimates
Coordinate sales promotions and campaigns
Check stock levels and availability

How to become one

You need experience to become a wholesale and manufacturing sales representative. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Required: experience in similar work. Other requirements: a driver licence.

See the full Tahatū profile

Pay · Past change

Most common pay: $58,000 to $103,000 a year (median $73,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
Upper: $143,000 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Decrease (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.

Who does this work

About 510 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).

Questions people ask

How do I become a wholesale and manufacturing sales representative?

How much does a wholesale and manufacturing sales representative earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $73,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $58,000 to $103,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a wholesale and manufacturing sales representative grown in New Zealand?

It has shrunk: TEC records a decrease in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026