Bookselling salary guide?

$53K seems like a useful base. Given the sector (book retailing), plus your tasks and responsibilities (managing a preset strategy, rather than developing new strategies and taking account for the success of the strategies), plus you lack of staff supervision, this seems like a reasonable offer to make (it's a little on the high side). If you have any tools that can measure and link increased sales to your efforts, you will be in a better position after a year or so to ask for a raise. If your success is based largely on your unique knowledge, skills and personal networks, you will also be able to stand a better chance of achieving a higher starting salary, and then a salary increase a year or so down the road. Basically, you should be a key player they can't afford to lose. PS: I chose $53K, because a figure that's not divisible by 5 is usually more believable (plus, 50k may be too low to start with negotiations, while 55k may be a little too high)

The Department of Labor publishes an Occupational Outlook Handbook that would be helpful in assessing salaries for the different tasks you are talking about. If your job would entail sales, which it sounds like it would, you may want to add a commission piece (if that is the norm) or at least a bonus structure. Sales people get bonuses for good performance, ie meeting and exceeding their goals.

Check out glassdoor.com.

I'm in Charlotte, and have co-worker who does exactly the job you describe, and she makes $8 an hour.... so wages obviously vary widely.

I pulled these hourly pay rates from the national average wages for occupations. In your situation, because your job would be hard to categorize, I pulled a few different occupations. First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers: $14.34 (30k) Note:This number references individuals who supervise staff. Since that's not you, this might be high Meeting and Event Planners: $19.57 (41K) Advertising and Promotions Manager: $34.64 (72K) If you want to go into your negotiations with some actual data, this is one way you could calculate: Use the jobs above, but weigh the amount of your job that would be spent on each one. For example: 50% of job @ First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers: $14.34 (30k) 25% of job Advertising and Promotions Manager: $34.64 (72K) 25% of job Event Planners: $19.57 (41K) Those calculations gave me $20.72 an hour or $43K You would probably need to decide whether where you live is significantly below or above the national average cost of living and adjust accordingly. And obviously, think about whether this is astronomically more than an independent bookstore could afford to pay you, because it sure might be. My numbers have nothing to do with bookstores, and every niche market is different. Good luck, this sounds like a really cool job!

During the exciting four months a couple years ago when I briefly left working for museums and got a job doing basically what you're describing, only for a brewpub/vegetarian restaurant/microbrewery, I made 33K. In Asheville, that was considered quite generous and probably is why I got laid off so quickly (well, that and the owner's terrifying ADHD.) Since I think where you are and where I am are probably about the same salarywise, my guess is you're looking at the low to mid 30s. Maybe 40, tops, if they pay really well.

Oh and I got hired away from my museum job and he asked me how much I needed to make. I went in saying, well, look, I'm making 29K now and you're not offering me health insurance, so I have to make at least 5K more a year. Then he offered 33 and I took it. You might consider just doing that - setting a salary that's close or a little more than what you're making now and see what happens.

I think Anastasia's correct. I used to be an independent bookseller, and wages were never impressive. Consider asking for extra vacation time, which has lots of value to you, but is not as painful to the store owner.

This isn't looking too good. I guess I'll just have to start a little above where I am, but my baseline is $40K, so they may not be able to afford this. However, maybe they will. The business has some complexities, like a reasonably-sized textbook trade. I suppose all I can do is state my goal and see if they quail or not. I don't want to be underemployed, either moneywise or skillswise, even though this sounds intriguing and fun.