Salary
Average Salary: $30,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $1,252,440
Retail sales salaries fluctuate with the economy. When times are good, the job availability and pay is good. But when everyone's getting laid off or worried about losing their homes, fewer people buy furniture (or anything else for that matter).
Hourly wages hover around the $30,000 a year (source).
Pay is directly tied to commission rates, which can be 4% to 8% in most stores, to 10% in department stores or high end furniture stores (source). The more expensive the furniture, the higher the commission payouts. However, it's easier to sell less expensive furniture.
While warehouse settings like Ikea don't rely on commissions, they do pride themselves in having a decent salary with a good benefit package including medical and dental benefits, 401K retirement, life insurance, paid vacations, and even educational assistance for those who want to go to college and take on managerial roles within the company.
Ikea also offers employee discounts on furniture, as well as on lingonberries and Swedish meatballs at lunchtime.
You certainly won't get rich selling furniture, but you could stick around for a managerial role, which could pay as much as $45/hour or $95,000 a year (source).