# Why aren't agents used in more employment fields? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264 "2011-10-11T04:59:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/21 "2011-10-12T13:38:52Z")
Agents and agencies are everywhere. Pretty much every manufacturer that makes a product for commercial or industrial use hires an agent to help market, sell and promote that product in a particular region. The agent usually gets a percentage of the manufacturer’s sales in his contractual territory as compensation. You don’t see the agents because they aren’t working at the retail individual sales level ( except for big ticket items like houses). There are agents for companies that make lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, windows and doors, cabinetry and tile. Those agents work with architects and designers to get their products specified on construction projects and then they use the demand generated by these specifications to convince warehouses and showrooms to carry their products. The companies that make the food you consume have agents who get the product placed in supermarkets and negotiate for display and shelf space to maximize sales. There are agents (aka sales reps) behind every product you see on the shelf at Best Buy or your local electronics stores. There are agents that specialize in selling farm equipment to large agricultural conglomerates. Agents are everywhere, it’s a business model that works ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/22 "2011-10-12T14:42:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I don’t think so. Do you honestly not understand this after several people have point out your error? You were wrong on several counts. First, when you said the following: > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Most people don’t use agents to buy houses. According to your own link, they do. Second, you said the following: > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > They may think they do, but in the vast majority of cases the agent is acting for the seller. Wrong again. To quote another [cite](http://www.realtor.com/home-finance/buyers-basics/guide-how-to-buy-a-home-2.aspx?source=web): > [@](#): > > What should you expect when you work with a REALTOR®? > > Once you select a REALTOR® you will want to establish a proper business relationship.\*\* You likely know that some REALTORS® represent sellers while others represent buyers\*\*. Each REALTOR® will explain the options available, describe how he or she typically works with individuals and provide you with complete agency disclosures (the ins and outs of your relationship with the agent) as required in your state. Here is [another](http://www.123movers.com/guides/realestate_agency.asp): > [@](#): > > Buyers’ Agents > > If a seller’s agent is like a prosecuting attorney than a buyer’s agent is like a defense lawyer.\*\* A buyer’s agent is a real estate agent whose primary objective is to get the buyer the lowest price possible on the home they want.\*\* A buyer’s agent hunts around for homes that fit your needs and when it comes time to negotiate a price, they represent you during the bargaining. Just like a seller’s agent is prohibited from giving away too much information to the buyer during the sales process, your buyer’s agent is prohibited from doing anything that will hurt your chances of getting a property for the lowest price possible. > > Occasionally, buyer’s agents may work for the same real estate agency as the seller’s agent representing the home you’re interested in (this is known as a “designated agency” arrangement). **However, for the purposes of your transaction the relationship is kept adversarial.** > > Of course, buyers’ agents have to be paid. In some cases, buyers’ agents simply charge their clients a fee. However, in most cases both a buyer’s and a seller’s agent are involved in selling a home. Oftentimes the seller’s agent will negotiate a deal to split their commission with the buyer’s agent. When this happens the buyer doesn’t have to pay anything. Even your own cite, which seems to be outdated, mentions that buyer’s agents are different. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I did understate the commonality of buyer’s agents, Which again, means you were wrong. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > [According to Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_buyer_agent), the EBA (Exclusive Buyer’s Agent) movement didn’t even start until the 1980s. Which is irrelevant considering this conversation is happening in 2011. More importantly, even when an agent (or her company) has buyers and sellers, they still have a duty to the side they are representing in the transaction, even if they are technically on both sides (see my above cite). > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > [Here is an article](http://fcs.tamu.edu/housing/housing_affordability/buying/home_buyer_education/pdf/what_buyers_and_sellers_need_to_know_about_real_estate_agents.pdf) published by Texas A&M University which does a much better job of describing what I’ve been trying and apparently failing to describe. You misunderstood the site. The agents they mention are of two types: listing agents , who list a house on MLS and other sites. They are the ones who initiate the sales process, contracting with the home owner for exclusive rights to sell their property. The second agent they mention is a sales agent who works to sell the properties they, or their real estate company, have contracted with. To clarify, one guy signs you up, they next guy tries to entice buyers to buy any houses the company has signed up. To analogize it to a car dealership, the listing agent contracts to get the cars that are to be available for sale while the selling agent sells the car to the customer. You are correct in stating that neither of these people has a primary obligation to the buyer. That’s why the selling agent is called a selling agent and not a buyer’s agent. That’s is the crux of the misunderstanding. We are talking about BUYER’S agents, not SELLER’S agents. Just because they both work with buyer’s doesn’t mean they are the same thing. Regardless, this is not the way most homes sales work today because individual agents/agencies often do not have a portfolio large and diverse enough satisfy home owners, and because it’s not the most efficient way to match home buyers with home sellers. Today, BUYER’S agents and SELLER’S agents generally split the proceeds of a home sales, while acting in the interest of two separate parties. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/23 "2011-10-12T15:10:57Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Where do you see agents being useful, and why? I would guess any field where there is an erosion of unions (eg. nursing, teaching), fields where they are outliers that have a greater impact than their compensation would dictate (eg. higher ed.), or where there is a clear path to professional success via specific educational institutions (eg. law, medicine). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/24 "2011-10-12T15:17:48Z")
I think the mistake is assuming there’s a bottomless supply of agents. There’s a finite supply of potential agents just as there’s a finite supply of potential doctors or potential lawyers or potential teachers. Not everyone has the skills it takes to be a successful agent. So with a limited pool of agents, where are they going to end up? Like any occupation, they’re going to seek the best opportunities for themselves. And representing professional athletes, rock stars, and actors with multi-million dollar contracts is a better opportunity than representing doctors, lawyers, or teachers. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/25 "2011-10-12T17:41:44Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > I would guess any field where there is an erosion of unions (eg. nursing, teaching), fields where they are outliers that have a greater impact than their compensation would dictate (eg. higher ed.), or where there is a clear path to professional success via specific educational institutions (eg. law, medicine). And why would an agent as opposed to a head hunter/placement service be the type that fills the void? Agents work in sports/entertainment because the jobs are relatively transient. If you’re always going to be needing another job in a couple months/year then it makes sense to have someone always looking for a job for you. If you’re only going to change jobs every 5 to 10 years why pay someone a percentage of your salary that entire time for doing nothing? Why not just track them down when you need them? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/26 "2011-10-12T18:29:33Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > For the OP: I think agents in the entertainment field are important because you’re always having to look for your next gig. Even something like a long-running TV series leaves you plenty of time free to take up other projects, and those projects vary widely. An entertainer may do acting, voice-overs, lectures, product endorsements and more. For the entertainer, tracking down all of this work would be too time-consuming. For the agent, it means a steady stream of income. > > An agent who works to place most other talent would have fewer opportunities. If you hire on a new CEO, you probably expect it to be his only job and you want him to be there a few years. So an agent placing a CEO might only get paid once for every CEO placed. This is why employment agencies and headhunters are not usually lumped together with other agents. While they are agents, they rely on a different model. This was my thought too. An agent helps connect you with the next position/gig/etc. When most positions are essentially permanent, an ongoing agent is of little use. We have something like headhunters, employment agencies, etc. that will perform that job for us “one-off”, but they are not on-going agents in the sense of actors or writers. Indeed, since one aspect they are selling the employer is stability, they want to stay away from revolving doors. (IIRC the headhunter contract for a midlevel position years ago, it was something like “we get X months salary for finding you a suitable candidate, less $Y if he does not last a year.”) The buyer’s real estate agent it seems was a relatively recent thing that happened as part of the recent real estate run-up starting in the late 90’s. Before that, it was mostly just the seller had an agent. A friend of mine bought his home in he early 00’s from an ad he found in a local RE paper. When he said he was bringing in his buyer agent, the guy he was talking to went ballistic. It seems this guy would copy ads from other agents’ material, try to attract buyers, and then become their agent. Bringing his own agent basically cut this guy completely out of the loop on a $500,000 sale. That was the first time I ever heard of buyer agents. Before that, everything I heard was about the seller having a agent. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/27 "2011-10-13T06:54:38Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Agents take 10% of your income. Not 10% of the deal they make, but 10% of your income. Forever. (The 10% is an arbitrary number. Book agents take 15%, sports agents take 6%, etc., although there are always exceptions.) That’s a deductible business expense, but it still means that you lose 10% of your money before it comes to you. (At least it does in writing: publishers pay agents, not authors.) Like so many things, that varies by location. My agents are paid by the customer on the other side of the deal, not by me. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/28 "2011-10-13T07:51:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > . > So with a limited pool of agents, where are they going to end up? Like any occupation, they’re going to seek the best opportunities for themselves. And representing professional athletes, rock stars, and actors with multi-million dollar contracts is a better opportunity than representing doctors, lawyers, or teachers. Don’t many actors WITHOUT multimillion dollar contracts have agents? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/29 "2011-10-13T12:47:21Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Anyone who uses an employment **agen** cy is using an **agen** t. And that’s a LOT of industries besides sports and CEOs! > > In my experience, the agent stays out of the salary negotiations, but they do find the leads and make the initial contacts, and some other important stuff. Employment agencies work for the employer NOT the employee. Its up to the employer to hire the agency, negotiate their cut (typically a percentage of the employees first years salary in my experience, not that they are ever going to tell the employee that). The agency lives or dies on their ability to recruit he staff the company requires, NOT getting the employee a good deal . That is the complete opposite of an agent’s job. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/30 "2011-10-13T15:22:44Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Like so many things, that varies by location. My agents are paid by the customer on the other side of the deal, not by me. Book agents are paid by the customer on the other side of the deal, the publisher. After deducting their 15%, they send the author a check for the rest. Later, they handle royalties, rights, and subsidiary payments the same way. Writers never pay their agents a cent at any time. What varies in your experience? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/31 "2011-10-13T15:57:16Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Don’t many actors WITHOUT multimillion dollar contracts have agents? Sure, same as athletes and musicians. But you can bet those agents are trying to get them a multi-million dollar contract (with its million dollar commission). Doctors and lawyers and teachers don’t have that potential. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264/32 "2011-10-13T18:05:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Sure, same as athletes and musicians. But you can bet those agents are trying to get them a multi-million dollar contract (with its million dollar commission). Doctors and lawyers and teachers don’t have that potential. No. 99% of actors will never see a million dollar pay check, and if agents only represented actors who might they’d starve. Most acting is done for union scale and for residuals, both of which the agent takes a cut of. Agents are probably not required for acting gigs in Podunk, and likely not for non-union underground movies even in New York. But casting directors for legit, commercial and industrial jobs in New York (and probably LA) send out calls to agents. Good luck getting in the door if you don’t have one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-agents-used-in-more-employment-fields/599264.md?page=1)