← All posts · 2026-10-15
How to read a commission-only offer in 5 minutes
Pay figures are examples or published terms of specific roles, not a promise. Most people who buy any course earn little or nothing from it.
I write comp plans. At Dependables I hire commission-only account executives, and the terms for that seat are published at sales.meetthedependables.com. So I read offers from the side of the person who wrote them. Here's how to read one quickly, including the parts written to favor the company.
This is education, not legal or tax advice. Contractor status, commission agreements and taxes depend on where you live. Check with a professional where you live before you sign anything.
Minute 1: learn the five words
Base. The fixed pay you get whether you sell or not. In a commission-only role, base is zero.
OTE. On-target earnings. Base plus the commission you'd earn if you hit exactly 100% of quota. It's the number in the job post because it's the biggest one. Treat it as a target the company hopes you hit.
Quota. How much you're expected to sell in a month, quarter or year.
Ramp. Your first months, when your pipeline is empty. A fair plan lowers quota during ramp or pays something to cover it.
Clawback. When the company takes commission back, usually because a customer cancels or doesn't pay within a set window. Clawbacks are common and can be fair. Check the window and check that it's in writing.
Minute 2: do the math on a made-up offer
Every number in this example is made up. It's here to show the method. Don't compare your offer to these numbers. Compare it using the steps.
Made-up Offer A (salaried with commission) Base: $40,000 a year OTE: $80,000 a year Annual quota: $400,000 in new sales Clawback: commission returned if a customer cancels in the first 60 days
Find the variable. OTE minus base. $80,000 − $40,000 = $40,000. That's the part riding on your selling.
Find the rate. Variable divided by quota. $40,000 ÷ $400,000 = 10%. You earn ten cents per dollar sold.
Run it below target. This is the step most people skip. Say you hit half your quota in year one, $200,000 in sales. 10% of that is $20,000, plus the $40,000 base. That's $60,000, which is $20,000 short of the OTE in the post.
Run the clawback. One $10,000 customer cancels in the first 60 days. You give back the $1,000 you earned on it.
Now the same exercise for commission-only:
Made-up Offer B (commission-only) Base: $0 Commission: 20% of each closed sale
At the same $200,000 in sales, 20% is $40,000. If you close nothing, you earn nothing. The higher rate is the company paying you for carrying all the risk. That trade can make sense if you have savings to live on, the product sells, and the payouts are clear and fast. It doesn't make sense if you need a steady paycheck next month.
Minute 3: read from the bottom up
When I write a plan, the big number goes at the top. The rules that decide what you actually take home sit lower down, in plainer type. So skip to the bottom and look for written answers to these five questions:
- What exactly counts as a sale? A signed contract, the first payment, or full payment?
- How many days after a sale counts do I get paid?
- If a customer cancels, what happens to my commission, and for how long?
- What is my quota during ramp?
- Can the plan change mid-year, and how much notice do I get?
If any answer is missing, ask for it in writing. A good company will send it. How they respond to that request tells you a lot by itself.
Minute 4: check the red flags
These are the ones I'd walk away from, or at least ask hard questions about.
You pay to join before you've sold anything. A starter kit, a training fee, a "license," a required course you must buy. A sales job pays you. If money goes from you to them up front, you're their customer. That includes courses like this one. Buying Proof First never gets you a seat at Dependables. That seat is free to apply for and open to anyone.
You get paid more for recruiting than for selling. If the plan rewards bringing in other reps more than selling a product to real customers, the recruits are the product.
No written terms. If they won't put the rate, payout timing and clawback rules in writing, any of it can change and you'd have nothing to point to.
No payout timeline. "You get paid when the client pays" with no number of days could mean months, or never.
No real product or real customers. If you can't explain what you're selling and who buys it after one conversation, nobody else can either.
Apply the same list to every offer, including mine. Read any fees, draws and repayment rules on the seat page with the same care you'd give a stranger's plan.
Minute 5: write your questions
Take the offer in front of you and write down:
- The base, the OTE and the quota, if listed.
- The variable and the rate.
- What you'd earn at half of quota.
- Which red flags apply.
- The exact questions you'll send to get missing terms in writing.
That's the whole method. Find the variable, find the rate, run it below target, run the clawback, check the red flags. It takes about five minutes once you've done it twice.
A commission-only role can be a real opportunity. It can also be unpaid work with a nice title. The difference is almost always in the parts printed in smaller type.
Check contractor and tax rules with a professional where you live.
Pay figures are examples or published terms of specific roles, not a promise. Most people who buy any course earn little or nothing from it.
Try it
Run your offer through the free Red-Flag Checker. If you want to learn how to get the offer in the first place, start here.