Pay and commission.
Most reps learn how their comp plan works after the first chargeback. It is better understood before you sign one.
Door-to-door pay is usually commission, often with a draw against it. A draw is an advance, not a salary, and it comes back out of future commission. A chargeback claws back commission on a sale that cancels or never installs. Both of those decide what you actually keep, which makes them worth more attention than the headline percentage.
Common questions
- What is a draw against commission?
- An advance on money you have not earned yet. It keeps you fed early on and it is recovered from later commission. A rep who ramps slowly can finish a season owing the company money, which is the part nobody mentions in the recruiting pitch.
- What is a chargeback?
- Commission taken back when a sale cancels, fails to install, or the customer stops paying inside a defined window. The length of that window is the number to ask about, because it decides how long your paycheque stays provisional.
- Are door-to-door reps 1099 or W-2?
- Both exist, and it changes your taxes, your expenses and your legal protections, not just the paperwork. Misclassification is common enough in this trade to be worth checking rather than assuming.
- How much do door-to-door reps make?
- The spread is enormous and the published figures are mostly recruiting material. What is defensible: pay tracks close rate and doors worked, and both are things you can measure yourself rather than take on faith.
- What should I look for in a summer sales contract?
- The chargeback window, how the draw is recovered, who owns the accounts if you leave early, and whether housing costs are deducted. Those four decide the outcome more than the commission percentage does.