Unpaid Commissions

Please also see my Contracts article.

For some reason, Missouri only gives special rights to commissioned sales people who sell “wholesale.” Those people have the right to sue for unpaid commissions and collect their attorney fees, and even get some modest damages in the right circumstances. But ordinary retail sales people do not have such special rights when they have to sue to collect their commissions.

The Merchandising Practices Act in Missouri covers these special rights I referred to. The special coverage is contained in three statutes, 407.11, 407.12, and 407.13. By its definition section, the statute is limited to sales reps who sell wholesale and who are compensated in whole or in part by commission.

What’s a wholesale rep? Lawyers fight about that. I think the courts are moving in the following direction: You are probably NOT a wholesale rep if you sell a product directly to the end-user of the product. But you might be a wholesale rep if you sell to an intermediary rather than to the end-user.

If you are being denied commissions, and you do not sell wholesale, you are still welcome to call me. Maybe I can help.

Soon I will be writing more about this Commission topic. I’ve run out of time now and must leave this article much shorter than I intended.