Self-employment method
Used Merchandise Retailers
132,708 people filed as a nonemployer business under this industry code in 2022 — no payroll, no employees, just them. These are gross receipts reported to the IRS, before any expense is taken out.
Median GROSS RECEIPTS for the year — money in, before rent, materials, fuel, insurance or tax. This is not take-home pay.
Share who grossed under $10,000 for the whole year — before expenses.
The middle half, in gross receipts. A quarter of filers took less than the lower figure.
Source: US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
How often it does not work out
Of the 132,708 people who filed under this code in 2022, 48.21% grossed under $10,000 for the entire year — before a single expense was deducted.
That is a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes GROSS RECEIPTS, not net income. Everyone inside that share earned less than the figure suggests once rent, materials, mileage, insurance and self-employment tax came out — and filers who grossed well above the threshold may still have netted nothing. The true share of people who earn nothing meaningful from this is higher than the number above, never lower.
Denominator: establishments_total = 132,708 · US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
Every filer, by what they grossed
The full distribution Census publishes. The median above is interpolated inside the band that holds the 50th percentile.
| Gross receipts for the year | Filers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 40,107 | 30.2% |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 23,876 | 18.0% |
| $10,000 to $24,999 | 31,017 | 23.4% |
| $25,000 to $49,999 | 17,983 | 13.6% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 10,460 | 7.9% |
| $100,000 to $249,999 | 6,310 | 4.8% |
| $250,000 to $499,999 | 1,905 | 1.4% |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | 731 | 0.6% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 | 279 | 0.2% |
Who this suits
Median gross receipts of $11,137 put the typical filer somewhere between a serious side income and a failing attempt at a full-time one, and the receipts figure alone cannot tell you which.
132,708 people filed under this code. A field that large has a settled price, a settled set of expectations, and no shortage of people willing to meet both.
9,289 people — 7.0% of filers — grossed $100,000 or more. At that share the upper tier is visible from inside the field, which usually means someone doing Used Merchandise Retailers locally can tell you what those people do differently.
This kind of retail suits people who can build a community around the shop, because on price and range alone the category is not defensible.
There is no qualification, licence or minimum to appear in this data — you file and you are counted. Read the receipts distribution as the price of that: no barrier at the door means no filter before the numbers.
Who should not do this
7.6x between the quarters — $4,135 against $31,257, or $2,260 a month. This is the shape of a field where a minority does very well and the summary statistics quietly borrow their success.
The bottom quarter of Used Merchandise Retailers earns under $4,135 — $45,885 below the $50,020 a typical American job pays. Entering at the bottom and waiting is a live risk here, not a theoretical one, and some people never leave that quarter.
Do not start this without a plan for online competition, because your customers are pricing against it whether you are or not.
Of the 132,708 people who filed as Used Merchandise Retailers in 2022, 48.2% grossed under $10,000 for the year — 63,978 people who did not clear a part-time wage in revenue, let alone in profit.
That share is a floor, not an estimate: $10,000 is revenue, not earnings. Everyone counted inside it kept less than $10,000, and an unknown number of the filers above it also finished the year with nothing after costs.
What the spread tells you
At 7.6x, the gap between $4,135 and $31,257 is the shape of a field with a small, well-paid top. $11,137 is real and it is not a forecast — the people quoting the upper end at you are describing a minority.
The middle half of this field earns between $4,135 and $31,257. That is $27,122 of range, with $11,137 sitting inside it as the point half the field is above and half below.
Between $4,135 and $31,257 — the two ends of the middle half — sits $11,137. Moving from the midpoint to the upper quarter is worth $20,120; the whole climb from the lower quarter is $27,122.
The top quarter of Used Merchandise Retailers begins $20,120 above the $11,137 midpoint, while the bottom quarter starts only $7,002 below it. A range stretched that far in one direction is the signature of a field where a small group earns a great deal more than the middle does.
Spread across a 2,080-hour year those receipts come to $5.35 an hour at the midpoint, $1.98 at the 25th percentile and $15.02 at the 75th. That is turnover per hour, not pay per hour, and it is not comparable with the $24.04 an hour a typical American job pays.
Counted straight off the return: 40,107 filers grossed under $5,000, 23,876 took $5,000 to $9,999, 31,017 took $10,000 to $24,999, 9,225 cleared $100,000 and 2,915 cleared $250,000.
What these figures are, and what they are not
Every figure above is GROSS RECEIPTS, before expenses — money that arrived before rent, materials, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax. The $11,137 midpoint for Used Merchandise Retailers is not take-home pay and is not comparable to a $11,137 salary.
With no unpaid-hours or cost data for Used Merchandise Retailers, the hourly figure is $11,137 over a 2,080-hour year — a unit conversion, not an adjustment.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else