Is there a word that describes someone who receives commission for something? I am not only referring to a salesman but also to for example VISA that charges 3% commission on credit card sales.
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There is another sense of receiving a commission. It means to sit on a special committee created for a particular purpose, in which case the person who gets that sort of commission is called a commissioner. I wouldn’t use it for the tip sense, though.– tchrist ♦Mar 26, 2012 at 16:53
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Or, of course, an officer cadet receives a commission when he becomes an officer. I can't see any real possibility of confusion between the senses, though.– Tim LymingtonMar 30, 2012 at 10:24
3 Answers
An agent is the usual term for somebody who takes a commission. Though the bank is an intermediary between the customer and the shop, it is probably,in legal terms, acting for the customer in the transaction, and so can be called his agent. (IANAL)
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NOAD: "3 an amount of money, typically a set percentage of the value involved, paid to an agent in a commercial transaction" (emphasis mine)– zpletanMar 26, 2012 at 16:45
I think the word you are looking for is Merchant
The merchant took a 3% cut on each transaction.
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But in the OP's example, VISA receive a commission from the merchant– UselessMar 26, 2012 at 10:05
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They took commission from the transaction for enabling the transaction to happen. Don't VISA receive the commission from the seller and the buyers interactions? Mar 26, 2012 at 10:07
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1Yeah, but VISA aren't the merchant, they're a payment intermediary. The merchant here would be the seller.– UselessMar 26, 2012 at 10:10
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I believe you could use beneficiary here, but it obviously won't pick out only people who receive a commission.