Red flags in remote closer job offers
The biggest red flags in a remote closer job offer are being asked to pay before you can start, being paid to recruit other closers instead of to close, big income claims with no written agreement, and a commission plan nobody will explain in writing. Close behind are unpaid “trial weeks”, clawbacks with no limits, no lead flow, slow or missing payments, and being called a contractor while being managed like an employee. In Australia and the US, regulators say the same thing: honest employers don’t charge you to get a job. She Sells trains women to close and set from home, and its She Soars career program includes placement facilitation, so you’re not left vetting random offers alone.
The red flags at a glance
Most closer roles are commission-heavy and many are contractor arrangements, so that alone isn’t a red flag. What you’re looking for is anything that shifts all the risk onto you.
| Red flag | Why it matters | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| You pay to start (training fee, “buy the offer”, software, starter kit) | The business earns from you, not from your sales. The FTC and Scamwatch both name pay-to-start as a scam sign. | “Is there any cost to me before my first commission? Can you put that in writing?” |
| Recruit-to-earn | If the money comes from signing up other closers, it’s a recruiting scheme, not a sales job. | “What share of your closers’ pay comes from client sales versus recruiting?” |
| Income screenshots and big claims | One person’s best month says nothing about yours. | “What does a closer in their first 90 days usually earn here?” |
| No written agreement | Without one, you can’t prove your rate, your basis or what you’re owed. | “Can I see the contract before I take my first call?” |
| Vague commission basis | 10% of contract value and 10% of cash collected can be very different cheques. | “Is my commission on cash collected or contract value, and when is it paid?” |
| Clawbacks with no limits | Refunds and chargebacks can come out of commission you’ve already been paid. | “Which refunds trigger a clawback, and for how long after the sale?” |
| Unpaid “trial weeks” | In Australia, long unpaid trials can be unlawful for employees. Anywhere, it’s free labour. | “Is the trial paid? How long is it, and who supervises it?” |
| No lead flow | A closer needs booked calls. “Find your own leads” is a different job. | “How many calls a week do closers get, and who books them?” |
| Payment delays | “Paid when the client finishes paying” can mean months of waiting. | “What’s the pay cycle, and how are commissions reported to me?” |
| Contractor label, employee reality | Misclassification can strip you of minimum wage and other entitlements. | “Do I control my hours and methods, or do you?” |
| Pressure to decide today | Real offers survive a 24-hour pause. | “I’ll come back to you tomorrow once I’ve read the agreement.” |
What She Sells does about this
Honest bit first: She Sells is a paid training program, so let’s draw the line clearly. Paying a training provider to learn a skill, with no job promised in exchange for the fee, is different from a “job” that only exists once you’ve paid the employer. The second is what regulators warn about.
She Launches is the foundation program (live coaching, role play and frameworks) and does not include direct placement. She Soars is the career program through the She Sells “Cert III in Remote Sales” certificate, and once you’re certified, our recruitment team works with you to land a role within 90 days, or your money back. She Sells also runs a recruitment service that places trained closers and setters with businesses. You can see both programs on our programs page.
Pay-to-start, buy-the-offer and recruit-to-earn
The FTC’s job scams guidance in the US is blunt: honest employers will never ask you to pay to get a job, and if a placement firm wants a fee, especially upfront, walk away. It also warns about work-from-home ads where you end up paying for starter kits, “training” or useless certifications. In Australia, Scamwatch lists being asked to pay a recruitment fee or pay for training materials before you begin as a warning sign, and tells you not to take payment or rewards for recruiting other people.
In closer land, this shows up as:
- “Buy the offer first.” You’re told you need to purchase the coaching program you’ll be selling, “so you can speak from experience”.
- Paid onboarding with the company itself. A fee to access the scripts, the CRM seat or the “closer academy” before you get calls.
- Recruit-to-earn. Overrides for every new closer you bring in, with the real money coming from recruiting rather than client sales.
My own first taste of sales, back in 2014, was network marketing. More on the difference in legit work-from-home jobs vs scams.
Income claims and no written agreement
Scamwatch’s warning list includes being told you can earn a high income working from home with little effort, and a hiring process so quick there’s no interview or discussion of your experience. The FTC says an offer promising a lot of money in a short time for little work is almost certainly a scam. A real closer role talks about call volume, offer price and ramp-up time, not Lambos.
Before your first call, get in writing: your commission rate, what it’s calculated on, when it’s paid, what happens on refunds, and how either side ends the arrangement. “We’re all family here” is not a contract.
Want help telling a real closer role from a dodgy one? Book a free call with the She Sells team.
Commission basis, clawbacks and payment delays
This is where good-looking offers quietly fall apart. High-ticket programs are often sold on payment plans, so “10% commission” means very little until you know 10% of what. Here’s an illustration only (made-up numbers, not data):
- You close a $6,000 program on a six-month plan. The client pays $1,000 upfront.
- Contract value basis: 10% of $6,000 is $600, often paid on the next pay cycle.
- Cash collected basis: 10% of the $1,000 collected is $100 now, with the rest only if and when the client keeps paying.
Neither basis is wrong in itself. The red flag is when nobody will say which applies, or the answer changes after your first sale. Same with clawbacks: a refund in week one coming out of your commission is reasonable. Any refund, months later, for any reason (including poor fulfilment), with no time limit, is not. Get the clawback window in writing.
Then ask how you’ll see your numbers. A dashboard or weekly commission report is normal. Payments that keep sliding to “next week” are the start of a pattern. For more on how these structures work, read commission-only sales jobs: pros and cons.
Unpaid trial weeks and “find your own leads”
A short role play in an interview is fine. A “trial week” of free live sales calls is unpaid work. If you’re an employee in Australia, the Fair Work Ombudsman on unpaid trials says a trial may be unlawful if it isn’t necessary to show your skills, runs longer than needed (which could range from an hour to one shift), involves more than demonstrating skills, or isn’t directly supervised, and anything beyond that must be paid at the appropriate minimum rate.
Lead flow is the other big one. A closer converts booked, qualified calls. If the “job” is DMing strangers, finding your own prospects and then closing them, that’s three jobs for closer pay, and it should be described honestly upfront. If you want the vetting checklist for where to look in the first place, see how to find remote closing jobs.
Contractor or employee? AU and US tests
Contractor arrangements can be perfectly legitimate. The red flag is a contractor label with an employee reality: set shifts, mandatory attendance, scripts you can’t deviate from, one client only, and no say over how you work.
Australia
Fair Work’s page on sham contracting explains that it’s illegal for a business to tell a worker they’re a contractor when it doesn’t reasonably believe that, and courts can impose penalties. Employment status matters for pay too: Fair Work’s guidance on commission payments says an employee can only be paid commission-only when an award or enterprise agreement allows it, and employees not covered by one still need to get at least the National Minimum Wage.
United States
The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet 13 uses an “economic reality” test: if you’re economically dependent on the employer for work, you’re an employee under the FLSA, and if you’re in business for yourself, you’re an independent contractor. No single factor decides it, and the DOL notes its enforcement position has changed in recent years, so check the current page. State rules can differ too, so get advice before you sign if you’re unsure.
Pressure tactics aimed at you
Funny thing: some of the worst offers use on you the exact pressure tactics a good closer would never use on a client. Watch for:
- “Only two spots left on the team, I need a yes tonight.”
- “If you need to read the contract, you’re not the right fit.”
- A “recruiter” messaging you out of the blue on WhatsApp or Telegram (a Scamwatch warning sign too).
Scamwatch puts it simply: a legitimate offer won’t require you to make a fast decision.
And keep your expectations honest. When I moved into remote sales in 2020, I made $440 in my first month (not typical, and not a forecast for you). Real roles take time to ramp up, which is why the terms need to be fair from day one.
Results vary. Nothing here is a promise of income. See our earnings disclaimer.
Want to learn closing properly and get support finding a real role? Book a free call with the She Sells team.
Frequently asked questions
Is it normal to pay for training before a closer job?
Paying an independent training provider to learn a skill is a normal education choice, as long as no job depends on that payment. Paying the employer itself before you can start is a red flag, and the FTC says honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job.
Are commission-only closer roles a scam?
Not automatically. Many legitimate remote closer roles are commission-only contractor arrangements. In Australia, employees can only be paid commission-only where an award or agreement allows it, so the question is whether you are genuinely a contractor and whether the terms are written down.
What is the difference between cash collected and contract value?
Contract value is the full price the client agreed to, while cash collected is what they have actually paid so far. On a payment plan, cash-collected commission arrives in pieces over months.
Can a company make me do an unpaid trial week?
In Australia, Fair Work says unpaid trials may be unlawful for employees if they run longer than needed to show your skills or go beyond a supervised demonstration. Anywhere, live sales calls for free are unpaid work.
How do I know if I am really a contractor?
In the US, the DOL looks at whether you are economically dependent on the business or in business for yourself. In Australia, Fair Work warns that calling an employee a contractor without a reasonable belief is sham contracting.
