Are Guitar Center Employees Paid on Commission?

Are Guitar Center Employees Paid on Commission

Large chain guitar stores, such as Guitar Center, generally pay their sales employees through commissions and bonus earnings. According to CNN Money, salespeople at Guitar Center typically earn $30,000 to $39,000 annually.

This can be a good thing for a guitar store, because it allows them to make a profit without having to hire more people or spend more money on advertising. Moreover, the commissions allow the company to keep its employees on staff and provide them with benefits, such as sick leave.

Unfortunately, however, commissions aren’t the only way to get ahead at a guitar store. Some of the things that can make it difficult to climb the ladder at a guitar store include excessively long hours, lack of adequate paid vacation, and unequal treatment of full-time and part-time employees.

The “Fade” System

One of the biggest issues that a lot of people have with working at a Guitar Center is their so-called “fade” system. In essence, this means that you have to sell a certain amount of product before you are paid your commissions. This makes it difficult for many people to gain a foothold in the industry, especially if they don’t have much experience selling products or are new to the retail business.

It can also be hard to work at a Guitar Center because they require you to work so many hours, including extras like staying late or having to be on shift at certain times of the year. This can interfere with your ability to perform your music “gigs” at home or other venues and is a big problem for some people.

They can be very demanding and push you to work more than you can handle, especially when they have a huge holiday coming up, or a big sale, or just want you to cover shifts during the week when they aren’t busy. They also have a very bad attitude and they will try to pressure you into not leaving the store for any reason, even when it’s just to take your lunch.

Other Dirty Tricks That GC Has

Another dirty trick that GC has is called the “merchandising cost.” This is where they add up the base price of a guitar and the actual cost of shipping the equipment to their store. Then they call it the “merchandising cost.” GC will then take that off the bottom of your order and you won’t see it.

In my years working at GC, I have found that this is just one of the many things that I have to deal with as an employee and it is very hard to keep a positive attitude about it all. I don’t think it is fair for the customer to have to deal with this either, because they are not getting what they are paying for.

In the end, I have to say that working at a Guitar Center isn’t for everyone, but if you have the right personality and can handle working 40+ hours a week then it is a great place to work. It can be a great way to make a lot of extra cash, but it is important to keep in mind that you can lose your job very easily if you aren’t careful.