Would you work at Guitar Center?
Posted September 28th, 2007 by Oliver CheslerFiled Under: Uncategorized
I’ve been very lucky in the music business to never have to get a “day job”. Making music is my day job. So what do others do? About two months ago my friend John told me he got a job at Guitar Center in New Jersey. I’ve always been curious how much the sales people make and with John’s permission here is the run down.
5:08:27 PM John: so here’s the skinny on the pay at guitar center
5:08:31 PM Oliver Chesler: do tell
5:08:35 PM John: it’s a commission draw
5:08:36 PM John: I get a base.. 7.15 an hour.. for 40 hours per week..
5:09:37 PM Oliver Chesler: what is commision draw?
5:09:39 PM John: if my commissions are greater than the amount I would get for 40 hours a week @ 7.15 per hour.. then I get paid the commission amount, and don’t get paid the $7.15 per hour
5:09:44 PM Oliver Chesler: hmm
5:09:55 PM John: the commission rate is 2% of gross sales, plus 10% of net sales
5:10:07 PM Oliver Chesler: ok
5:10:10 PM John: so, if I sold 1,000 dollars in gear I would get roughly about 45 dollars.. maybe more, maybe less
5:10:23 PM Oliver Chesler: $286 per week is your base
5:10:26 PM Oliver Chesler: $1144 per month
5:10:28 PM Oliver Chesler: are there any benifits?
5:10:31 PM Oliver Chesler: health?
5:10:38 PM John: yes, full benefits after 90 days
5:10:44 PM Oliver Chesler: ok well thats a big plus
5:10:46 PM John: heatlh, dental 401k
5:10:56 PM Oliver Chesler: I wonder how much they take out for taxes
5:11:58 PM John: well.. at 7.15 per hour, the tax % isnt that much
5:11:59 PM John: given that standard markup in retail is around 25%, if I sold 20,000 dollars in gear, in a week it would be roughly about 950 per week
5:11:59 PM Oliver Chesler: I guess really it depends a lot on if you sell a lot
5:12:01 PM Oliver Chesler: because if you dont beat the base your going to feel poor
5:12:09 PM John: yes I know
5:13:09 PM Oliver Chesler: Im really curious how you will do
5:16:08 PM Oliver Chesler: so the most important thing… how much discount do you get on gear?
5:19:12 PM John: my discount is 10% above cost
5:19:21 PM John: I don’t get the discount for 30 days
5:28:11 PM John: I was looking at the battleboard there, the post it board that they use to keep track of everyones sales.. there are 3 or 4 guys in pro audio who have over 50,000 in sales for the week
5:28:23 PM John: so the potential to make money is there
5:28:41 PM John: 50,000 k per week is like 2500 in commissions roughly
5:28:58 PM Oliver Chesler: wow! I wonder if its competitive…
5:29:15 PM Oliver Chesler: That could be kinda bad
5:29:19 PM John: yes..its very competitive
5:29:23 PM Oliver Chesler: like oh new guy coming in, dont let him take my sales, etc..
Personally I’m not taking a stand here for or against Guitar Center. I think they get a lot of unfair treatment on forums. I think the major downside would be if traffic in the store is light. Nothing is worse than hanging around bored. So would you work at Guitar Center?
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I use to work at GC. Easssssssy… not for me man. The camp was way tough and commission wasn’t really part of the picture because there was only so much you could sell out of the place in a week. Just like John said… 3 or 4 dudes…
I did hook them up with a killer sales dude though… i mean KILLA. Here is something to take into consideration that worked for my friend… MAKE CONTACTS OUTSIDE GC AND SELL OUTSIDE GC… call clubs, call event sound system people, etc… get these people to let you make a quote to beat their current reps… hoar out as much product in the beginning at cost just to get the sales… then later, the new customers get charged the regualr price… well, a discount of sorts but not much just to make them feel special…
doing this made my boy the top seller or second to top seller real quick… like in short few months… he even went as high as making quotes in the 100k’s… go john go!
as they say at GC – don’t clerk it man… get out there and SELL! lol
I wouldn’t work at GC again. Go work at a studio or club instead.
Shane- When I worked at GC I nearly had my ass handed to me for going onsite to a club and trying to consult/sell. Boss nearly killed me when he found I was doing business offsite, even though some of the other pro audio guys higher up did it. You’re right, don’t clerk it, but if you’re willing to work that hard- go work somewhere that will always reward you. That was a hard job, and now I work less, make far more and enjoy life a lot more.
It seems there maybe some long morning hours when the store is empty. Standing around bored would drive me crazy. Unfortunately I also think there are a lot of people like myself who go to Guitar Center or Sam Ash to check out all the stuff then just buy it online from home later. Twice the fun!
Of course I like to see comments here the most but I’d like to point out two threads going about this post…
On Gearslutz:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/147983-would-you-work-guitar-center.html
On Harmony-Central:
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1759687
No, my husband worked there a couple years ago before we were married. He only came home with about $400 a week. He was totally broke. GC sucks.
I worked at Sam Ash for 6 years and I happened to learned quit abit about what its like to work at GC and i would never in a million years work there. GC is way to corporate for a slacker like me. Sam Ash is a family run business so its as relaxed as a chain retail store can be. Met alot of cool weird assentric people there though. I have a question for you Oliver though. Being a musician who has been able to live off his music is it a struggle because your not exactly mainstream, atleast not being big in the United States?
Hi Sewn,
I’ve been lucky with some good advice and management early on which I think has really helped me. Doing my own record label, having a publishing deal and being a computer geek has worked in my benefit. Although classified in the Electronic section most of my recordings are songs with vocals and that keeps the shelf life of them longer (and sales). With all that said of course it’s sometimes a struggle. I don’t think there is a musician alive who would say it’s easy street. You really have to adapt… live in your means, stay mostly sober, jump genres, cities, styles, software. What else? Keep having fun or your music will suck.
i worked in south bay, CA for a few weeks.
at the time there was a competitor down the street so emphasis was on getting as much product out the door as possible to poor unfortunates who rolled in not knowing anything about gear. i did pro audio and keyboards. the goal was 25,000 a month. bundling products was key…buy an item and stack the accessories…our boss actually said it was ok to hustle customers outside of GC like finding people who buy PA gear and instruments for churches. that was the key for me. in LA there are hundreds and hundreds of spanish speaking evangelical churches with bands…i would tell them to come see me because i could hook them up. they would buy drums and guitars and i would take 50% because it was from another department….then tack on my own pro audio and keyboard stuff. it eventually became a bore. i make more money now doing less in the IT world.
[...] you remember one of the first posts on wire to the ear titled “Would you work at Guitar Center?“. A few weeks ago I was in New York and stopped by the flagship Guitar Center Store on 14th [...]
Why would you try something at GC and then buy it online? In my experience, GC will meet or beat anybody’s prices. I’d much rather buy from a store.
Sam Ash, on the other hand, does not discount as deeply as GC, in my experience. We have both GC and Sam Ash stores in the Miami area.
GC seems quite cool about giving working musicians time off for touring. Nice to know one can come back to a job after a tour, no?
I work @ GC631 here in Lexington, KY. Currently I’m 22, married, and living cheaply (but very happily!). My wife has her bachelor’s degree and works full time so that obviously helps with the bills. I’m still technically in school but work between 40-50 hours a week at GC when I’m not out on the road (which is approximately a total of 4 months a year).
The benefits of working at GC are:
- The obvious discounts (just purchased a Nord Electro 2 61 key, SKB case, Monster cables, sustain pedal, random accessories, etc. for $845)
- Working in an environment of a field that you enjoy
- The fact that they (the corporation) caters to their employees in terms of ‘musical understanding.’ By that I mean I get time off for touring (going on a national tour for the whole month of June this summer), recording, and the like. It is usually no questions asked. Obviously this hinders my paycheck at the end of the month, but that is my personal decision and most of the time I make more $$ playing out anyways ;)
The disadvantages are:
- The pay is average at best… you REALLY have to hustle to make money but the potential is totally there (we have guys who are in their early 20’s, college drop outs, making $30K+ a year as Assistant Managers. Store Managers make around $50K + benefits). I work in Pro Audio and the key to getting a good commission check is building up your clientele. In other departments (especially Accessories) it’s a little more about clerking as opposed to actually working deals. During an average day I’ll have probably a total of 10 to 15 sales but I’ll spend much more time with each individual customer (which means they will come back to specifically buy from me from now on) as opposed to the, “I can ring you up over here,” method of ’selling.’
- It is a sales job. You work on commission, you deal with asshole customers who want you to cut them a deal for no reason, etc. When it really boils down to it you are just another sleazy salesman out to make a buck… but hey, at least you’re selling stuff you actually have somewhat of an interest in.
The bottom line is that for now this job works out well. I really have no intention whatsoever to make GC my career. It does take a bad rap but I mean, it’s totally understandable… we are the Wal-Mart of music stores who put Mom & Pop out of business on an annual basis. It sucks and I hate it just as much as the other guy… but GC does more good than bad, in my opinion. There are genuinely awesome salesguys/girls who work there and believe in what they are doing. The prices are honestly the lowest you can possibly find and 99% of the time they’ll match as long as it’s from an authorized dealer. Buy from GC if you’re a realistic person living in the real world… if you can manage to avoid huge corporations and feel as if you’re making a difference then more power to you.
I’ve worked for GC for several years now. I started selling guitars at age 19. I quit college to try to make it with my band and got the gig at GC to pay the bills.
It has been said that commission sales is the Hardest, Highest paying job, or the Easiest, Lowest paying job. This is true at GC as it is anywhere. I know sales guys that make over $100k a year selling pro audio or guitars, I know other sales guys that cant seem to make more than their 6 dollar an hour draw. It all depends on how hard you work, how focused you are, and how much you thrive in a competitive (in a good way, the shark tank days of the past are gone at GC) environment.
I cannot vouch for anyone who works at GC, but I made the progression from sales, to assistant manager, to store manager within 4 years. I feel like I have a fantastic career ahead of me with a company that is moving in a positive direction.
Like any other job, it is what you make of it. The potential for a high income and a great work environment is there for the taking… but it is not given away freely, you have to earn it as you do in ANY job.
If you go into guitar center with a passion for music, gear, and helping people…then you will be successful. If you go in thinking you can play guitars and talk shop all day, you probably wont make much money.
Commission sales is not for everybody, but no job is. You can do great things and make a positive impact on the musical lives of countless people, all while making great money…if you want it, are driven, and are focused every day.
Hi T. Thanks for your comment. I agree with what you say. Sales- commision jobs are what you make of them. My mother sells plumbing supplies. Sounds lame maybe right? Well she sells them in a nice showroom in Westchester to rich people and she makes over six figures a year. In fact she is the leading sales woman in the North East. She absolutely loves her job. So go figure! As an update my friend who is interviewed above is still enjoying his time at GC.
I worked in a GC store for just over a month. It was my third music store job, and by far, the WORST job I’ve ever had. There was NO sales training, and if you asked a question, you were treated like a complete idiot. I heard the phrase “fired” used about 50 times a day. The inventory was completely a mess. If the system said we had 2 of a certain item in stock, it was about a 50% chance we even had one. After 2 weeks, I knew I had to get the hell out of there.
I’ve worked for GC for 10 months. I agree, it does get a bad rap sometimes and yes inventory can be a issue… that said, if you can tough it through the first 30 days of outsider initiation, the discounts are great and after 3 months you are eligible for GAIN membership which can help you get phenomenal deals (although, with the base pay, you may or may not be able to utilize either). I’ve gotten tons of great advice on production and gear. I’ve also been able to return the favor on several occasions. depending on the crew your working with, GC can be a very rewarding job with good opportunities. It’s definitely not the best paying job I’ve ever had but it has greatly impacted my life in a short period of time. I can’t lie, there are days where I seriously think about grabbing the classifieds but for the most part it has been a job that I don’t dread getting ready and sometimes look forward to in the morning. In my experience, this is something that is very hard to find.
Thanks for the reply mrcxxi. As a quick update. Dan who I interviewed above still works there and really loves it. He’s also purchased a boat load of equipment!
I work at gc right now I have been there for almost an entire year where I have been nothing but lied to. I have been number one in my store for a long time and I still don’t make any real money. I have a family and I left a job that paid well to go to gc which did nothing but blow my life savings and leave me filing for government aide. My store manager has offered me an assistant manager job that I am unable to take until I “Get my Finance together Bro” because they have strict credit standards for management. You can’t take a job if you have bad credit, which in my case has been a bi-product of working for these jerks. I also scoff at the idea of an employee discount that is impossible to use when you make no money. I hate this place and I hope to open another retail chain that makes it’s money making fun of that shit hole. If you are thinking about working there don’t if you just started quit I am probably going to take any position anywhere just to get out.
You can always go work for Sweetwater. 20% gross commision, 13-week intensive training, equipment at COST! New facility with mall, restaurant, free arcade, free virtual golf, free video rentals, free gym, concierge service, huge theater. Yes, you still have to work your tail off, but beets GC.
Guitar Center is a cult. Period. Look up the hallmarks of a ‘cult’ in Webster’s Dictionary, then compare that to your experience as a GC employee – it’s astonishing, really. They invite you in, gushing with praise, and stories of how great GC is; then try to break you down and rebuild you in their image. They have their own ‘jargon;’ and you can’t accept as much as a free t-shirt from a vendor, without having to get a store manager to approve. They refer to themselves as being part of the ‘music industry’, which is disengenuous at best – it’s ‘auto parts’ as opposed to ‘auto racing.’ Beware…