I'm a forum regular, posting anonymously to avoid any slander/libel suits.
Actually, everything I say here is truth, so I have nothing to worry about. I worked for both BB and CC. I can tell you first hand, BB pays MUCH less. Some experienced Video salesmen at CC would bring in $40-$45K/yr. That was back in '97. I worked in Audio, and didn't try very hard, and made $25K. Much more than the $5.75/hr I made at BB. Since graduating and quitting CC, I now shop at BB. True, I am the minority who knows what they're looking for, but I don't trust commissioned salespeople. I should know - I was one. CC made it easy on you to know what to sell. Just push what pays the most. The more margin CC gets, the more commission they pay the employee. If a $299 Onkyo stereo pays $10, and a $299 Sony pays $5?.Onkyo is the better of the two. (Well, it is anyway.) And I would talk up the Onkyo much more than the Sony. That was back when we had spiffs. Not sure about the new percentage commission structure.
Then there's the whole extended warranty thing. No matter what you sell, you can double your commission by selling the warranty, or the "cheese" as it was known at CC. Does the customer really need it? Who cares, I'm selling it. You're motivated by what helps your paycheck, and nothing else. It's set up that way to make more money for the company. At BB, the employees don't know jack, but they don't have any ulterior motives for you buying something. Maybe for someone (like my parents), the $199 TV would suit them just fine. But if you go to CC, the salesman is not going to make you feel good about buying it. I really struggled with that when I worked there. It's one thing to understand why the expensive model is better than the cheapo, and you can communicate that to the customer. But there is a real sense of animosity against people who buy cheap stuff and those who pass on the warranty. I've heard salesmen say (after the customer leaves), "I hope it breaks on them!" for declining the warranty. Or when that customer comes back with a problem, I've heard, "I'm not helping them. They should have bought the warranty when they had the chance." This is a customer who put money in your paycheck, sometimes even a HUGE commission. They chose to buy from you instead of a competitor. But if they didn't buy the warranty, they might as well have bought from another store. You don't see customers as people, they're wallets on legs.
You also get managed for your sales margin. So the Pioneer speakers for $49 each actually have a negative margin when they're on sale for $29 each. You see the margin when you pull up an item on the screen, and if it's low or negative, you try not to sell it, because you will get reamed if you have too low of margin for the month. Usually, the cheap items in the ad are the low margin stuff. So you DO NOT want to sell anything in the Sunday ad. In fact, every Sunday, the management would hand out ad cheat sheets, that showed comparable models to what was in the ad, and selling points to move people up. But you had to make sure you offered the ad piece if they wanted it, to avoid bait-and-switch. I remember one monthly meeting with my manager, he had a list of everything I sold for the month. (This is right before I quit, when I just didn't care and couldn't look myself in the mirror for deceiving customers any longer.) He showed me how many ADV (advertisement) pieces I sold for the month. "It's too many," he said. "Are you a salesman, or just a clerk - ringing up whatever the customer comes in wanting?" That really motivated me to go back to college and get my degree. I feel so much better knowing that I make twice what that fool does now.
So yes, I do most of my shopping at Best Buy. For video products, they have Sony. That's all I need. Their audio sucks however (DO NOT ever buy Pioneer or Sony). I usually get my audio stuff through the Harman Outlet store. Harman International sells Harman Kardon, JBL, and Infinity. Their outlet has OOP models, and refurbished stuff. I got my $699 HK receiver for $299. Sure commissioned sales people are more knowledgeable about the products, that helps them persuade you to buy the more expensive item. They need knowledge to sell. It's not to help you be a more informed consumer, it's to pad their paycheck. Nothing more. So the next time you think you're being educated about a product, ask yourself if the salesman is just licking his chops, waiting to go for the kill.
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