Best Buy's "Commission" based selling

Pinky · Jul 14, 2005

I heard somewhere (I thought it was here) that Best Buy sales employees got a kick-back from selling the extended warranty plans... is this true? I'm wonder what a Best Buy employee's motivation is for pushing this stuff if they're non-commissioned...

man_utd · Jul 15, 2005

Pretty sure that they are given a quota, and it usually ends up that their managers take the bonus for them breaking the quota.

s random · Jul 15, 2005

all tech stores are like that, they also get quaterly bonuses if they sell you enough ink with printers or batteries with CD players and stuff like that. they realize that if someone goes to wal mart they get that stuff cheaper so thats where they need incentives.

koss20100 · Jul 15, 2005

Best buy sucks .... omg they jus want to sell **** to rich morans ... i went there for a psu (needed to test something fast) a 430 watt antec true power for 80 bux WTF !?!? and the speakers i got for 47 bux ON SALE for 90 !! i h8 Best Buy there evil and need to fail

trey_w · Jul 15, 2005

I worked for Best Buy a few years ago. The entry level sales person doesnt get anything for selling any products or service plans... just the crappy hourly wages.

As you move up the chain to senior prods and managers the incentives kick in for them.

I loved how we always had to make sure we included in our sale pitch that we were no commision but they sure pushed the employees as if we were.

Pinky · Jul 15, 2005

trey_w said:
I loved how we always had to make sure we included in our sale pitch that we were no commision but they sure pushed the employees as if we were.

Yeah, I got that pitch today and something didn't sit right with me. Someone somewhere in that store is making a killing on those upsells. Sorry to hear it aint the guy doing most of the work!

Ogre · Jul 15, 2005

best buy...everytime i walk in, i give them the finger and keep walking ...

cuz i m not buying ..just looking to see how cool it is ..

s random · Jul 15, 2005

i believe ive scamed best buy out of more money then ive spent there

outhouse · Jul 15, 2005

my wife worked at office depot there policies are the same 10% of the take on the warranty

MitchV · Jul 21, 2005

I've got to disagree with a lot of the comments in this thread...

Best Buy is a general consumer electronics store and isn't going to carry the same inventory as NewEgg, but... if you've GOT to run out and pick something up in 30 minutes, where else are you going to go?

God knows I won't be going to Circuit City. Unfortunately, none of the local PC stores are very good where I live. The selection and prices aren't as good at places like Office Depot... I'm a pretty happy guy that a Best Buy opened up close to me this year.

Overall, I'd rate my satisfaction with Best Buy as pretty high. They've got a good return policy and nice selection for a brick & morter retailer.

The extended warranties are nothing more than overpriced insurance... I have found that they are a worthwhile investment when it comes to things like PC monitors that seem to give out on me every couple of years or so.

s random · Jul 21, 2005

Mitch fact is there are alternitives (local stores, they might suck but if you need something immediatly, which is usually something like a PSU or a PCI vid card, and theres comp usa) best buy has those whole devil angle consumer thing that they rate you on if you return stuff or buy stuff on sale. gay if you ask me

MitchV · Jul 21, 2005

s random said:
Mitch fact is there are alternitives (local stores, they might suck but if you need something immediatly, which is usually something like a PSU or a PCI vid card, and theres comp usa) best buy has those whole devil angle consumer thing that they rate you on if you return stuff or buy stuff on sale. gay if you ask me

Comp USA as an alternative to Best Buy!??! Not with my money. Their prices aren't as good, selection is not much better, and their return policy is terrible. The only thing CompUSA has going for them is an occasional sale or large rebate. I think Maddox has them pegged : http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=compusa_sucks

Could you explain the "devil angle" comment? I tend to shop at Best Buy when items are on sale. I know I've returned quite a few items... but I've had a Best Buy credit card for years and they've been sending me coupons and incentives to shop there ever since.

BTW, I don't work at Best Buy or have any ties with the store... I was just surprised to see people complaining about them. It's one of the few places I shop at regularly.

d94 · Jul 21, 2005

im scamming compusa right now and i love it

MitchV · Jul 21, 2005

d94 said:
im scamming compusa right now and i love it

The last time I went to a Comp USA, I was hoping to pick up an Athlon XP processor. I'll give them credit and a thumbs up for carrying AMD products... but the price for a retail Athlon XP was something like $199!!!!

At the time, NewEgg and/or googlegear (now ZipZoomFly) had an OEM version of the CPU I wanted for about $85.

I asked the guy behind the counter... "No offense, but do you guys actually sell any of these things at that price." He said that they did... so good for CompUSA and their 100% markup on CPUs. /sigh

I take that back... I went to CompUSA when they had a 30% discount on PNY video cards and the 6800 GT had just come out... I came away empty handed, but I DID visit!

wandl · Jul 21, 2005

I worked at BB and like they said above, no incentives unless you're mid-upper level mgt at the store..but the sales people get nothing for selling the warranties just quotas to meet

Flip-Mode · Jul 21, 2005

Well I had a few run ins with both Best Buy and CompUSA when I was over there, I got my PNY 6800 from CompUSA because they ware the only store selling the 6800's as it was the week they came out and none of the other retailers got them yet.
The price was OK for that time, I got it for 300$ the same week it was released so I was happy.
As for Best Buy a friend of mine who was with me got a mem card for his new digital camera and a week later he found it somewhere else cheaper, he is English speaking so he asked me to return it and I went to the counter and they took it back no problems.
Overall I'm much happier with the service and prices I got over there, here in Israel the sales person acts like he knows everything and you know nothing at all and I hate that.
All you guys who live in the US: You don't know how lucky you are

murdok5 · Jul 21, 2005

im still scamming BBY.....those ****ers....

i worked there for liek 3 years in High School. Worked in computers and as a tech...

i bought sooooo much stuff for friends...and traded sooooo many things on the extended waranty. i traded a DVD burner (back when they were $400+) in on waranty, reprinted 300$ rebate, and sent it in AGAIN, and it WORKED hahaha.

im also still on there employee cell phone plan, and i havent worked there in years....

beatbuy has its benefits.....i think ppl should work there for a bit....buy a nice home theater system...then quit

i worked ALOT harder than i should have for all the crap and low pay i got....

mike

Best Buy's "Commission" based selling

Pinky

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