Never work in General Sales - General Sales Associate Micro Center Employee Review

1.0
29 Sept 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working at Microcenter isn't what it's cut out to be. On the surface you would think you would get great discounts (on PC hardware), a happy environment to work in, it would also seem like it pays well. However, it isn't any of these things. It is a place where workers are scammed and slaved for, at times, little pay. But, it must be said, that this mostly applies to general sales.

Cons

Working at Microcenter left a very bad taste in my life. Never have I seen a company that payed it's workers to "reset", put inventory on the shelves, or fix an entire aisle (for an entire week), for just $4 an hour. It is worth mentioning how this company pays it's workers. General sales, are payed a base of $4 an hour, plus a low commission rate of 1.5% and 1.8% on attached items. The kinds of items you are selling range from 99 cents to $1000; on average you will sell items around the $20 range. It is rare for you to sell items above $150; bad for commission and bad for your paycheck. To make things worst, if a customer returns an item, it will deduct from your comission; and yes, you will get plenty of returns. To make $10 an hour, you must aim to sell a total of $2,000 worth of items in an 8 hour shift. That is too much running around just to reach $10 an hour; you will be exhausted in trying to meet this goal. Plus, if you work more than an 8 hour shifts, which you most likely will do, 10 to 12 hour shifts, you will have to sell more to maintain $10 an hour. So imagine, you are tasked to redo/move an entire aisle, which I've seen and observed to have taken a week or two to complete - on average. During this period of time, you "aren't allowed" to sell, you will just focus on redoing/fixing/moving the aisle. While doing this task, you will not get any special pay, instead you will work for a base pay of $4 an hour - nothing more. There are places out there that literally pay they're employees to do the same kind of work for $10 an hour. Plus, the more workers there are, the less each one makes - because its the law of sharing. The more people there are to share the sales, the less everyone gets. Plus, it can get a bit "edgy" when one co-worker is "hogging up", or through luck, getting all the sales; Not a good situation. If you are interested in working here for the discounts on PC hardware or computer's, do not bother. PC hardware literally have no discounts, you are lucky to find some that have $10 off. No discounts on cpus, and no discounts on computers. The only good discounts they have are on cables. Like what!? Not worth it. You are better off working somewhere else and shopping at microcenter as a customer. That way, they'll treat you better as a customer than as an employee. They will stand on their knees for you as a customer, but as an employee, they will stand on you.

Explore other reviews about Micro Center

5.0
3 Jun 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Really enjoyable work environment with passionate employees. Flexible hours as well.

Cons

Nothing. Really enjoyed my experience here.

2.0
15 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I like the people I work with and the customer interactions that come with the job.

Cons

The management and the pay leave a lot to be desired. I have raised concerns about the department and store as a whole, such as web pick up or the service customers receive from some of my coworkers in the department but it gets ignored. In my opinion, the current GM is too corporate focused and has little concern for associates. My store pays $4/hr during closed hours. If your sticker is not on something, you’re not getting paid. In less busy departments, such as consumer electronics or Apple, I have had days where I’ve spent more on gas than I earned in a day and I’ve had friends say the same. With the way the pay is calculated, whenever you go an hour without selling or are on the clock during closed hours, your average hourly pay goes down. In some departments, it directly affects your commission rate but even in the departments that it doesn’t, your average hourly is used to calculate vacation/holiday pay. That means that just by showing up for an opening shift in a slower season, your PTO value can go down for reasons outside your control. Past that, I was promoted into a department I do not want to be in. I’ve asked to be demoted to something I enjoy more and have been told that it is a “bad idea”. Out of the five sales managers in the store, I feel like there is only one who I can discuss things with and actually get quality feedback from but since they are not my department manager, they can’t do anything. Now I hear the general manager and my sales supervisor tell other associates I am doing bad and I just laugh it off with “well I told them I didn’t want this role, why would I be good at it?”. It’s embarrassing.

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