Decent pay if you work at a high volume store, otherwise it's an unrewarding job. - Part Time Sales Associate GNC Employee Review

2.0
23 Jun 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great opportunity to interact with customers and get to know them on a personal level. You get to learn a lot about health and fitness. When company reps come in and give out free samples, that's pretty cool too.

Cons

Low volume store = lots of down time. And the Lying. A majority of what you do at this job is lie. "You need this vitapak" or "You should be taking (insert GNC brand product) along with what you're buying today". When you first start working there, you're eager to meet your goals and feel great when you up sell a customer on a product. Talking a customer into buying a second vitapak or fish oil with their purchase makes you feel like you've made a great sale, albeit at the expense of their wallet. After time, you get tired of hearing yourself give the same sales pitch that is a load of crap which most customers can see through, and also coercing people into spending money on a product they can buy for a lot cheaper online. Most of the time the item you recommend to the customer is only suggested because it either offers commission (which is where you truly make your money at GNC) or it meets a sales criteria you have to meet by week's end or else you run the risk of being spoken to by either the store manager or regional sales director and getting written up.

Explore other reviews about GNC

5.0
26 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

super free not much sales pressure

Cons

Super slow at times Not much customers

1.0
15 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some customers are great to work with, and the role can help you build basic retail sales experience.

Cons

This review is based on my experience working under the same franchise owner connected to multiple GNC locations, including Turlock, Modesto, Riverbank, Lodi, Oakland, Sonora, Livermore, and Manteca. In my experience, the pay practices were completely unacceptable. Overtime was not paid, period. Even when employees worked overtime, they were not compensated for those overtime hours. On top of that, tax withholding was not handled properly, which led to serious issues at the end of the year. Employees should not have to fight to be paid correctly or deal with payroll problems that affect their taxes. The training and management structure were also very poor. Employees were often left to figure things out on their own while still being pressured to hit sales numbers and push certain products. Commission earnings could also be taken away if specific sales expectations were not met, which made the compensation feel unreliable and unfair. Cleanliness standards were another major concern. Employees were expected to serve food and drink items to customers using dispensers, water, and ice machines that were absolutely grotesque and would never be cleaned. In my experience, the drink dispensers, unfiltered water, and dirty ice machines were not maintained anywhere near an acceptable standard. I did not feel comfortable serving customers from equipment in that condition. Overall, I would not recommend working for this franchise. The combination of unpaid overtime, payroll and tax issues, poor management, inadequate training, unreliable commission structure, and extremely concerning cleanliness standards made this a very negative work experience.

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