Princeton Record Exchange

has anyone on here shopped there before? It is in Princeton, NJ. I went there for the third time with a friend (girlfriend got bored pretty quick the last time) and spent several hours digging through mostly the $1 section. I think I went through MAYBE 1/3 of it and walked out with 24 LPs (1 $2 LP) for a grand total of $24.99+tax. Not a bad score. Most of the vinyl there is in great shape, maybe a little dirt or finger prints, but I saw nothing that was beat up. Maybe a light crease or a little ringwear on the jacket. I picked up some killer Cars LPs, Robert Plant LPs, Cheap Trick etc. There is a killer selection in the $1 bins, but it is out of order and a little difficult to browse for Rock/Pop titles buried in with a few Soundtracks/Showtunes and some Easy Listening. Anyone in the NJ or Eastern PA area MUST make a trip to this store.

I can't wait to go back and rummage through the other 2/3 of the $1 records I didn't have time to go through. You could easily build a huge record collection from this place with just a few dollars.

BOB

 

I've been going there once or twice a month for about 10 years. Easily my favorite record hangout. They get lots of new arrivals in and are priced very reasonably. I think about 30% of my 5000 lps have come from there. It was REALLY good 4 or 5 years ago before everyone discovered EBAY and stopped trading in the MFSL's and Japanese imports. They only sell good quality stuff unless it's rare and has some value in poor condition. I can lose myself for a whole day there!

 

I try to stop in any time I'm on my way home from a trip to NJ, great place.

 

I have been visiting the store since 83. When I lived in NYC I would trek out there once a month. In the early 90's you could find just about any MOFI there for 12.99. Unfortunately the store is now just a shadow of it's former self. Although many times when I think it's just about over, the next time I go in they have an overwhelming stock. It was only about 2 years ago that I found an unplayed MOFI Beatles box there for 650.

 

I've been a customer since 1983 as well; I actually attended Princeton U in the 80's and my GPA probably would have been about 0.3 points higher if PRE hadn't been there to distract me.

In any event, PRE is definitely a must visit for CD/record collectors in the NJ/NY/Philly area. I've picked up a lot of great $1.99 and $2.99 used CDs there; a few years ago I snagged a couple of mint used MoFi's for $12.99. I agree that the selection has been a little less prime since eBay took off, but I still make an effort to go there at least once a year. If you dabble in classical music, as I do, or if you collect LPs, it's an especially worthwhile place to go.