Used Record Stores (the good, bad, and ugly)

it sucks when the owner doesn't know how to price things...

 

I love Manifest.
One of the best used cd stores I've ever been to.
The last time I was in Charlotte, I went there 3 days straight and spent at least $80 on each visit.

 

I make it a point to see Gary three times a year at Brimfield. He has some of my money and I have some of his records. Great guy to talk to.

 

Here's a link to photos inside the store. I get to Charlotte about two or three times a year and each time is a special mission.

http://www.manifestdisc.com/VisitStoreCharlotteNC/tabid/840/AlbumID/1665-520/Default.aspx

Jeff

 

the guy with the white beard is the infamous "count" around for 30+ years in the record biz and always,always charging way too much. the other dealer who is notorius in pa/ny/md circles is "stinky steve". the stories surrounding him are legendary.andy of the record connection is one of the good guys. as is jerry of pittsburgh's jerrys records. wax trax in vegas used to be in the poconos in pa. and was always a rip-off.

 

Thanks for the tip on Docs. I made it by yesterday and was pleased with the overall selection, and their prices seemed reasonable. I picked up several wish list (but not rare) items in VG++ to MN condition at prices in the $4-$8 range. These are titles I had not found in acceptable condition in 2 years of periodically checking 4 or 5 Half Price Books locations.

 

Plan 9 Music in Richmond, Virginia, Charlottesville, VA and several other places in the central area of the state:

http://www.plan9music.com/CustomPage/288

If you're down this way, check 'em out. It's very important to my musical life that these stores stay in business through this new recession of ours!!!

You can buy from them on line, too:

http://www.plan9music.com/Store


L.

 

The good:

Banana's Records in St. Petersburg, FL

http://www.tampabay.com/features/music/article471787.ece

Well organized, friendly folks. Huge selection, and they have a couple of turntables so you can listen before you buy.

 

I should begin by saying that I've had great luck and nice vibes at various Rasputin's around the Bay Area in the last year or so. But there was this one time...

Many years ago I went into Rasputin's in Berkeley (actually when they were in the space across the street from where they are now -- but after they were in the space down the street ). I bought a CD (A Storm In Heaven by Verve) and got it home, where I found, to my amazement, that the CD had a completely different album on it. It was labelled correctly and everything, but had the wrong music.

So I took it back soon after, where I expected to have a good laugh about it. So I explained this remarkable and hilarious circumstance to the guy working there, and told him that they had another copy in the bins in similar condition -- although it was a buck more. I said, perhaps boldly or naïvely, that since this copy they sold me was defective, they should, by their own terms, replace it, perhaps with the other copy.

The guy just said flatly, oozing disdain, "You can't trade for that one, it's a dollar more." He then added, "I don't know why anyone would want this sh**** album anyway." Nice!

So after some fruitless arguing I gave them the CD back and got store credit instead, but I was so annoyed that I stayed away from the store for probably two years and never used the credit.

 

I went to Gerosa Records in Brookfield, CT this weekend based on the recommedations I read here. Excellent selection of LP's (new and used), the prices were pretty good, and the owner was a very nice guy. Walked away with a great sounding used copy of the first Little Feat album (for $6), a new copy of the Mudcrutch LP (w/ the bonus CD), and the newly released 2-CD version of Sarah McLachlan's greatest hits. Good day all in all. Thanks!!

 

During our trip last week to Flint, Michigan, I had the chance to hit a couple of places in town. I'd been to Musical Memories on Dort Highway before, several years ago, so I was looking forward to a return trip. Unfortunately, the shop seems to have become a Mitch Hedberg joke: "They specialize in rare and hard to find records: Nothing was alphabetized!" I don't know if they've just bought out another store's inventory, and haven't categorized them yet, but the place was largely cluttered with boxes of miscellaneous albums, with no rhyme or reason to them. Impossible to really find anything. Out of what was categorized and organized, much of what I saw there was way overpriced for the condition their stock was in (looks like they were pricing by book price, without taking the shape of the albums in to account), and adding insult to injury, they were putting price stickers directly on the album jackets. They seemed to have a whole lot of used CD's, commonly found, that were priced as though they were new, and even a few legit titles that were represented by home-made computer printed covers. I did manage to find a couple of small things, but it was a real disappointment.

Even more disappointing was a little place across town on Corunna Road called Wyatt Earp Records. Now, this place obviously caters mostly to the metal crowd, which is fine, and he did have a few racks of new and used vinyl directly in the middle of the store. What was maddening about this place was, this was the only inventory in the store that you could actually browse through. Every other CD and DVD in the place was either stacked on shelves behind the counters of the store, or under glass in showcases that blocked you from getting close to the CD's on those shelves. The guy running the place obviously has his regular customers, and a few came in to pick up special orders, and to chat up the owner, but he seemed suspicious of anyone unfamiliar to him. I hardly find having to ask someone behind the counter to look at a CD to be a pleasurable shopping experience, so I left within a couple of minutes. A total waste of time.

The saddest part was to find Rarebird Records on Richfield Road emptied and locked up for good. I actually didn't expect to find it still opened since the last trip there several years ago. The owner was getting on in years, and may have retired or passed away, so it was no surprise that it was gone. It was sad though, to see the signs still on the building, with the store emptied out (For all I know, that's where all those unorganized albums at Musical Memories came from!), and a "Lease" phone number posted in the window. It was a fun place to visit, the owner was a hoot to talk to, and I'll miss it a whole lot.

 

the dead: batman records in Melbourne quietly went less than 10 years ago! what a shame it was good store !

 

I find this a very common practice at least at the places I usually go to and its probably my number one annoyance when buying used records.

 

Yeah, they do that here in Vegas too...the stickers come off very easily, however.

 

Most of the time. There's always one every once in a while that decides to leave a mark.

 

This is true. I just leave 'em on, basically.

 

I wish I didn't have to do that at my store, but thieves determine a lot of what the marketplace has to do, and sticker-switching and sleeve-switching are other methods of theft. More valuable records are kept in a display unit without stickers on the cover. Unless the sticker has been there for a few years, there is usually no background discoloration when it's removed with lighter fluid.

 

This is one of my pet peeves about used CD shopping - when they don't have the CD's in the cases where you can't get a look at them. I'm often looking for certain CD pressings (non-remastered, import, etc.) and if I can't easily look at the CD generally I'm not going to bother asking to look at CD's stored behind the counter. I was at a FYE a few months ago that had a huge used CD inventory (Williamsville, NY) but they were all resealed in plastic. I'm sure I would have bought a lot more if I could have looked at them - as it was I did open one up (on the sly) before I bought it to confirm it was a target (it was and I bought it).

 

I see, so it's to cover your ***.

 

Ack!!

Stickers that have been on for a year or even two are pretty easy to peel off. After that the glue dries and fuses to the covers, making it much more difficult to get them off.

 

Jinx!

 

I see. Thanks for the tip.

 

I figured that. There's got to be a sticker out there that leaves no residue and removes easily even after a few years.

 

Most used record stores that I've been to puts the price stickers directly on the cover. I don't think this is a big deal since you can easily remove them with lighter fluid or Goo Gone.

One place used to place the stickers directly on the records (right on the labels). Another wrote the prices directly on the cover (in the inside). A sticker on the cover is much better IMO.