Philadelphia Record Exchange

My long standing favorite Philly record shop! I have been buying records from these guys since the early 1990’s when the shop was located on 5th & South. Huge used inventory with select new issues & reissues, always a flux of new stuff coming in & worthy of repeat visits! Excellent pricing & deep crates for lotsa digging.

I was pretty unimpressed. There’s endless piles of mid-low tier artists. Subjective take? Maybe. But the Billboard 100 does not lie of record sales. In other words, there’s not many records from popular artists at this store.

Walked in here expecting to find nothing and in about 5 minutes found 3 albums i’ve been searching for months to find. Had a cool chat with who I assume is the owner at the front counter about the Incredible String Band, which i’ve never met someone in person as much as fan of them as I am. Thanks for making me feel welcome to the town. I’ll definitely be back when I come back from Harrisburg

Nice friendly shop - vinyl & CDs. Lot’s of well organized Folk, Rock, Jazz & RnB LPs. Small sections of World genres but they are there. Crates of 45s but not organized unfortunately. Overall strong Used stock for the diggers!

Boxes and boxes of records. Large variety of genres. Appreciated the extensive selection of classical music. Give yourself a lot of time for browsing.

This place is pretty dope. They have the Lowrider/Fu Manchu split for fifty bucks. A ton of cool stuff, very friendly staff. Busy locale. Fishtown.

Nice little shop. A bit unorganized with vinyl in boxes everywhere. The stacks contain a lot of the usual suspects, but there are gems to be found. Prices were reasonable.

Great place… the staff will answer ques if asked or allow u to dig thru the vinyl if that’s ur style…

A very exclusive, and rare collection of jazz, blues, and all things groovy. Not much genre variety, and mostly used records (and a lot of soundtracks??). Will very much depend on your taste. Records were a bit overpriced in my opinion.

Very knowledgeable , respectful and professional owner. I took some items there and received the best possible value. I definitely recommend this place. They have a wonderful selection also.

Always finding lots of cool stuff. I have an eclectic taste- many likes. Staff there friendly. Highly recommend them!

You will enjoy your time in this record shop if you like diving for rock, pop, jazz, or blues records, recorded mostly before 1990. If you're looking for new music, or punk, electronic, experimental, or other genres you'll want to go elsewhere. For what they carry, there are some treasures to be found and at mostly reasonable prices. On the topic of the proprietor, yes he has a particular demeanor that may turn some folks off. He mostly seems to sit behind the counter and mind his own business. Don't expect a concierge experience here or even any friendly banter. Or eye contact. "Transactional" would be the word I'd use to describe it. I went it once and left with a few rare film scores for under $30 total, but I probably won't be back just due to them not really carrying the music I'm in the market for.

Just wanted to update my review to say I'm still a regular customer and it's still the best. Also, I'm shocked at all the "rude staff" nonsense; I've never been treated rudely once here. They're definitely hands-off, but I'm not looking for someone to follow me around and chat me up. Anytime I did have a question, both proprietors were friendly, and I always end up chatting some during checkout. I've also overheard them with other first-time customers boatloads of times and never heard anything resembling rude.

Great independent, local record store. Lots of great finds - including music you discover when you're there. It's worth your time to really leaf through their collection, so make sure you're not rushed. Items were well-priced, and I am happy with what I was able to buy!

This is BY FAR my favorite record store in Philadelphia. They carry lots of new reissues on vinyl, especially lesser known folk, jazz, and experimental artists. Today I purchased LPs by Cornelius Cardew, Albert Ayler, Bridget St John, and Anne Briggs. They also have a great selection of used records of course, with a healthy influx of new arrivals. I've also traded them my old LPs and CDs and they gave me a very generous amount in trade credit for them. The bins are always stocked with Philly artists like Sun Ra, Purling Hiss, and Jack Rose. The clerk had great recommendations when I visited today. He saw what I was buying and knew just what else to steer me towards. A delightful spot! Also, they wear masks, have a plastic barrier around the counter, and only allow a few people in at a time, so it feels very Covid safe.

Whether the proprietors see it that way or not, Philly's record scene works a bit like a mosaic in that you're unlikely to find deep selections of everything you want in the same place. Case in point, Philadelphia Record Exchange is not where you want to go for new music. And by new music I mean music from, say, the 1990s onward. Oh sure, you will find some gems from the last 30 years - there's a small section at the front on the other side of the cash register that features new records, including some cool reissues and local stuff (I noticed local guitar slinger Chris Forsyth represented in there along with the new reissue of Nuggets and Guided by Voices' Alien Lanes). There are also usually a couple newer things on the walls - I saw the first A$AP Rocky album there a couple of weeks ago, the same day that I found White Denim's D from 2011, along with a Riley Walker album, in the "new arrivals" section. But if you go in looking for a specific new thing, you're just going to be SOL 8 or 9 times out of 10. But oh my, can you gorge on the classics here. I haven't seen a better selection of used rock albums in the city since I started buying vinyl. The main rock section is a bit dated and stuff, though not without gems itself - but between the powerhouse albums lining the walls and in the new arrivals section, someone looking to build up their classics can have a field day. On the same trip that I picked up D on, I got cheap, perfectly functioning copies of Pink Floyd's Dogs (also in stock were Wish You Were Here, Meddle, Obscured by Clouds and maybe one or two others) and The Allman Brothers' Eat a Peach (it's not easy in general to find a lot of high end jam band releases in stores); I put down or passed on an $8 copy of Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps, a $13 Cosmo's Factory from CCR, a $15 Around the World in a Day from Prince (either Sign o the Times or Purple Rain was there, too, also cheap), the second Moby Grape album, and a lot more I'm now forgetting. So go in knowing what kind of stuff you're going to find; if so, you're in for a treat.

This place is prob great for white dudes whose tastes in music are above everyone else's. Know who it's not great for? Anyone else who does not identify that way :) As someone who works at a record store, as someone who has records from countless stores across the world recommended by wonderful kind record store clerks, as someone who enjoys... idk ... sharing music with other people, I'm going to suggest going to a different record store. Literally any other record store in Philly will do. Dude behind the counter is just kinda the worst? To the dude behind the counter: wth is the point of working at a record shop if you don't interact with people and are rude all day long? To the people reading this review: take your money and spend it elsewhere. Support a nice record store that treats you like a human when you walk in. They are out there! And you will find them!

Guy running the shop was very rude and confrontational. Ended up leaving before getting to look at any records because he was weirdly accusing us of not actually intending to buy anything. Try somewhere else.

I have been looking for stores in Philly that sell good and classic vinyl records. I used to hear them as a kid from my parents but recently in the last year or so I wanted to get back to hearing vinyl records. I decided to go to Record Exchange and was met with quick and rude service. Door was locked and the guy came to the door and said "yes". I explained i was interested in Rumours from Fleetwood. He entertained me for 2 mins and told me I could get that anywhere. I wanted to look around but he immediately turned the door key and said have a nice day. I'm glad I saw these reviews because I thought it was me. Don't go to this store. Any ideas from anyone on where to go??? I'm from Philadelphia and in beginning stages of collecting. My email is mvazq75@yahoo.com if anyone can send ideas my way.

Drove all the way out here and the guy that worked here was very rude. Wanted to support an independent store because of COVID but he made me turn around and walk right away. No way to treat customers. There are many record stores in Philadelphia that are better and don't treat you badly.

I heard an insane song on the radio (WKDU) thus begining a quest for any vinyl of that soundtrack for Bedlam. After searching the 'KDU playlist I found what I was suddenly so much in need of. I went to the net to snag any possible vinyl. The net revealed to me that the band was local and I knew them from the 'Exchange. A phone call to the 'Exchange and I was talking to Ken. He promised to put vinyl together for me and I was psyched. Upon arrival Ken had what I was looking for and more. Ken showed me other LPS related to my quest. What more could I ask for? Great experience all round! Frank

Pulled on the handle to open the door and it was locked. There was a small sign on the door that said "Doors are locked" - manager(?) came to door to open it and said "Can't you see the sign says the doors are locked?!" I thought he was joking... he was not. Acted like he was doing us a favor by letting us in to buy things from his open store. It looked like a cool store but we ended up leaving right away because of the insanely rude service, it's wasn't worth it. Avoid going here - there are plenty of other cool spots that deserve your business right now.

Just stopped in to look around and was ignored the entire time. When my family and I left, we thanked him and said "have a nice day." Nothing in response- not even a nod in our direction. Totally rude employee.

The reason for the one star is for the ignorant employee that works there, he is a total d!c€. I sat down to look thru albums and he came at me with mega attitude because they were not priced, as if I should know that, they were sitting in the middle of the store. Besides the employee, short with glasses and a stutter who shouldn't have a job there the place is ok at best. Music they play is usually enough to drive you crazy lots of abstract screaming noises, prices range from $4-6 average for good to poorer albums. One more thing about the Employee fellow that works there I called and asked him a question once and asked if it was cool to call daily looking for albums and he asked me not to. What kind of business is being run here im not sure but I guess there's a reason I won't be back any time soon. The small angry Paul Simon look alike needs an attitude adjustment.

Rude employee and only classic rock and jazz- no variety in music. There are a ton of records put most are squeezed in boxes and not orders at all. It was very hard to find anything

I am surprised this place is still around. Something got lost in translation from when they were on South St. till now. Maybe it's the times. The fact is that they've got Milkcrate Café, Wild Mutation Records, Borderline Records & Tapes, Records Plus More, and even though I am not a huge fan, Creep Records all within walking distance of each other and all doing it better than Philly Record Exchange. I was never really a huge fan of theirs when they were on South St. They always had a good selection of stuff, but it always felt like a chore. And even back then, while I could find stuff I dug, I was always more inclined to haunt Noise Pollution, Repo and the very much missed Rock & Roll Plus and Relapse Store. (Nothing was sadder than seeing the Relapse wall of signatures get painted over by the rasta moron whose father handed him that place to turn into the worst instrument store in history. Thank God that is now gone as well. No love loss Zeke, you suck as a human being) I digress The sad thing is nothing has changed in any capacity other than the location, which is a bummer. It's pretty much all the same inventory that just got moved over to a new place and some new things here and there. And all the negatives about the place came with it. Blah set up and organization, Price tags ON the vinyl (NO JUST NO). it's just not a fun record store to visit in any capacity. And I don't think it ever really was but we all kind of ignored that because choices were kind of slim for a long time if you wanted certain things. That "I'm better than you, I'm in the know" attitude just isn't tolerable anymore when you don't have anything to offer. And especially in comparison to other places, where the staff are pretty nice people who actually talk to you and not down at you, it's like, why would I waste my time. That crap went out with the 90's Maybe this will change. I am not the only person to have a less than ideal experience, and maybe it'll be a wake up call. New store, new area, new attitude, new blood. Maybe, maybe not. As it right now, if you have some cash to spare and want to get a record, don't be a masochist, you have plenty of choices.

Stopped in here today for the first time and was extremely happy...I've been looking for a Doris Day record for months and not only did they have that it was only $4 and as an added bonus I found the soundtrack for The Sound of Music for only $1! I'm so glad to have found this place!

Manager was very short and rude with me when I brought in records to sell. All the records I brought in were worth 10x what I was offered by the manager. I brought in a stack of rare records in great condition worth a couple hundred dollars at least and the manager offered me like 20 bucks for everything. Then was very dismissive and disrespectful. Anyone who's looking to sell here just go somewhere else it's not worth it.

Always worth stopping in. I try to buy something every time but as finances slip in my wallet it's hard. Thanks for special concert events. my fav thing. I see folks that I haven't seen in ages. Thumbs up

My traveling partner has been visiting this place 20 years ago when it was on 5th, near South Street. According to him, they have consistently had the best selection at the best prices for years. This was the first time we had been to this new location. With the help of GPS, we had no trouble finding it. Parking is available on the street, and was available in abundance. The store is clean, well organized and has great prices and deals on all kinds of music. The staff is knowledgable but not pushy and leaves you to shop in peace! I loved that they had wheeled chairs throughout the store so you could sit and shop. Frankford Ave is hopping with all kinds of new bars/restaurants, so it made it easy to grab a bite before or after our shopping experience.

As a touring musician, I meet all sorts of weird people, but the dude behind the counter at the Philadelphia Record Exchange takes the cake. I stopped in around 1 in the afternoon to ask if the shop would be interested in stocking any copies of my new record. Granted, my work is not everyone's cup of tea, but dude behind the counter gave my LP a perfunctory once over, and upon hearing that the music was experimental, began shouting at me, stating that since he hadn't sold anything at all that day, there was no way he could even contemplate buying anything. I understand the pressures of running a small business, so I ignored his tone and crazy eyes and asked if there were any other record shops in the city that might be a better fit, to which he responded that there were no record shops in all of Philadelphia that would be interested in my record. As a woman in experimental music, I'm used to this type of interaction, and I've found the best way to defuse a crank is to ignore their baiting. I proceeded to change the subject and politely ask if he could recommend any cheap, decent breakfast spots. He did manage to lower his tone and recommended what turned out to be a fine hot dog stand. Maybe bro should shut his record store that no one patronizes, and go into full time into the sausage slinging business. He might even end up finding happiness.

I went in to trade merchandise today ( as I have done many times before!) and was turned away. I was told that the store policy allows CD trades, but the cashier on duty does not. (??) The best offer was to return when another cashier is on duty.

Great selection, decent prices. Lot's of obscure albums to puruse.

Cool store with a very old school vibe. I was on tour and found some stuff I'd usually not see in California. Lots of dead stock that needed to be thinned at $1 each was the main problem here. Also no real division between rock/metal/punk......Other than that a jewel in the rough I hope to visit again in the next year!

Love this record store. It has a wide selection of tunes. Pretty much the new arrivals is a one stop shop. I usually hit that up first and find what I'm looking for. Though the shop has great classic rock, jazz and reggae. Just a heads up the owner acts like a big shot so I'd stear far away from him. Though the older guy that works the register is awesome and has great taste in music. This place is worth checking out!

No, not the world's largest selection, but well chosen stuff - not a lot of crap bought in bulk from a liquidator. Nice guy at the counter; I assume he's the owner. Just an honest-to-god record shop. I'll be back, next trip to Philadelphia.