FAQ
Are the pictures of albums samples?
No! One of the things that set us apart from other online record stores are that the pictures of each album are of the exact record you'll receive. We believe that when you're buying used goods, it's important to be very transparent about all flaws on a product. That's why we try our best to ensure that with our pictures and grading scale
Why don't you have [Album] by [Artist]?
We try our best to stock albums to fit every genre and music lover, but even with thousands of pieces of inventory we know we're missing out on some. If you want a specific album or artist, please send in a submission through our contact form and one of our concierges will get right on it!
I have a question about shipping!
There are so many things we can tell you about shipping that we gave it its own page. Check out our Shipping FAQs to get the answers to all your burning logistics questions!
Where are you located?
Although our store is currently online only, our headquarters, inventory warehouse, and business operations were started in the lovely city of Chicago, IL. We have since moved our facilities to Raleigh, NC to continue providing the best service to our customers!
How do you grade your albums?
Being passionate vinyl collectors ourselves, we know how disappointing it is to buy a record only to find that it's in way worse condition than you expected it to be. To ensure that doesn't happen, we have a very strict grading scale and preparation process for all of our incoming inventory. And for those people who love to know all the juicy details, we've summarized it below:
SORTING
 Every new record that comes across our shelves first gets sorted.
  During this step, we do the following:
  • Check the record matches the cover
  • Make sure all multiple-record albums have all vinylÂ
  • Inspect for signs of severe warp and/or cracks
  • Separate out sealed records from opened records
If the vinyl passes all of these easy checks, we catalogue it in our inventory. All opened records get sent to cleaning, while sealed records get sent straight to inventory prepCLEANING
If it's not sealed, it gets cleaned. All of our opened records, and occasionally their covers, get sent through a deep cleaning process (as of 2023, they are cleaned ultra-sonically) and their condition is checked in-depth for the first time. Albums visually inspected to be NM or VG+ get sent straight to inventory prep, while anything deemed to be below that is put into queue to be play-tested.PLAY-TESTING
All records with concerning blemishes or marks are individually play-tested all the way through on a mid-range turntable (a Technics SL-1500 for those wondering) to judge the audio experience for an average listener. Records with any skips or excessive surface noise, pops, or other sound distractions are taken out of our inventory. All other vinyl is assigned a grade according to our grading scale and sent to inventory prepINVENTORY PREP
The final test for all records, no matter how good they look. Under our heavy studio lighting, all vinyl covers are scrutinized and assigned a grade. Opened records that were not play-tested are checked once more for hairline scratches or other marks, and anything that gives us any concern is sent back to be play-tested. ÂOnce a record passes all of these stages, it's put up for sale in our store!