I'm a big fan of this place. They have a pretty big collection of used vinyl to choose from, ranging in pretty much all genres. As is usually the case, the jazz section seems particularly large and untouched, so if you're hunting for some diamonds in the rough, you'll have no problem finding your doo-wop fix. The rock section is sizable, as well, but with the resurgence of vinyl (sales have doubled in the past year alone!), a lot of the really well-known albums have already been mined out. That's not to say there aren't gems to be found, but you're gonna have to really put the time into it. It helps to know what's good and what isn't before going in, too. There's a lot of shlock to weed through. The staff is knowledgeable and really nice. They definitely love to be working at a record store, and are pretty willing to help you along the path to constructing an impressive record collection, and the music they play over the speakers is consistently top notch. Definitely check this place out if you're looking to build a nice vinyl collection. I guarantee you'll find something that tickles your fancy, and you'll probably end up spending more cash than you would have otherwise planned on. It's hard to say no when you've got that nice, weighty, beautifully-large album staring you in the face, begging to be spun around and around and around. read more

This place is so awesome! I miss these types of places that there used to be so many of and now barely any. The stuff you can find in this place blows your mind. It might be one of the best selection of records I've seen in a long time. Also posters, cd's, tapes... Very cool place. read more

Pretty cool selection and much more organized than other record shops here. I was able to find a fairly obscure album here for $6. No greeting upon entering the shop, but the guy was friendly and polite when i checked out. They have a $10 minimum on credit cards. read more

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting. My roommate and I just got a record player at Goodwill and have found some real gems at goodwill for 50 cents to $1. Coming into this store and finding a Carole King record for close to $10 makes me want to cringe. They do have a ton of records and if that is your thing, then you could definately get lost here thumbing through everything. Also, they have a huge number of Jazz albums. I wish that they had more recent records. I know there is some Tori Amos vinyl out there somewhere. As much as I love old Heart albums I wanna listen to newer stuff on my turntable. read more

+ vintage vibe with that old books smell + hundreds/thousands of records, CD's, DVD's to pick from + chill place to ask around for potential new recommendations - not organized well - staff is not that well versed in the collection Came here purely by accident while walking down Mass. Ave. and was mostly pleasantly surprised! The place has tons and tons to choose from so you could very well go in and never see the light of day until 3 hours later! Although, similar to a Vegas casino that way...while there's tons to do, it's also a bit confusing to navigate everything. They have records sorted by your regular jazz, oldies, rock n' roll etc. and then there's obscure categories like "sexy time" and plenty of shelving towards the bottom that are MASSIVELY filled with records that belong under no category at all. My friend was looking for one album by Wham! (which is pretty well-known) and the lone guy working the counter had no idea where to point us, also giving a look of completely confusion. He was busy in an in depth discussion with another guy about bands so I have no doubt of his musical knowledge, but I don't think he knows where anything is in this store either! Bottom line, you've got some time? You bored and like records? Come browse...you'll be occupied for hourssssss. Need to find one album by one person? Maybe try a more organized place. read more

Looks like they've got the goods in certain genres only, and you might be able to score a good find like in any pile of records, but for good jazz, and rock... skip it. Hmm, let's see if they have any Bill Evans... one measly record. One! Stan Getz? A smattering of three or four. Not so hot. I did find a decent selection of an old folk singer I've been looking for, but honestly, I'm probably the only person in Boston looking for that, so it won't help you any. It just makes me miss the good old days in Amoeba and the basement of Rasputin back in Berkeley... Cheapo doesn't even come close. read more

I love this place!!! Brandon was so extremely helpful in helping me answer questions about my record player my trouble setting turntable up. I was able to buy and sell records for a great price as well as get hands on knowledge and care towards my turntable. They are constantly getting new records in so stop by anytime! Their $1-$2 record sales are fun to look through as well and I have found some gems hidden amongst the piles! Thank you Brandon and team for giving me the time even during the craziness of record day around the corner. 10/10! read more

Good record spot -please don't even bother reading these fools reviews below mine unless your a fool yourself.. Well, maybe u should cuz they're kinda funny but painfull at the sametime. Cheapo's is like any other used record spot-it's all about timing and knowledge of music. read more

Now, I miss the old store, which was in the basement of the building across Mass Ave next to Wainwright Bank. It had been in that location for eons, and it was a throwback (at least for me, even though I'm too young to remember more than the remnants of that era) to the days when college towns had an awful lot of basement record or bookstores--it was almost like going to the Woolworth's Bargain Basement (which, by the way, had once been next door, where Walgreen's is now--if you walk around back to Bishop Allen, you'll see the only relic of that past life, in a doorway just off Prospect; there'll probably be a discarded, muddy Chick pamphlet nearby). The "new" (now four years old) place is cool, though--the old Skippy White's store--and I can only say that I wish I had a turntable so I could better appreciate their vinyl selection. The CD selection is much smaller, but I made some good finds (though I think my finds were better at the older location), and they'll order anything that's still in print. (Someone complained on here about paying a five-buck deposit... what the hell's wrong with you?) I don't think the staff's rude--most of them are pretty helpful. The owner can sometimes be a bit snarky--but if you lived in Boston long enough to remember Avenue Victor Hugo Books, you know an owner who could be rude, and so Cheapo's owner is off the hook (in fact, the only time I remember him being anything close to rude was when there seemed to be some miscommunication between him and me in my appraisal of Bob Dylan's "New Morning," which I'd long wanted my own copy of and had just found in the stacks--I remember his being rather cool otherwise, both to me and to other customers). It's a great place to spend some time on a record or CD hunt, and in this age of dying record stores and changing Central Square (Rodney's, don't go! Hollywood Express, Hot off the Press, Come Back!), it's a treasure and, more often than not, a treat. I was sure to throw my special orders to Cheapo's rather than to Newbury Comics, and I've never been disappointed. read more

The owner/manager is a certified POS. He's insanely rude and hostile to all customers. While he's never asked me to check my bag, I've seen the other reviews and definitely believe them. On my first visit, I was telling my friend a particular rock album wasn't my favorite and the owner/manager came rushing over calling and telling me I had bad taste and threatened to kick me out. They also have Gildan shirts that look like shit because they were probably printed in the back. You also can't try anything on because the owner (doesn't want anyone to dirty them, and he doesn't want to clean anything" (that's exactly the reasoning he gave me). But there's no way to know if it's your size because the sizes on the shirts are all wrong and they won't take any returns. I've been the the store 3 times over two years and they never get any new albums, just the same albums and never any new stock. Their hip-hop section is also comically awful. Newbury Comics has a better rap selection. All they have here is a copy of Flowerboy, MBDTF, and 2014 FHD. Never going back! read more

Everything you want in a record store. The two long-haired fellows behind the register were so nice and so chill and happy to chat about just about anything. They were very knowledgeable on the records that I chose and offered up some fun facts when I checked out. The amount of boxes filled with records packed into the store seems to defy physics; space is small but the records are many and of high-quality (and cheap price). I will definitely be back for some more musical treats soon. read more

I was visiting the area and wanted to check out the local record shops. When I walked in the older gentleman behind the counter rudely asked me to "check my bag". I told him I didn't have a bag only my purse. He said that's what he meant and insisted I could not look around the store until gave him my purse. Never in my life have I had a business ask for my purse to be held behind the counter while I shopped. It was insane!!! I walked out and will never return. read more

I am starting to fall in love with this store, the employees are super sweet and very talkative and super helpful. They recently added a selection of punk and hardcore, which I am hoping they keep adding to because it's looked dimmer everytime I come in to see if they have new stuff added. They have an alright selection of punk 7 inches too, you just have to ask to see them. There music selection is huge and if your coming from another part of town it is seriously in eye sight of the central sq T. read more

Again...do not understand the reviews that I've been reading. I walked in with my backpack and murse and no one said a thing. They have an amazing selection of vinyl a lot of still factory sealed LPs really cheap. Looks like they just bought a huge collection from somewhere bc there were boxes lining the rows that weren't there the Las time I stopped in. I always start in the bargain bin lots of great titles 3/5.00 extended catalogue titles from artists and lots of promo copies. The main bins ...still haven't gotten to them so I can't comment on pricing however I'm never looking for the "popular" titles I have them. I'm looking for deep catalogue and this place hits a home run every time. Yes yes yes!! I LOVE this place! read more

I found some great deals as well as some hard to find items that have been on my list for a while. The people were friendly and there's lots to look through. read more

Let me preface this by saying I came here for classical records and only classical records. I didn't even look through any other section in the store, although there seemed to be a large selection of jazz and blues. I made out like a bandit though - suffice it to say that my classical vinyl dreams came true at Cheapo's and for $6 or less per record! I was so pleasantly surprised by the top notch selection of romantic and post-romantic music. There were the usual baroque and classical era vinyl, but holy balls, The Planets conducted by Bernstein in mint condition for $4; Scheherezade, Shostakovich 5, Gershwin conducted by André Previn, just to name a few gems. I didn't even know I could get BOTH the Bruch and Mendelssohn violin concertos on one record but here it was for $6. I couldn't find the exact Stravinsky symphonies I wanted and the Dvorák record I was lusting for had minor scratches that I didn't want to contend with, given the dynamic quality of the music - but that's about the only downside to my experience. Dunno if they lucked into some seriously solid music or it was years of skilled curating and very few classical music clientele. I will be Bach. read more

Cheapo Records - Found twelve records I can't live without in about half an hour. - Vinyl Records Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

This is the spot in Boston if your in search of funk/soul/jazz lp's. If you go to the just in section at the front bin more often than not there's stuff on the rarer side. I have picked up many a great record here, more so than any of the the other shops in town and I have been to them all. So as others have stated they got the bag check thing which is pretty lame but what are you gonna do. Also some of the older guys that work here can be pretty harsh on some of random people that walk in. The ones that don't know the record store etiquette and ask a lot questions as to where certain artists and albums are located. A place like this you just gotta hunt for it and dig the crates. You never know what your gonna see . Sometimes it's fun just to buy something totally random and listen to it! Found so many great records just by doing this. read more

Big selection, but even complete crap records are overpriced. Owner / manager is a dick to his employees and generally seems oblivious to the needs of customers. Has refused to haggle on overpriced records I've seen on shelf for over a year. I only go there because there aren't a lot of record shops left. Ugh. read more

The selection is really large, albeit a little more expensive than some other places I've been. Found some nice things here, but spent more than I was hoping to. read more

Either the other Yelpers are crazy, or there's been some staff turnover since their visits. The two employees were very friendly. Yeah, there's a sign asking you to check your bag, but so what? Hey, people steal shit. They must have had a problem in the past, or they wouldn't have this policy. No big deal, IMO. I was looking for jazz and R&B, and the selection was modest but decent. It's the kind of place I'd hit once a month to see what's new. read more

Records more expensive than other places but unfortunately most of the records I bought turned out to be defective in some way, overall quality much worse than other record stores with cheaper prices. read more

Cheapo records is an ok reecord store, they have a nice selection at a decent condition. The "leave your bag at the desk" thing they always say is not a very good welcoming thing to do, I understand that they might be worry about anyone stealing records buy not everyone that goes there is a thief!, I felt discriminated as soon as they asked me rudely for my bag since I didnt notice the sign they have on the door. read more

This place had a record I've been scouring record stores for for months, and in perfect condition. It ALSO had three Boomtown Rats records, together only $10. Yeah. Bins and bins of vinyl, knowledgeable and friendly employees. What more could you want? read more

This shop is so much pleasant than Nuggets !!, more organised n most of all staff young guys are friendly n warm !!! Prices are better too !!, So I would recommend to those who are going to visit Harvard or MIT like us ,, !!! PJLIM read more

I usually shop at place like Cheapo Records and Nuggets, but I started wondering if their prices were all that different than bigger stores, like Newbury Comics, etc. OMG, there is a large difference. I typically buy CD's here for about 10 dollars, if that. I do not buy mainstream artists, though so I thought the independent labels would be just as cheap everywhere. It is not the case. If you want to buy any CD's, definitely come to places like this. Do not overpay. read more

A lot of really great selection, but significantly overpriced. I went looking for a particular Roy Buchanan album, which I was able to find, however compared to Discogs it was way higher in price than what I was expecting. If you value that in-store record buying experience, this place is a gem, I just found it to be much too expensive across the board. read more

Ignore any reviews less than 4-5 stars. This place is a total gem! It is very well organized, and they have a great selection of rare and not so rare music from all over the map. 60s soul? check. Funk? check. Bluegrass gospel? check. Classics? Check. I found they had some great stuff that you won't find at a traditional retail store. Since there is no Amoeba on the east coast, this is as good as it gets! Get ready to get your hands dusty! :) read more

incredibly friendly and knowledgeable staff. always great music playing in the background. and some excellent, surprising finds. be sure to give yourself plenty of time to go through the records. i've accidentally spent almost 2 hours here without knowing it. read more

Best new & used record shop hands down & it's only going to get better - a true music digger could lose themselves for hours at a time in this shop & walk away with tons of great gems . read more

Cheapo Records - Vinyl Records Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

this store is so calming, the music playing was amazing taste. i literally almost cried bc it made me so happy just being in there. also the shirts are really cheap and the employees were SO nice and patient. only thing i was mad about was they didn't have van morrison's astral weeks, but other than that my experience in this store was the first time i've felt true happiness in months. read more

Cheapo = probably the best remaining record store in Boston. Inventory is well-organized and the employees are actually passionate (see: knowledgable) about the music they sell. Shoutout Gage for being a veteran of the Boston hip-hop scene. No other record store in the area has employees that know jack about hip-hop so definitely go to Cheap if you're into rap. read more

A good, varied selection of records with a killer "just in" section. Decent CD selection as well. Far from the cheapest, but I'll pay the extra $1-2 that keeps them a physical business, and keeps me from looking at records online, something that is infinitely more fun in person with real records and real people. Interesting folks are always around, store-affiliated and not, so keep an ear out.. read more

Cheapo has always been good to me. I mostly listen to 45s and the guys behind the counter were always really great to me, even going as far as to sell me really cool vintage 45 carrying cases for a cheap price that weren't even for sale. I've had a lot of great finds there and I know as a vinyl enthusiast I'll continue shopping there even though it is a bit pricey, the selection is insane. read more

Always a stop when in Boston. Perfectly located in Central Sq. on the red line or #1 Bus, parking is not too bad around there either. There is always some interesting in the new arrival bins. Relax if they ask to check your bag, I'm sure they will let you hold on to it the 3rd or 4th time you stop by, they don't know you. The prices pretty inexpensive, I usually don't come away with a huge stack of records from there, but what I do I'm always jazzed to find. That's just me though, I have an OK sized collection and I'm sure I collect a lot of stuff other people do too, so it's always timing. I'll always check back. Thanks read more

Yes, it is partially true that the guys who run this wax junkyard are not the most socially graceful bunch. I prefer not to interact with the staff, as they seem continuously annoyed by the air that they breath, however, I do sympathize, as I can surmise that the vinyl buying population is only a very small demographic, even with its relative resurgence during the last several years. When entering the store, they will ask to hold any prominent luggage you have carried in with you--I have to give kudos to other Yelpers for informing us newbies in the Cheapo bin. Personally, I wasn't affected by their bag quarantine policy, as I have nothing by the way of expensive Apple products or hefty lots of cash contained in my messenger bag. A visit to this store has all of the potential to be a constructive endeavor. If you follow the store's bag screening guideline and if you avoid probing the counters for excessive small talk, the store does offer some positive tokens in exchange for the resistant factors of the business. With regards to their audio/visual stock, there is a lot of Salvation Army crud and many remains right out of your uncle's class of 1985 overhaul ( at least in the rock section.) I was mildly impressed with their selections. As I am a bit of a rockist, I thought the rock/pop branch was somewhat passe--as I said, they offer a lot of mainstream staples from the seventies and eighties. From what I've observed, the rock department was quite heavy on early eighties era arena rock and synth pop that could be salvaged for less than a quarter of the price over at In Your Ear Records. If you are a scholar of Jazz and Blues, this store will offer a molehill of buying choices. Movies are also sold here as well, and their VHS section is still in circulation (I scored a tape copy of David Bowie's early promo piece, "Love You Till Tuesday.") Finally, their prices are generally on the higher end of the used record store industry, and although a paradoxical misnomer to their name, if you scrounge through everything long enough, you may come across a lucky sell-off or haggle. All in all, Cheapo slides down the social etiquette ladder to a near bottom of the barrel nadir, but if you can sidestep the, at times, antagonistic behavior of the peculiar staff, you should have yourself a reasonable, half-hour browse through their inventory. Just remember to keep in mind that you're there to pick through their records, and not their skulls. read more

Not the old Cheapo. They've ditched all of the most excellent Bear family stuff. And their return policy is not good. I've been buying records at Cheapo since the mid-70's, and never returned anything. Last week I bought a DVD, and it was outright defective. I tried to return it, and they wouldn't. I didn't have time to browse for a five dollar item, and it's a pain to keep track of a five dollar store credit... C'mon, it was defective, not like I was just trying to exchange it. The new management doesn't really get the customer service thing. You have to value any used record place these days, but I wasn't really asking that much. read more

First time I ever felt compelled to leave a review... the homies there were super helpful and the music they were playing was dope (shout out to Tim Maia). Random selection of CDs and vinyls, very widespread. I was looking for some spontaneous stuff and ended up getting the perfect thing - shouts to Caetano Veloso and Wah Wah Watson! And more shouts to the folks working there for the positive spirit!! read more

Wow . The ponytail guy behind the counter SCREAMED at me about my gym bag tthe moment I walked in . I was maybe three steps in the door. I would have been happy to check my bag , but I calmly told him I didn't appreciate being yelled at. His response was to shout and swear at me .and call me a moron. I will never, ever buy anything in this shop. Psycho Records would be a more appropiate name. read more

cheapo is always blaring music on to the central square sidewalk, reminding me that i must go in. they are full of gems but you've got to have the patience to dig. i always find great soul, funk and disco vinyl here but rarely anything that i request, the best finds come out of flipping aimlessly. i am horrible about remembering titles unless its the hook of the song, so the fact that they dont have listening stations bug me. the prices are good tho, so if you're in the neighborhood... read more

I've been living in Cambridge now for 50 years - always looked forward to just dropping into Cheapo Records to browse and usually ended up purchasing something! I love they still play music outside the store - in fact yesterday, I just stood in the doorway singing along, : ) and then noticed a cool, turntable NEW that one can hook up your albums to your computer, etc. They are kind enough to let me come and pick up today, 6/5 or tomorrow. I walk with a walker so gotta get a ride down there..hint hint! So few places left that made Cambridge unique. Cheapo one of the top 10. I do miss that original space that had a downstairs and we the shoppers would chat or just squeeze by one another. I could go on about the memories - the present is a change though still a great place. read more