Be careful if you are taking things in to sell. Be VERY careful. Not the best place to sell things. In fact, a BAD place. The buyers, though, will find almost everything they are looking for. Usually, the prices are good. But forget about the "swap" part. A very uneven playing field that. read more

I was incredibly impressed with the selection of new vinyl, and the selection of vintage vinyl was pretty good too. Staff seemed friendly and polite, everything was clean and organized. The issue is the pricing. I prefer to buy in a store and support independent record stores and small businesses. I have my limits though. Not sure how he can get away with charging 20-300% more than other sellers. My record store day I bought for $26 he had for $45, my RSD I got for 35 he had for 50. The Zappa broadcast I bought for $8 new sealed he wanted $40 for, another I got for $13 sealed he wanted $40 as well. Most the vintage vinyl was worth half what it was priced at. I know you've got to pay the rent and I know prices are higher brick and mortar, but why are your prices higher than stores in downtown Chicago? Highest priced store I've ever been to, and I'm a traveler, I go to a LOT of record stores. I could have easily bought a couple dozen albums if they were even 20% cheaper, but I left with nothing and very sad that I had to pass on so much good stuff. I guess you can build a pretty epic collection if you don't price things to actually sell...Went online and bought what I wanted for 30-50% less than he wanted. Didn't feel good about it, but I'm not going to be ripped off just to support indie record stores... read more

Deepest bins in the area, and overall good quality. On the day I came by, I spent about an hour hitting specific target bins. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything I really needed, but I did see several LP's in their new arrivals bin (middle of store, register side) I'd never seen before, but nothing I was craving to add to my collection. Like fellow reviewers, prices were a tick higher than what is on Discogs or my local stores, but not so high to prevent a sale if they had what is on my current hit list. At most, a couple bucks inflated - which is still relative if ordering online and paying shipping - so in the right ballpark, price-wise. They have several bins upstairs for $1 digs. But I found it a little toasty and myself far to old to do the time-heavy digs I did 3-4 years ago when I was collection building. Overall, solid shop. Wish I'd found something to buy! Definitely worth the time in stopping by if in the area. For an extended drive away, might be something to consider, depending on what stage of collecting you find yourself in. read more

Having lived in several college towns, I've been blessed to be near various archetypal "preowned music" stores. In Princeton, it was the Record Exchange, which is near-legendary. I was hoping Record Swap would be similar, but it was a disappointment. They have very little selection in any category besides Rock, and everything I looked at was in the $8-$15 range. My area of concentration is electronica and its sisters - trip hop, acid jazz, house trance, drum and bass, jazz remixes. For this section, There were 2 rows on the shelf/table - no more than 10 linear feet -- and I recognized not a single artist or compilation. In the Rock section, sure, there were selections from popular artists, but again, the price is relatively prohibitive given the opportunity to purchase a new example for a few dollars more (or less!) at your standard big box outlet. Along the back wall, there seemed to be a budget section, but I could see no organization at all. Not terribly useful to stand there for hours. Even the Record Exchange's budget section was organized by genre, if not alphabetically. In this fashion, it would have been possible to at least find new artists of the genre one prefers! I did not look at their LPs, which apparently are their speciality, but I also did not see a dedicated electronica section. I give an extra star for merely existing as a local small business and providing an alternative to illegally downloading music, but I don't see myself having any need to return to this establishment. read more

I so powerfully want to like this shop. It feels right, that's for sure. I feel like I've been walking the aisles of this same shop my entire life (even though I just moved to C-U a month ago). The Record Swap has a good inventory, and in their new arrivals section I flipped past a number of records that caught my eye -- mainly records I already have but that I don't see very often. I was not thrilled with the pricing on these records. It wasn't insane, but it was higher than I'd paid in almost every case. I'm beginning to develop a theory that C-U record pricing (and maybe other retail pricing, too) is influenced by Chicago retail pricing. Maybe that shouldn't surprise me, but it kind of does. In any case, I've now been in the shop twice. I went in a second time to scope out the $1 bins upstairs. I had visions of semi-sweet gems hidden up there. I did come across a few OK things (mainly, one of Waylon Jennings's stronger mid-70s records... which isn't really very sweet, but whatever, it's a decent record...I'm not here to justify my taste in dollar-bin scrapings...) Suffice it to say, I wasn't blown away, and I wasn't enticed to dig further in the future. I'm glad this place exists, and if I were just starting a record collection, I'd probably spend some money here. As it is, however, I'll be saving up for road trips... read more

This place use to be downtown Urbana. I drove by one day when I came back to town, and noticed they were gone. Damn, I thought they closed down. Driving back, I was on University and noticed they had moved. Yay. I have always been a fan of the Record Swap. Before Exile opened they were one of the last independent music stores left in the area. The owner is a little odd and reserved, but I have always found him a likable guy when he opens up. He knows his stuff as well. Anyway, rows of used CD's, some new but not a ton of new releases. A bunch of vinyl. Some box sets up front. An awesome selection, I have even found some bootlegs here I can't get anywhere else. Vinyl is in good shape as well. I have always been a fan. Even though they have moved, the store has not changed one bit. read more

Real nice shop. I bought a real nice first pressing Miles Davis record in great shape for a good price. The owner was real helpful to me and my brother. I have been to the shop twice and the owner was very nice and helpful both times. The dude knows his stuff. read more

I had a blast at this shop. Yeah, the prices aren't the greatest, but if you have the time the $1 LP's are so much fun to look through. I came out with some gems today. Merle Haggard "The fightin' side of me & the best of Merle Haggard". Also, a Willie Nelson album and much more. I will be back for sure! read more

Lots of great CDs at affordable prices. They are definitely curating and not just putting up whatever. They also have a good Blu-ray selection. Recommended browsing location. read more

The guy who works there is an asshat, the past couple of times he has looked me straight in the eyes and not said "Hello" once. He came over and started yelling at me for looking through the "duplicate LP" section. I then I explained that the prices were clearly different on each copy, to which he did not reply. USE EBAY!!! read more

Drove all the way from Indy to this stinkin town and was VERY taken aback with this so-called record store. First off, its hot as heck outside and the place has ZIP air condition, just a few ceiling fans blowing all the hot air from the outside into the store!!!!! The 'clerk' @ R.S.had the front door wide open. Walked by the guy, never said a word to me or my wife, hi, how r u, why the fu are you here, dont you know Im 'batchelor 69' cuz I have 'A Love Supreme' by Coltrane playing on the cd player..... Okay...as for the lp's that lined the front middle and back of the store. To 'give' credit where its due....all music catergories are properly alphabetized....but thats where it all stops!!!! The prices? Seems like the 'owner' injoys setting the ticketed price according to ebay prices! Fine....but if one wants to 'move product', having 'em at such wont sell a thing! Nice if one wants 'the ego driven' idiom of having a so-called first or second run of a Cannonball Adderley disc, but @ 25 smackers....thats a rather bit too high....dont care if its on the 'original Riverside' label or not!!!! Methinks the ;owner' is fronting the place as a 'write off' for other business ventures he/she probably has! Didnt get a chance to browse the $1.00 lps 'upstairs' as previously mentioned, as it was hot as hades downstairs Can imagine what it was like up there w/o the air. (Stayed a total of 5 minutes in the store) Been to much MUCH betto record stores than this 'place' and really would not recommend anyone to go in unless one has plenty of $$$ to spend and coming out with not much of anything! read more

Awesome store. Went there for the first time today and they have every type of LP you could imagine. The really popular records sell out fast so they might not be in Stock at the time but they will be soon because they constantly order them. Left today with bon jovi, Janis Joplin, hall and oates and Al green. Owner was extremely helpful in helping me find the records I wanted. Love this place. It also has tons of cds, dvds, games... any media you could need. Oh there's posters too. I will definitely be visiting this store again for my record needs. read more

First the prices- a bit high, and not priced evenly, (you'll find the same record in the bins priced differently) The service- The old guy and the younger guy have always went out of their way to help me out. Twice when I've gone in there, I've witnessed completely unruly customers. I saw some young guys just start screaming at the clerk just because he didn't have a particular album. I think the guys in there are just introverted types. You have to talk to them. The selection- it always has something new, and your sure to find something you'll want. The secrets- Check out the dollar bins upstairs first. read more

I love this place. The prices beat the hell out of the internet for the most part. Bob knows his stuff and will talk about music for as long as you are willing to. The prices do reflect not only the rarity of the title, but the condition. They just started carrying some new vinyl too. Because of the deep selection of inventory, I am amazed at how often that I go in looking for a specific title and "Voila" Record Swap has it. All kinds of stuff; posters, incense burners, CD's and of course, records. I don't know if I could live in C-U without Record Swap. read more

It's just about the music here and that's why it's worth visiting. They offer records from the golden age of vinyl and you can't help but delve into the treasure trove that is this place. read more

People are excessively hating on this store. The guy that runs it is actually pretty nice. He says "hi" every time I go in. If you want to talk music, he'll do that too. Or politics, or whatever. He's a nice guy. Also, the prices aren't that bad...yeah, he's price matching stores on ebay, but that makes sense, and the prices are about the same, minus shipping. I've picked up 4 awesome records here in the last month: howlin' wolf, john lee hooker, robert johnson, duke ellington...me gusta read more

Went in for some last minute gifts, great selection but the shady business owner pulled the cover off an album and changed the price right in front of me. I hope that $4 extra you made up for the future business you're loosing! read more

Very cool store with a TON of used vinyl and CDs. The prices are fair for the most part. The collection is mostly well organized but sometimes you'll have to dig around if you're looking for something in particular. The selection is mostly standard fare with the occasional unique or obscure record that you might find. The only complaint I have is the hours (it closes at 5pm everyday) but I usually can work around that. Good place to check out! read more

I agree with the other reviews...it is important to have some personality and to be able to share your insight into music----this guy just does not have it.. DIRTY store too. read more

I love the idea of this place but the prices are ridiculous. I understand that local brick and mortar shops have to charge a bit more, and I'm willing to pay accordingly. But after checking the market value for some items I recently purchased from here on discogs it's unlikely that I'll be patronizing this store again. Too bad. read more