Walked in with a friend over the weekend and I can understand where some of the more negative reviews come from when speaking about the apparent owner. We were not greeted but were excited to have found a random record store while trying to find Sol Food down the street. Minus another star since I'm one of those top40, apparent no appreciation for real music lovers, and couldn't find anything new. read more

Red Devil has a great and constantly rotating selection of interesting and hard to find new and used vinyl records. In addition, Barry the owner has the uncanny knack for remembering records you've brought from him and recommending records by other artists you will like but may have never heard of. Check out this gem of a record store. read more

Small but interesting record store. Worth a stop if you're in the area. Pretty decent selection of punk vinyl if that's what floats your boat. Yes, the proprietor is a curmudgeon. But my recommendation is to look at it as just part of the fun. :) read more

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The last few times I stopped in, the customer service has been much better. This is the kind of shop where you don't get taken care of unless they figure out that you're actually interested in records and not just in there to poke around and bullshit with friends. I would give it more stars, but I have found better deals elsewhere. This guy definitely cross references online and gets what he can for his records, and even though I respect that he has to pay his ridiculous San Rafael rent, I have found so many immaculate records for 99 cents at thrift stores that it's hard for me to shell out $14.99-$34.99 for a record I can get online for about the same price, or possibly find cheaper in the city from some other crate sifter who scored it at a Goodwill like I could have with a bit of luck and fate. read more

My only complaint about Red Devil is that I wish they hadn't moved from Petaluma to San Rafael - now I have to go on weekends, rather than over my lunch hour. Excellent, well-selected stock; if something is a collector's item in great shape, then yes, you will pay for it. You'll pay a lot less than you would on Ebay, and you can look at the condition right there and then. Superb selection of new and used punk/KBD stuff, sixties-seventies rock, and post-WWII jazz. And there are gems to be had in the country, soul, and world sections, too. Highly recommended. read more

if you want to find cool rare records come here. If you want to have a friendly conversation with a shop owner go get your hair cut. his prices can be a a little high but you are also paying for the fact that there is a lot of cool stuff under one roof that you can see and sometimes even hear before you buy. Leave your coffee outside. Leave your phone in your pocket. Treat his records like you would treat a friends when your are browsing and you will be fine. There aren't many places like this left. read more

Quite possibly the most unpleasant shopping experience I have had in many years. Customers seem to be an inconvenience at this record shop. Sorry to have bothered you! read more

I moved to San Rafael not to long ago and this is one of the first places I stopped. There is nothing better than a good record store. I was looking for a specific record that I doubted they would have but I figured since they had some pretty decent posters up, that they just might or they might offer to order it for me. As soon as I walked through the door, I got a "what do you want" from the guy behind the counter. I told him what record I was looking for. His response was to just say "we don't have it" and then stare at me. By this time I was more than a little taken a back, but because it's the only decent record store in Marin I thought I would look around. The whole time I was there I could feel his eyes following me, so I just left without buying anything. It's really too bad that bad customer service is why I don't have a good record store near by. I have over 1,000 albums, but that number will not be increased here. read more

Good stuff here, too bad the owner is the rudest stone faced jerk around.Good jazz vinyl but dig deep and he really doesn't know his stuff but will pose like he does....Punk with attitude...It feels like you just got ripped off even when you purchase something really nice.Too bad record stores are at their end and I think that this store could do so much more business if the owner wasn't so lost in his own head.No one I know will give him return visits. read more

The guy who owns this store, is a complete ass. I work less than a block away and I'm always tempted to go in on my lunch break but I refuse to. I'm always afraid to try new record stores because I can't stand the whole 'I'm a cool record store owner' thing that seems to go along with men who own or work at record stores. This guy, is worse than any other I've ever encountered. I went in to ask him a simple question, he didn't even look up from his computer screen while I was talking to him. And then he proceeded to cut me off in the middle of my sentence with a one word answer and basically shooed me away. I'm sorry but for a record store that very rarely ever has customers inside, you'd think he would be a little more mindful of the ones who do try to shop at his store. Like I said, I will never go into his store again. I'll just continue to drive out of town to a record store that actually appreciates my business and doesn't treat me like some blonde bimbo. read more

Same as others have observed, I find it uncomfortable to go into this store. I'm not a regular, but the few times I have been in there I couldn't get out fast enough. Weird dude. read more

Bought a classical record today. Unopened for $1.99. A great find. Right. Wrong! Didn't noticed it until I got home. It was opened by the cashier (owner) while I wasn't looking and the receipt tossed in. I guess he felt cheated and wanted no one to got the better of him. I could have used an unopened copy for my collection. What an asshole. Fuck him! read more

Owner is a real prick. I reluctantly gave him $15 of my money despite the attitude he was putting off. He did an awesome job of talking me out of a $75 record by being a complete jerk. Followed me around and straightened out each section, seconds after I was done with one row. Beyond rude. Really really uptight and clearly not having a good time running a record store. Maybe its time to retire. Oh well, i went over the hill to Mlll Valley and dropped $600. Sadly i can't recommend this place read more

I have been blowing my allowance on vinyl since I saved up to buy Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedoes album for $8.98 ($9.86 with tax) in 1979. Yes, I remember the price, because I was in fifth grade, and it took me a long time to save the money. I am tempted to give Red Devil a bad review because I do not want all of the people buying their vinyl at Amoeba or Rasputin to know that Red Devil has the best selection of good quality vinyl in the Bay Area. I would rather have it all to myself. But, the fact is, this shop is the best thing going in the whole Bay Area. In fact, a fellow vinyl lover in town from New York just a couple of weeks ago was blown away by the selection and quality of the vinyl at Red Devil compared to the shops in New York. As far as price goes, the fact is, the demand for vinyl has gone way up, there just aren't that many clean and complete old records out there anymore. The days of finding Captain Beefheart's Clear Spot in the plastic sleeve for $2.99 (I did), or a clean original Led Zep IV for $5.99, are over. Barry is fair with his buying prices, and he knows what he is doing - if you don't like his prices for your vinyl, take it to Amoeba and see what they give you. Their buyers don't even know their stuff anymore - they tried to offer me $1.00 for a rare soul Universal Mind 45 that was worth at least $50. And their prices have gone way up - Amoeba is charging high prices for run of the mill stuff, and their selection of new and used has been lousy for a long time. And yes, you might be able to find something cheaper on ebay, but the grading and quality is wildly inconsistent, and buying records on ebay sucks compared to spending time in a real record shop. Finally, yeah, Barry knows what he likes, if you want reliable and honest recommendations about the very latest sh*t hot music noone else has heard of, shop Red Devil, if you want someone to smile while selling you a Celine Dion cd, go to Borders. read more

Yelp doesn't really represent what a business is truly like. A person with a bad experience in any establishment shouldn't Yelp first, but go to the the owner/manager and discuss their grievance before dragging it over the coals on Yelp. Most the people that complain on Yelp seem to be very nit-picky, cheap and hard to deal with. The problem here is that people that are nit-picky, cheap and hard to deal with don't realize that they are nit-picky, cheap and hard to deal with. If Barry is a bit petulant at times it may be because, like all of us, he is human and running your own business can be a big pain -- even if it is something you love. If you like music (who doesn't?) the man knows his stuff. As for prices let this be a lesson -- Last summer he had a Paul Weller Greatest Hits on vinyl , I am a huge Weller fan and have never seen this before on vinyl. There were two price tags on the cover one said $20 the other said $30. I asked Barry what the deal was and he said, I'll give you the sale price. Last night I saw the same record on eBay (sealed mind you) for $200. So as a record collector I highly recommend shopping here. Also if you don't see it on the shelf, don't be afraid, ask. Last week I was in there hoping to get Bob Dylan's New Morning and an Albert King album. I saw nothing on the shelf, but when I asked Barry he pulled them from other area's of the store. I'm listening to them now and loving it. read more

I see a lot of complaining about the guy who works there. Maybe he wasn't there today because the guy was perfectly pleasant and wished me happy holidays. My teen son wanted a Nirvana record in vinyl and they had it! Sweet! Great store. read more

Glad this place is here they bring a lot to 4th street. This is 2016 and you don't need a record shop to find the title you are looking for- you can get anything you want via your phone. Well you don't even need to buy a record cd or cassette it's all there to be streamed. A record store to survive needs to change how they do things- in case of these guys it's not give the customer what they want- it's introduce them to something they need. You can walk into Red Devil- you won't find that copy of December's Children you were looking for, you'll walk away with three or four other titles instead. Also the shop promotes/idolizes Radio Birdman, which for me puts them at the top of my list. read more

I was pissed off for a month about my experience with the owner of this place. Call me cheap but charging 24 bucks for a burnt copy of a CD is just crazy and when i tried to return it, the situation got uneasy real quick. I work in retail and if my customer service was like that, my boss would fire my ass in a heartbeat. Serves me right for going to this place out of convenience instead of Watts Music in Novato. If you want to support a local record store, that's where you want to go. read more

I guess Barry is his name. The guy isn't very friendly and will speak to you with an attitude (happened to me the numerous time I entered his store). This guy has the classic "holier then thou" thing going on. Let me put him in his place for a second. Just bc you play Tom Waits in your store--doesn't make you god. I have and listen to that cd too. Go ahead and snap at me and cry to me about "oh- well amoeba this and amoeba that" waah waaah waah. Cry me a river bud. You are trying to run an independent record shop (which is a dying breed-and amoeba is doing it quite well-maybe you can ask them for a couple of hints) you should AT LEAST have a little respect and common courtesy for your customers. I know most the music you have in your store- and its good and --I I would like to buy it but I AM NEVER going to buy it here as long as this guy is selling it. I would rather give my money to the late, money hungry corporate slime- virgin mega store. And I'd pick Ameoba's service over Virgin any day. At least there, I would have been helped with a smile, a GOOD attitude, and not the feeling I had leaving Red Devil-which was feeling like I had been bitched out. Time for me to do the "bitching out" now. Hope this guy changes his act bc he has a great store and San Rafael needs something like that. Don't expect me dropping in there again to see if he is "friendlier". I cannot believe I let this a-hole waste this much of my time. Hope I struck a chord with you. read more

what a rude person working there. made me and the people feel very uncomfortable. also, I happened to be in the company of a friend who's terrified of dogs, and although the 'shop dog' seems very friendly, it would not leave my friend alone and the guy working the desk refused to do anything about it...not even call it away? For such a well-stocked shop, it's a shame that the people working there have to be such dicks... read more

I stopped in at this place recently...the prices were pretty high, especially for the (at best) fair condition most of the records' sleeves were in, but I seriously couldn't believe what an entitled prick the owner was to other customers. (Yes, I'm making assumptions: he had to be the owner, since there's no way in hell this place turns enough of a profit to employ two or more people.) While he was too busy to turn over whatever record he'd been playing, someone's phone rang during the silence...and not several times, either. It rang exactly once. He went 0-60 into full impotent pissiness mode and barked at the guy to take his phone outside. The guy looked a little confused at first, then laughed and said "gladly!" as he set down a small stack of merchandise and walked out. I immediately did the same. Avoid, avoid, AVOID wasting your time at this douche party; plus, when you shop elsewhere, you'll get the added bonus of not reinforcing this proprietor's delusions about how a retail establishment should be run in the current millennium. read more

i never used to go here because they don't really stock what i listen to (mostly obscure black and drone metal), but i've never encountered any attitude from Barry like these other reviews claim. he's always been cool to me, and every time i go there i find something i want, whether or not it was what i was looking for. but to solve that problem, Barry just orders me up what i want, and cut me a little break on the price if he can which is always nice. a great store, services all my vinyl needs without me paying ridiculous meter fees and bridge tolls to get to amoeba. read more