Sell to Underdog Records

[Effective February 5th: Underdog Records is taking a short break from used purchasing to play some catch up. We are not currently buying used collections. This may last anywhere from a week to a month. Feel free to call the shop during business hours or use the contact form on this website if you’d like to notify us of a collection you consider particularly unique or rare, but please don’t bring any collections to the store to sell without first getting our approval until this message is taken down. We are still buying small quantities (say 20-30 records or fewer). Thank you very much.]

Underdog Records buys used vinyl albums directly from the public, no appointment necessary. Bring your albums by any time Underdog is open and I will go through your collection and make you an offer on the spot. Underdog Records is open Wednesday - Saturday, 11 am - 7 pm. Underdog makes a cash offer on all used buys, or store credit if you prefer (which is good for about 25% more). If you have an extra large quantity to bring in — say, more than a couple boxes/crates/tubs’ worth — please call first just to make sure we don’t have an in-store event going on that day or some other activity that may affect our ability to be able to process a large collection on the fly.

Underdog doesn't have a set amount it offers on used albums; it will depend entirely on what you have to offer. Quality of titles, and condition of both LPs & covers play a significant role.  We typically pay 40-60% of what we hope to earn in re-selling your collection. That sliding scale depends on how much work will have to be done to prepare the albums for sale (cleanliness of the albums and covers, for instance), as well as the speed with which we think the various titles will sell (taking into account popularity and demand for the types of artists and titles in your collection).

Underdog Records purchases almost exclusively vinyl LPs.  We don't deal heavily in 45s though we're always willing to take a look, and don't currently offer any 78s in the shop.  We do not buy CDs or anything video related (Blu-Ray, DVD, VHS, etc.).

When you bring your collection to Underdog, the process usually goes as follows: I'll go through your offering of albums, pulling out titles of greatest interest and a few other random titles to condition check. If condition is consistent on those, I use that as a guide to the assumed condition of the bulk of the rest of the collection, and usually try to put together an offer for your entire collection, not just a cherry pick offer. Depending on the familiarity of your albums (whether they’re titles I’m accustomed to seeing or whether there is more avant-garde/seldom seen titles), and quantity, this can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to an hour or so. Most purchases are done in less than half an hour but please allow for extra time on busier shop days (like Saturdays) or collection size.

Underdog is a full service record store and purchases across a multitude of genres and eras, focusing primarily on 60s -> modern day and genres including rock, soul/r&b, jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, metal, punk, blues, etc. Some common genres that we have to typically turn down include show tunes & musicals, big band, 12” singles, easy listening (Ferrante & Teicher, etc.), & classical. Underdog will purchase SOME classical LPs depending on condition and labels, but we are often overstocked and many go directly into our $1 bin or are donated.

As I like to tell everyone interested in selling their albums: err on the side of caution and bring us EVERYTHING. The albums that folks oftentimes think Underdog won't be interested in because they’re not household names might be the ones we'd be interested in the most. Don't assume something has to be familiar and/or popular to be worth buying. Underdog has a broad and diverse customer base and we're not looking for only common artists.

UNDERDOG ALSO PURCHASES YOUR OLD STEREO EQUIPMENT. Please be aware that all stereo equipment must be left with us for testing and an offer cannot be made on the spot. Turnaround time between drop off and receiving an offer is typically 1 business day …. i.e. if you dropped off a receiver with us on a Wednesday, we’d have you an offer the following day on Thursday. If you drop off equipment on a Saturday, an offer would not be made until early the following week.

Turntables, receivers/amplifiers, and speakers are of greatest interest. Speakers and receivers/amplifiers must be in complete working order to buy but I may be able to work something out if a turntable needs minor repair (belt replacement, cartridge replacement, some other minor tweaks). We typically do not buy turntables with busted or missing dust covers. All receivers/amplifiers must have a phono input. We also prefer receivers from the 70s with the ‘classic’ look — tuner dial, lights, etc. They simply sell better. We do purchase 80s/90s digital receivers but must sell them for cheaper and they MUST have a phono input for us to consider them. Speakers are our slowest movers so please call before bringing any speakers to the store to sell. We buy both bookshelf and floor-standing speakers but do not buy surround sound setups. We are primarily looking for 2-channel speakers (left/right).

Underdog does not purchase memorabilia at this time.  If you have vintage t-shirts or posters to sell, try contacting Still Grimey, a vintage shop only 3 doors up from us on Burke Street. While we don’t make a habit of buying music-related memorabilia, we’ll consider it on a case-by-case basis but please CALL FIRST with what you’re looking to sell before simply showing up at the shop with it.

Underdog's hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11 am - 7 pm.  However, please be aware that we stop used purchasing an hour before closing except for very small purchases.  There is FREE PARKING at Underdog Records so don't be scared off by our downtown address! We are located directly across the street from a large gravel parking lot, in which you can park for free, and there is extra parking behind our building if that lot is full. I am more than happy to come out and help you bring your albums in to facilitate your purchase. You can also pull up to the curb in front of the store to unload before parking your vehicle.

Have more than you can bring to the store or don't live near enough by? Give the store a call at 336-893-7293 and we can discuss a potential house call to look through your collection. Please be aware that I man the shop all open hours and cannot setup house calls on Sundays except in very special circumstances, so my only availability is Mondays, or else some weekday mornings if you live near enough to the shop to still be able to make it in time to open at normal 11 AM. However, being able to transport your albums to the shop for evaluation is much preferred.

As always, if you have any questions at all, give the shop a call (336-893-7293). Underdog looks forward to the privilege of going through your album collection.