Sell Your Albums to Underdog Records

[Effective August 15th, 2023 -- We are taking a break from the purchasing of used STEREO EQUIPMENT.  (Normal buying practices remain in place for purchasing used vinyl.)  Please do not bring in your stereo equipment to sell at this time.  We have a large inventory of stereo equipment at the moment for the amount of space we devote to it and need to move some pieces before we continue to acquire new inventory.  To clarify: we ARE still purchasing used albums at this time, just not stereo equipment.]

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 than cash). 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 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 40-55% 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).  Please understand that the most important factor in our offers is the condition of the album itself.  In many instances, we simply have to decline a collection if the condition is not up to our standards for re-sell. 

Underdog Records purchases almost exclusively vinyl LPs.  We recently took used 45s off our sales floor due to lack of sales and needing the space for higher priority product, 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. 

We sometimes have folks tell us on the phone: "We'll just bring what we know is popular; some of this I have no idea what it is."  Wrong.  Sometimes the artists you don't recognize are the most desirable titles in your collection. 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.  (On the flip side of that, don't think that just because it was popular that it is valuable -- Elvis Presley, for instance, sold millions of albums and they are, for the most part, not particularly rare or valuable).  

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Underdog Records will consider used memorabilia on a case-by-case situation.  However, that is by no means our bread & butter so please have patience with our valuation process on any memorabilia you wish to sell, and PLEASE call the store first before bringing something in.  We do NOT buy Funko Pops, comics, or trading cards.  We would only be interested in things such as vintage MUSIC-RELATED t-shirts, posters, show flyers, signed memorabilia, and the like.  Again, please CALL before bringing anything of this nature to the store for potential selling.

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Underdog's hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11 am - 7 pm.  However, please be aware that we stop used purchasing an hour before closing (6 pm) 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 Tuesdays during the spring/summer), 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.