Record & Tape Exchange

Went here today and was not impressed with the selection at all. Most of the albums here were cheap junk. If you’re looking for Elvis and Beatles albums you might have fun here. I like hard rock/​metal and the selection was dismal. They had a heavy metal section it there were only 8 albums there. I sorted through rack after rack to find something worth buying and found one out of a few hundred LPs.

Cool little place that has a pretty good selection of vinyl as well as cd’s and reel to reel. Good prices and some knowledgable guys working. Will be back.

Super friendly and helpful staff plus awesome prices and selection. Great place to get records.

I’ve been coming to record and tape exchange since I was in high school and have since moved away but I came back to Fairfax to visit and was very pleased to see that this place was still open! The selection is still better than most record stores around these days and they still manage to keep the prices super reasonable. Great little record shop and super friendly staff. I’ll be stopping by here every time I visit.

After visiting the shop last evening, I realized that overall the store deserves better than three stars, but the music was so loud that I thought I was shopping in Abercrombie and Fitch. The young men manning the shop did turn down the music from ear-​bleeding level to slightly-​oozing-​blood-​from-​the-​ear level.
That aside the selection of records was outstanding but a little mixed at times. The Thompson Twins don’t belong in classical. The prices were great in some aspects but highly overpriced on some. I mean I love David Bowie as much as the next guy but 30 bucks for a sealed vinyl is crazy.
Well other than the ear piercing volume of heavy metal, the store is nice. Just bring ear plugs.

I trekked out to this place in hopes of putting my hands on some Queen LP’s, and was really disappointed to find that they didn’t have any at all. It was at this point that I started thumbing through other records, and realized that when it came to the mainstream bands they didn’t appear to have any of them either. We’re talking Metallica, Rush, Ozzy Osbourne, etc. Nothing!
What they did have was tons and tons of crap. Seemingly overpriced crap at that. I would say that out of every ten stacks of records I went through that there was maybe one gem. Prince’s Purple Rain was pretty much the best that I found.
For such a large selection, I really expected more. Not only that, but I got more help from other customers than I did from the staff. P. S. that help was in the fashion of the suggestion of a different store, or simply going on ebay. So even the customers that want to support this store don’t see much value in it.

This shop is a local gem. They had tones of used Records, CD’s, DVD’s and Blu-​ray movies. Everything is well organized which is helpful while you are sorting threw what they have. I always like to pop in and see what I can find. Staff is very friendly and super knowledgeable about music.

Great place – Reasonable prices, with plenty of bargains to be had, so if you can make it out here to Fairfax, it’s worth the trip! Good stuff for both someone who is starting their collection and the serious collector.
Really nice employees who are knowledgeable, too.

One of my favorite shops in NoVA. Even though I have 3,000 records and growing I always manage to walk out of here with at least one gem. The prices are very reasonable to boot. Do yourself a favor and hit up RTX next time you’re in FFX.

Love this place. I Want to give it five stars but they play their music way way too loud, and it is usually horrible screaming stuff so I can never bring my kid there unless she has ear protection. I almost need ear protection.
They have a very large dollar ($ 1) section with random vinyls some good, some not so good. But we can always find something to buy. They have a pretty good selection of everything. They also have used tapes and movies. It is fun just scouring the racks until you find something you want. DC record stores are usually pricey, so if you want a deal or more room to browse, check this place out.
P. s. there is a Trader Joe’s next door. Win win.

For rock vinyl especially from the 80s, this is the place to go. The absolute best $ 1 bins I have ever seen. Ive picked up so many awesome new wave and classic rock records here i lost count during just the second visit.
The new arrivals always seem to have something I’m looking for at a good price. If you’re looking for CDs this place has everything. As for the reviews of the people behind the counter being jerks, the reviewers must have been dreaming or visiting a different store. The staff has always been helpful, friendly and knowledgable.

I’m an old school music lover. That is, I prefer my music to come in a tangible medium vice digital download or online streaming. Therein lies the rub. As technology has progressed (not necessarily improved), finding music on vinyl or CD has become harder to find.
After a quick search on Unilocal,I found Record & Tape Exchange. Located in a strip mall off of Main St. in Fairfax, Record & Tape Exchange had the indie music store thing going on. The proprietors were obviously passionate about music. The sounds of jazz emanating from the store’s sound system were from a vinyl record with its warm analog stereo sound replete with familiar pops and hiss. Despite its name, the small store’s sales floor was dedicated almost equally to used vinyl and CDs. Sorry, no reel-​to-​reel, cassettes or, God forbid, 8-​tracks were to be found. However, true to its name, Record & Tape Exchange was definitely good with exchanging your used CDs and vinyl. The music selection covered most genres and was decent, but still limited. Prices were very inexpensive. I brought several CDs to trade-​in and got enough store credit to walk out with 5 used CDs of «new» music. Score!
Indie music stores, sadly, are a dying breed. Here’s hoping Record & Tape Exchange lasts a while longer to keep us lovers of tangible tunes happy.

A pretty good selection of vinyl records. Its organized by the condition, which if your just walking in gets a little confusing. Not that great a selection of CDs and kind of disorganized, they’re just stacked on top of each other. They put different color stickers on the albums. For instance, I bought one with a yellow sticker and it had a problem. When I returned it the guy said the sticker meant it had some defect. So you have to be careful. The prices seam reasonable. Busy shopping center but easy to get to. Parking is plentiful.

Good selection, though only a small corner of the store is dedicated to hip-​hop vinyl.
Even though, it’s your best choice in the VA suburbs of DC.

If you are into Soul, RnB classics please choose another place. I was really disappointed when I arrived here. Seems they focus mainly on rock and alternative. The selection was pretty poor otherwise. Also it seemed to be poorly organized. They really do cater to a particular audience and unfortunately I did not fit the bill.
Definitely will not be coming back, but best wishes to those who actually find what they’re in to.

When I want used CDs, I go to CD cellar. When I want records, I come here. Their 45/​7inch section is second to none and their full-​length section is filled with both used and brand new records alike. They don’t do orders, but if you ask them if any particular records come their way, they’ll put you on a list and call you whenever it comes in. They are sticklers for quality, but that’s good for the buyer. They’ve been feeding my music addiction for over a decade now!

I had never been in here before, so today was my first visit. Overall, I think the place has a good selection of used and new CDs, used DVDs, and a small but growing selection of Blu Ray discs. I saw a few books and a laserdisc section as well. They even have a small shelf of reel-​2-​reel tapes!
As far as their vinyl selection, I have a few complaints…
Very little of their selection is actually alphabetized, so you need to sort through at least three separate sections of music to be sure you’ve checked thru everything. I like to hang out and look at stacks of LPs, but having to go to the «recent additions,» new releases, bargain bins, and THEN the alphabetized section is sort of a drag — especially if time is limited.
The bargain bin section DOES have some great deals, like buy 2 get 1 free, and there are plenty of $ 3 and cheaper finds.
A sizable amount of the LPs has the sticker «slight surface noise» on it, which is a great warning to the consumer.
The guy running the shop today was nice, but he didn’t know how to spell «The Smiths!» I sorta laughed to myself when he asked for the American and British spellings. I said, «There is only ONE way to spell the Smiths,» and he responded, «Well, I have seen it spelled two different ways.» Sure, bud… whatever you say! That said, he was very friendly and the customer service was great. I had a concern about an LP I was purchasing and he played the track I was concerned about without hesitation (I saw a smudge/​scratch).
My only advice to this place would be better LP organization (the CDs/​DVDs/​Blu Rays are all neatly alphabetized).
Check it out. You may not LOVE the place, but it has a lot to offer and I will definitely go again.
UPDATE: Well, I have been coming here for well over a year now and have a very good feel for what the place is like on a week-​to-​week basis. To put it simply, there are WAY too many unplayable records in the racks. A record that is completely scratched beyond hell should not be in the $ 1 bin. It should be thrown away.
Stock moves very, very slowly — some albums have been in the racks for over a year… and the doubles? Is there really a need to put 3 or 4 copies of Traffic’s «Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory,» each as unplayable as the next?
The customer service is great, but they need to reimagine their vinyl stock. Even the most disciplined of crate diggers will be disappointed most days.

If you’re looking for Eric Clapton, Steely Dan, or bad 80’s college rock records this is the place for you. Compared with the many record stores I have been too, their selection has never really jumped out at me. Granted with the amount of times I have been there I have been able to pick up some good stuff but its a needle in the hay stack type of situation but always worth a look.
All in all the people who work they are generally nice. I’m not sure of the girls name, but the girl with blonde hair and glasses has always been nice and helpful to me, if the store gets something in that I might be interested in she always points me in the right direction.
My only gripe with the employees is there have been times where they have a stack of records behind the counter and I ask about them but they wont allow them to be looked at because they haven’t been priced yet. Common sense would suggest, if I was able to look at the records and saw some records of interest, the store would instantly have a prospective buyer.
I do think that they depend on Popsike/​Ebay too much which drives prices for certain records up, which as a consumer that doesn’t sit well with me but they can’t be blamed for that. They need to make a buck just as much as I want to save a buck.
*side gripe* Reviewer Chris S. knows nothing about records or record collecting, so please take his review with a grain of salt.
Record collecting is a war between collectors, other collectors, and store owners. Its about finding that diamond in the rough before somebody else does. Its about buying a $ 100 record for $ 5 right from under the stores noses. EVERY SINGLE collection is picked through by the employees before it hits the floor. Why do you think record collectors end up working at record stores? Its not for the great pay and health benefits.

I’ve been very happy with the albums here. I bought my husband a turntable for Christmas and was able to walk away with 7 or 8 really decent albums, 2 of which were mint. I wasn’t able to find everything I was looking for, but that’s the fun of owning a record player, isn’t it? The constant search…
Not sure what other people are expecting in Fairfax but this place is exactly what a used record store should be. Now go forth and listen to good music… purchased used at a store that cares enough to be honest with the quality of their albums.

In the grand scheme of record shops in Virginia, which is a fastest dying breed, right up there with baboons and sea otters, Record and Tape Exchange does a pretty good job of keeping up with the record-​phile masses, myself included.
I’ve never been to RTX and not been able to come away with some vinyl goodies. Selection is plentiful (especially in 45s– but the only bummer is that a majority of the 45 backstock is hidden well below waist-​high rack diving level), employees are basically walking musical encyclopedias and the dollar bin is every (musically-​discerning) cheapskate’s dream. If you’re into new vinyl/​re-​issues, I wouldn’t really recommend going to RTX since their main shtick is used vinyl.
When I go record shopping, I try not to have a whole laundry list of records to find– if you’ve ever gone record shopping, you know that stock is changing every minute so even if you can’t find something on one trip, it’s not to say that you won’t find it on the next. It’s best to keep an open mind! They’re bound to please at some point in time.
If you happen to find that holy grail a la vinyl that you’ve been looking for and want to preserve that bad boy, they do sell plastic sleeves there so be sure to ask for them at the register when you check out.