Long In the Tooth

If my review was only about the records it would have been a 5 star review. I respect what they do, I get why people like this place (good selection, pricing), and I did like the store very much until my experience today. Part of what I have come to expect as a consumer is to treated with a modicum of respect when I’m buying something: Long in the Tooth records couldn’t manage that today. Sit back and enjoy another report of truly disappointing customer service, and for those weary of this, only a third of it is about improper record handling!
Other reviews mentioned getting reprimanded for record handling technique. Two people were working there when I came in. While I was looking through records, a guy with a beard came over, asked me to arrange my prospective purchases a certain way while browsing, moved the records to where he wanted them, and I kept hunting. Yeah, whatever, right? Well, the saga continues!
I was there with my mom and she asked the guy at the register if it would be possible to hear a record that had a scratch played to see if that impacted the sound before buying it. The bearded dude, who seemed to be in charge, said it was their policy not to play records for people in the store. It was just the two of us in the store, so we asked again about it, thinking maybe they would play it just be nice, since I was going to buy other records, there was a record already playing, etc. That did not go over well at all. We were told in varying degrees of hyperbole and dismissive annoyance why it was not possible for them to do that: if they had a different policy «50,00 people would try to use the turntable and they don’t have time for that,» that record players vary and you can’t possibly tell how the scratch would sound (huh??), and finally that they have a great return policy and would have been flexible if we didn’t want the record/​the quality was bad (given the vibes, I think a return would have been a long shot!). OKAY THEN. GOT IT. We were not exactly shrinking violets during this exchange, but nothing in our asking warranted the intensity of the response. We asked twice and in return got about 5 questions worth of jumbled answers.
Okay, this bearded dude has been dismissive and rude to my mom, which just seems funky to me, but I had a stack of records I liked and wanted to get them. I’m the greatest daughter. Standing at the counter, store still empty, I am told I can pick what I want «anytime now,» so I tally up in my head what I think it will be and hand the stack over. Get rung up, and I am told it will be about $ 30 more than I expected. I mention that I calculated it in my head, that the total seems high, and if so, maybe is that because tax is high? After a fabulous customer service performance before, bearded dude speeds into action again! He vigorously examines my pile of records, pricing it out as he goes, and gets back to my number! Great, I think and say aloud to everyone, we’re good to go then, time to hand over that card, get my records and leave. NOPE. Rather than let an opportunity for a defensive and yet also aggressive comment go by, bearded dude strikes again, pointing out helpfully that it was just a small mistake and heavily implying that I shouldn’t be so annoyed by it… as I am handing them a credit card to pay for these records. AND I’M OUT. No records for me! I say oh, blah to this, put the records back down. Not to be outdone, bearded dude grabs them back aggressively, slams them down on the counter and announces angrily and loudly that: my mom and I are jerks, we are bad people, and that he doesn’t want our business anyway. We were ticked from the start, he announces, and should get out!!! As fun as it would have been to engage this dude in lively conversation, aka some more crazy yelling, I TOOK MY MOM AND GOT OUT.
So Long in the Tooth, you don’t have to worry about my business. Which, frankly, really disappoints me. I liked your store, your records, and didn’t really care much about the environs, until they seemed to really care about me, and not in a friendly way.
P. S. In case anyone is wondering, no, my mom did not get that record. I have a copy of it at home and plan to let her borrow it.

Long In the Tooth is a killer music store all around!!!
Long story short, I have been going to this place for years. YEARS! And I have watched the gradual growth of vinyl from CD’s again, and never once have I ever not walked out of there wishing there was at least one more thing I could have bought!
They have always had a great selection or music in various formats. Always new and cool stuff. Always great recommendations and good stuff for fair prices as well. Just always a good experience all around!!!
They’ve also always had a great book selection as well which I love! I have found a bunch of out of print, hard to find reads there for fantastic prices!
I can’t really understand the reviews slagging the owners for being rude and whatnot because they have always been really nice to me. Maybe they just like me! They are nice, cool people who know what they are talking about and I’ve never seen otherwise.
Seriously though, after having made the trek to Princeton Record Exchange and being disappointed it just makes places like this better. I really do not think I found a single item there that Nick either doesn’t already have or can get for me.
My advice as your sage dear reader is as follows:
Go here
Browse
Grab a record and book
Go next door and grab some sushi
Settle in to start reading said book and mull over getting that one thing you put back
Finish meal and go buy it
Repeat next paycheck

I can’t believe I never wrote a review for this horrible place. It was one of my worst shopping experiences ever. As a DJ, when I first moved to Philly I immediately sought out the record stores and this was one of the first ones I went to. I was in there maybe 5 minutes browsing and happened to pick up a record that slipped out of my hand and dropped. One of the workers (a white guy with a beard, like that helps) immediately ran over to me SCREAMING saying that he saw me throw the record on the floor. He reenacted me «throwing» it with a lot of rage. Me and my friend stood there in disbelief as we explained that I just dropped the record and told him to chill. We were so shocked we were laughing, but that made the employee even angrier. He started saying vile stuff to my gay friend, basically making fun of him being gay, and telling me I don’t know what I’m doing and how to handle records (I’m a girl DJ so this isn’t entirely new). We stood there as he berated us for maybe another minute and then we just had to leave because it was entirely unbelievable and uncomfortable. The guy was yelling at us to get out when we started to leave still confused. So moral of this story is, if you’re black, a woman, or gay I’d stay away from this place entirely. If he didn’t go out of his way to also make fun of our appearances then I would’ve just assumed that he truly thought I dropped the record, but all he saw was a black woman and a gay man and immediately assumed «criminals». For a store in such a beautifully diverse city you’d think they’d be better at not letting their «racist» show. Their collection sucks anyway and I’ve told all my DJ friends to never go anywhere near there and I’d hope you’d do the same. Music is for everyone not just snobby white guys with beards.

Well… For classic rock vinyl, I was not impressed. They have a lot of stock… But… most of it is either in poor condition (and over priced) or in half-​decent condition and waaaay over priced. So far, this is my least favorite vinyl spot in Philly.

Probably the best used music store in the city. Great selection, and what a pleasure that he has great stock of both vinyl and CDs — all too rare these days. Always been very nice to me whenever I’ve gone in.

Yes, this is a good record store. The prices are always pretty reasonable and I’ve found my share of hidden gems here. They have huge rock and jazz sections if you’re looking to sort through those genres and he’ll have some rare stuff on the wall and in the window. You’re probably gonna find some pretty rad stuff for a small cost here so I definitely encourage you to go if you’re a record collector — casual or serious.
The reason for knocking a couple of stars off, though are these two things:
1. If you’re looking for something more niche, I never feel like this is the right place. Their world music is just in a «misc.» section (they have a lot of Latin though). I often look for French & Brazilian artists and that’s not really to be found easily here.
2. The owner has never been outright rude mean to me but I always get the feeling like I’m being immediately judged because I might not look like a «serious music person». I once came here to sell a bunch of CDs and he took one look at me and started dancing around the fact that they kinda sorta maybe bought used music as if he didn’t expect that I could possibly have brought him anything good to look at. He didn’t seem like he even wanted to look at what I had until I name dropped Leonard Cohen and Neil Young as artists in the stack. Another time, I asked if he had any Hawaiian albums and he sent me off to the «misc.» stack with no further help after giving me what felt like a look like I was asking for something uncool. The dude at Philadelphia Record Exchange engaged me in a great conversation on Hawaiian steel guitar albums without assuming what I may or may not know about music and treated me as a peer and helped me search through stacks of records he had just priced which is the sort of customer service that makes me loyal to a place.
Moral of the story: yeah, this place has a great selection, you probably won’t regret coming here, but it doesn’t feel very welcoming.

Okay let’s get one thing straight right off the bat, this is by far the best record store in Philly. Period. Janice and Nick and Ben are all stand up people. They buy new stock every single day and the have a wall of rarities this is drool worthy. They price things very fairly and the condition is in most instances spot on. They also pay WAY more for used wax than anyone else. I go to all the stores all the time and this one is the Rolls Royce of vinyl purveyors.

Stopped by here for Record Store Day, so much vinyl! I could spend hours in here, but I tried not to because I was limited on time and my friends were waiting for me.
It was a little bit claustrophobic, on top of it being probably more crowded than usual for record store day. My friends waited for me outside. The crowd here was really cool though, nobody was needlessly aggressive or pushy in our limited space.
For record store day, you just ask them if they have what you are looking for instead of searching the racks yourself. I got exactly what I wanted, so I’m happy!
Also there was an adorable puppy (okay maybe it was a big dog, but they’re all babies to me) behind the cashier counter. She is the sweetest thing was trying to climb over the counter to say hi to me. I died.

The selection was okay, but it’s no Ameba Records. I would say their jazz selection was worth 3.5 stars but most of the records were over priced. Whoever is there buyer needs to be more selective, lots of junk records and the decent records often had album covers that were trashed, even moldy. I could over look all that if it weren’t for their pretentious and rude manager. Guy was a total jerk.

This record store has the hands down absolute best store owner presently residing in the world. Ask him anything, he will answer. Need something, he will try to get it for you. Want to look at record for quality, yes you can do that too, never seen him say no.
This dude is hilarious, highly opinionated and talks more than pretty much anyone I ever met sans the random dude going on for hours about DC hardcore bands. You can talk about anything with him and he will chime in, topics close to his heart are The Phillies and concerts. You may need earplugs if you spend a few hours in the store.
In short, this dude rocks.
Now on to the store. They get a very eclectic selection of vinyl in constantly. They do get some quite rare pressings in and for the collector’s out there, this is a place that gets some nice jazz gems. In fact, I would say they get some of the rarer jazz records in store as any store you will come across.
Quality of used vinyl is all over the lot like most places and is priced correctly. Some pieces will be a little bit marked up, other records less than what you would expect to pay. I would say overall their prices are beyond fair.
They have a ton of used records. They also stock probably the best new vinyl selection in the city. Only Repo is in their class here and I think they beat them here.
I buy many records here and since I knew about the store I’ve been a loyal buyer.

I’ve been digging in Philly record stores since Third Street Jazz. I’ve seen ‘em come and go. This place seems good on first visit, but for the foot traffic they get, there really should be more of a turnover. Last time I visited they had the same stale stuff in the «recent arrivals» that were there 3 weeks previous. Prices are high, and like other reviewers said, employees think they’re a little too big for their britches. Great location, but there are many better options in the state.

One of the few remaining stalwarts for used vinyl in Philly. Distinguished by its reasonably good rate of influx of stock; very strong selection of Jazz, Rock, Soul; probably the best curated hip-​hop selection in the area. The only drawback is the variation in condition (G/​VG/​VG+) that’s not marked and not necessarily easy to discern.

Although Long in the Tooth does have a good selection of Jazz in the LP section, I highly recommend that you give your business to another record shop. The main reason is the bearded idiot at the register (I assume he’s the owner, all the other store employees seem to be really cool).
Let me back up a little. I am a serious audiophile and a record collector who spends $ 200 (at least!) on CDs and LPs monthly. They know me by name at A.K.A. and Repo, where I shop on weekly basis. I occasionally stop by Long In The Tooth since about 2005, and every visit I regret coming in (I am not exaggerating, every single visit).
First of all, this bearded dude at the front will bark at you and take away your bag. Okay, you may think that there is a reason for that. However let me draw a more clear picture — I’m a professional, in my mid forties, a repeat customer, who shops at the goddamn Jazz LP section! Are you serious, you want my bag? My bag (or a man purse, as some call it) is not even sized big enough for a record to fit in! Moron.
Next, the beard will keep coming over and show you in a very aggressive manner how you need to look through the records. He doesn’t want you to just flip through them, no! He demands that you take out several records and put them on a side (effectively blocking other customers from seeing what’s on that shelf) and only then look through them. His reason for that is «I don’t want you to bend the records». Well, if he took some time in school to learn physics he’d know that it is IMPOSSIBLE to warp a vinyl record by just slightly bending its edge like customers usually do when they flip through records on a shelf. And he’ll keep making annoying comments and coming over to make sure that you do it exactly his way.
And last (this is actually my fault for not checking and for trusting this idiot) — the beard sold me once an $ 80 record that I spotted on the wall behind the register. He claimed that it was the original pressing. I didn’t even bother to check, until I started importing my collection into Discogs several months later and discovered that it was NOT the original pressing. What a scumbag. If this doesn’t support my suggestion to take your business elsewhere, I don’t know what else does.
So, despite the good jazz LP collection, it’s a hands-​down awful service by the beard, hassle from the moment you step in. And he has such an annoying voice, you’ll wish you never heard him make a sound, which fits his D-​bag personality perfectly. There are other record stores in the city, where the owners will be happy to have you as a customer and let you shop without teaching you how to do it their way.

Big fan of this spot. I buy a lot of used vinyl and their selection is really good. Found a few things I’d been after for a while and a few things that I didn’t know about beforehand. The owner was super cool to me and talked awhile about records and such.
Pricing was on the high end, but I’m cheap in that department. The prices they were charging are probably on average with most of the areas shops. Ultimately, it’s a dope spot. Good selection, chill owner, and decent prices. I could’ve easily dropped a lot of money here and not felt bad about it. My bills kind of foiled that plan.

Owner came to our de facto squat & bought my destitute friend’s entire collection of metal CDs for pennies, saying things like «Wow, this is really rare» and «Awesome, this is worth a lot» out one corner of his mouth, and «Sorry man, I can only give you $X for this» out the other. This was a few years ago, so maybe the guy’s developed a soul since then. One star, don’t need you; other places with better names and better karma.

After our main stop at PAFA for the David Lynch art show, My friends and I thought to hit a record store to find some treasures far from home. firing up google the first one to pop up was this find establishment. ok, let’s go!
As soon as we walked in we knew this was our kind of place. Great selections whether you’re looking at records, CDs, or tapes. Used CDs start at $ 5, newer stuff is priced accordingly. all fair.
The atmosphere is very chill. Just music fans looking for whatever they desire. The employees are cool too. No pompous, elitist nonsense. Just a place for music fans.
I’ll always remember this place whenever i’m in Philly.

I was staying in Philly one of the two places I went to buy some cds. They have a very good selection of used cds and their record selection is very good too. They also have a limted selection of the latest releases as well as some cool collectibes and books. Two guys who were working were very nice and the store is big enough where it is comfortable to browse but just small enough where it is not overwhelming.
My Purchases
The A Bones
A Comp of Spanish Hard Rock and Psych
Buzzcock Peel Sessions EP
Also this place is close to Oscar’s Tavern which is a fun dive bar.

Just went in as a first time customer, and they were randomly closing half an hour early, though I had walked from Old City to check it out. I begged to browse just a little — they gave me less than five minutes to look before kicking me out, and when I asked them to hold LPs for me to look at when they reopened, the manager tried to pressure me to buy them then and there. From the second I entered, the staff was hostile and treated me as an inconvenience.
You know when a place just gives you negative vibes, even though it might have amazing stuff? And the staff gives a bad first impression, like they’re angry about something and taking it out on you? That was my experience today.

So I’ve read several reviews on here where people have complained about being given a hard time for mishandling records, but I’ve shopped here a bunch, and I’ve never had that experience, nor have I ever seen it happen. Far from it.
Maybe the people complaining have a point, but at the same time, maybe they’re inconsiderate, self-​important jerkoffs… so it’s kind of a toss up. I’m just not sure what to believe.

PROS
1. Large selection.
CONS
1. No listening center to see if you like the album, to check the condition, etc.
2. The staff can be rude if they don’t approve of how you look at the vinyl.
3. Lots of their vinyl looks to be in bad condition.
I was visiting from NYC, and I walked over from my hotel to check this store out. I’ve shopped for vinyl all over the U.S., and I’ve never been lectured by an employee before about how to handle vinyl, so I was surprised to be treated unkindly here. I’m sure their regulars find many great records here, but first time visitors should be aware that they may be treated poorly.