Found this hidden gem strolling down the street while visiting from Pasadena with gf. Great selections of cds, dvds, boardgames, comics, vinyl and more. This place lowkey rivals Amoeba in Hollywood. Would definitely come back when in town again. Service was friendly, chill and funny. Good peeps.. read more

Okay so first of all why did all your war gaming go to Atascadero, super inconvenient there has to be people willing to go to SLO for this. Next that place needs fans or air conditioning it is always too hot in there I always leave with a sweat on my back Your comic selection is mostly only DC and Marvel and I wish it was better organized by genre so I could get things I want in horror or Sci-fi. Your board game selection, TTRPG's, and miniatures are always good and I enjoying growing these sections for something new. I have also in the past gone for movies and I picked up a few I have wanted to watch for years and it felt better than going through Amazon for it. Lastly your staff was really pissed one time I was in there about some boxes that came in and it made me really uncomfortable, please ask them to keep it professional mostly in front of paying clients. read more

Sketchy history with the owner. The application to work here is uneccessarily difficult (asking to do complicated math questions without a calculator) and full of weirdly personal questions. People seem snooty as hell. They have a decent CD and comic collection but the records are severely lacking. read more

Awesome place, very friendly people work here! Great value on movies and collectibles! read more

We visited Cheap Thrills on a vacation to SLO and purchased a used Wii game. When we used it at home their was a "disk reading error". I worked with Rico to figure out a solution. We mailed the error reading copy of the game back and Rico and team mailed us a functional copy. We really appreciate the team coming up with a reasonable solution and if we ever return to SLO will be sure to revisit the shop. Thank you! read more

Wow! Blast from the past! Cheap Thrills used to have a lot of stores along the central coast. But as the demise of vinyl occurred, they vaporized into memory, at least until I found this one if SLO! Whether you want restored turntables, receivers, records, picture discs, collectables to include Rock, Jazz, Metal, Rap, R&B, fantasy (Sword & sorcery) role-playing games, etc., this is your one stop. Action figures, posters & misc. music, as well as 1950's to modern theme relevant art. Make sure you allocate time to look around, this story is a decent size, with plenty to look at that will no doubt conjure quite a few memories of the past. read more

Cheap Thrills - Have missed this place when it had local stores, but the SLO venue is bomb! - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

See all

I use to come here back when I lived in San Luis Obispo. They rented and sold video games & systems. I wanted to update my review because I forgot some points. 1st off the staff is not very knowledgeable this mostly because they are too cheap to hire people who have experience. I have also on more than one occasion been sold a burned Aka bootlegged CD as an original which they re-wrapped in a CD case passed off to me as new. Also, while I cannot prove it, it is been speculated by many people that when the sub caught fire, it was due to the owner, trying to claim insurance for a failing. They always claimed that they were "tested" to make sure they worked, well you can probably guess the Original PlayStation (1st Gen) that I bought which was sold to me by Richard Ferris (owner) didn't work. He then proceeded to blame and accuse me by saying they didn't sell PlayStation's with the laser pointer a certain way as on this model so I challenged him to look at his other stock and he said if they had the same laser set up as mine he would give it to me for free. Turns out it did have the same set up and he did not follow through on his promise. I had in the past prior to this bought hundreds items and had spent literally thousands of dollars in rental fees I did enjoy buying music and renting games there but because of that one incident I would never return. Also the worst thing I ever went through here though was I had my credit card skimmed by one of the employees. read more

A great store right in the middle of town. An amazing Record, DVD & CD store with tons of these in categories. Also, tons of collectibles. The store is like a maze and goes on forever. If you are looking for that rare movie or CD, this is the place. Very friendly and helpful staff too. Right on the beautiful Central Coast! Come and take a look and you won't be disappointed! A true treasure of a store! Brian & Joyce Granville - SF Bay Area read more

Hours are incorrectly listed, they open at 1130. If you wanna buy something here, go right ahead. If you want to sell anything, the prices they offer are actually insulting. A nickel to a dime per DVD, and a whole quarter if they think it's worth it. read more

Zero Expertise, Zero Care, Zero Courtesy, Zero Value, Junky overpriced used electronics selection, They Change top dollar for your bottom dollar and give you bottom dollar for top dollar goods, just plain lazy and greedy. read more

This place was fun to browse around. You definitely will find things that you missed purchasing back in the day. They have a ton of used CD's and vinyl. They also have old video game systems. Loved coming in here to browse and kill some time as I took a journey down memory lane. I'll leave out the one star for some of the over pricing of certain toys and old comic books. They're definitely over pricing certain things that are not worth what they say they are. But overall, this place is a pretty cool store. read more

Cheap Thrills - Outside entrance - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

Love this record store! Great vibe, nice staff, good selection, really enjoyed perusing the used CDs and found several excellent ones!

Great store with lots of new and used vinyl and CDs. Also a great place to find audio equipment and music related books.

What a great source for music. Staff was friendly and super helpful. Lots to choose from. read more

I flippin love this place! The staff knows what they are talking about and are very very kind. I have so much fun in the store and always end up buying something. Even if they don't have it in store they offer to help you find it elsewhere. Amazing. If you pay with a card you need a id just to make-sure it's yours. Thats nice for fraud especially because its downtown. They have the best cd selection and tons of vinyls,posters,songbooks and equipment. You can find amazing deals here and some amazing stuff. With ease and fun thanks to the staff. I also have nice conversations with the staff. read more

Love this place, always great to come in and check out the comics and CDs, customer service is always great, wide selection, great prices as well. read more

Worst customer service of my life! This is suppose to be a fun store music, games, ect... These guys are rude unfriendly and make u feel unworthy! Go down a few blocks to boo boo's grat experience and service! read more

Thought I'd throw this nostalgic Slo store, that I grew up frequenting, a bone. I was in the market for a specific item with cash in hand. Their employees might kick ass playing Fortnite in their parents basement, eating Totino's Pizza Rolls or LARPing at Santa Rosa Park, but they suck at actual human interaction during customer service interactions. What is more baffling is how a business that resells overpriced obsolete crap can survive these challenging times! Like the old saying, "money talks, bull**** walks"! Got what I needed on Reverb! read more

We almost missed Cheap Thrills on our weekend in SLO, but we came across it on our way to another vintage shop. It's a treasure! Friendly, helpful employees, and really fun merchandise, along with the main attraction - great music at very reasonable prices. We'll be back to San Luis Obispo, and Cheap Thrills will be at the top of our "must return to" stores. read more

Cheap Thrills is one of those places that has so much "stuff" that it can be a bit overwhelming, so it's kind of a good/bad thing. I visited Cheap Thrills to check out their used vinyl selection - again, almost overwhelming. Tons of records, lots of crap, nothing that I had to have :( On a more serious note, there is a small (half-step) at the top of the back staircase that is umarked and dangerous. I saw three people stumble over it while I was there and told a fourth person to "watch their step" before they stumbled too. PLEASE put up signs and mark the carpet - it is a serious hazard! Anyhow, Cheap Thrills is okay, but I like the other "more manageable" record shop in town better. 3.33 stars (get it - record humor 33 1/3 rpm's on an LP) read more

Would not let me return a used 2-CD set that wouldn't play on my home stereo. The case has a sticker right on it that says it was guaranteed, but they wouldn't even let me exchange it. I tried to support a local business, but I guess I'll go online next time. read more

We inquired about some record frame holders and the store didnt have any left other then what was on display and they sold it to us no hesitation. Definitely a gem of a store that you could find some hard to find items in. read more

Miserable. Didn't even manage to browse. Manager was a complete a-hole. Will never return.

I'd say this is more or a CD place , vinyl is upstairs even tho they have a ton it's a chore to find things up there and hardly anyone checks up you , prices are meh , they do have decent turntables but lacking in receivers... read more

Cheap Thrills - Music & DVDs Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

I love a good record store to kill time and dig through, but since my lady was with me I had to be a little quicker than usual. Organization, and thinning out, are two things this place needs badly. There's a lot of 'dead stock' they could just donate for the write off and make alphabetizing much easier. I did find some records and DVD's I wanted, and I'd love to go back with an afternoon to kill. Great place, good fun, just needs a little TLC from their years of buying! I'll be back! read more

great store great eat buys and finds. everyone is really nice especially the employe named Jody. went out of his way to help me. Liz Simpson

Their stock is extensive if somewhat prone to irrational exuberance regarding price points. Alas, their legendarily irascible, employee-abusing, lease-corroding proprietors render the quality of their offerings moot, at least for this conscientious shopper. edit: I'm not a former employee, just a local who's known many former employees over the years, dating back to the old location above Korb's Trading Post. And thank you, crazy owner, for validating my statement. =) read more

I'm not one to write bad review, but my experience here warrants it. They are condescending and rude - and I am exactly sure why, you work you work at a comic store(?) It's a shame because I usually love to try to shop at small business before I go to a Walmart or buy off of amazon: but when I'm treated like dirt I stop wanting to try. At least at Walmart I'm treated like a human being. Do not ever shop here if you can; you can probably find whatever you need at Walmart and Amazon - for a better price. DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE YOUR BUSINESS. read more

I'm still impressed by this store. They have much more than I remember from my previous visit. Old school games like Gameboy, all the various nintendo, PS somethings, comic books, audiobooks. Everything is super well-organized; which is quite a feat with the thousands of items they have. Nice lighting too. Great staff Believe it or not I didn't buy anything this time. Yup my limited budget stopped me from looking too carefully least I see something I wanted and probably didn't need. read more

The Good: This place has everything. The first thing you see walking in is a giant selection of cds, action figures and video games. Go upstairs to a large selection of vinyl or go into the room left of the entrance and check out the huge VHS, DVDs, books, cards and comics. Among these are the accessories that go with all of the above. All in all it's a store for most nerds and collectors. The Bad: Weird vibes from staff. A little unorganized. The record selection is usually not good. It is almost like a room of thrift store vinyl. Lots of Herb Albert and Dan Fogelberg :/. But in those rare occasions (you have to get there when the new stock comes in) the good records come in. Everything is a little more pricey than used items should be. The cheapest records are 1.98. The cheapest VHS are 2.98. The only real value are probably used cds which is usually a media I don't buy. read more

It's like a blast from the past of the 70's while the staff is informative and friendly the eniviroment is dingy, dirty and dark.Like I said A solid shot from the 70's with old band posters and yellow paper price tags plastered just about everywhere. The collection of music is great if your willing to dig through the old collection. Like someone said before they have a lot of stuff people already have had and ripped to the computer. I asked them if they had a cd in stock and all they said is that they could go look. It's the year 2011 what kind of bussiness doesn't use a Computer Inventory? Aside from the gripes it's a friendly store and friendly staff. read more

I came here to get some used vinyl records for my collection. Upon entry I was asked to give them my bag from my previous purchase, which I didn't like as they were treating me like a criminal. Once I got to the selection, I had to sort through mountains of garbage records to find anything interesting. It was fun to look around, but it was frustrating that the selection was so poor in quality despite the large quantity of records. I left with a Pat Metheny record for $7, happy with the price but unlikely to return as they didn't have much else that caught my eye. read more

I used to live across the street in the Red House (in fact I am THE reason the Red House is around, ask anyone there if they know every story of the pictures in the closet or what happened in the flood of 95.) blowing half my financial aid and later my paycheck on musical delights across the street was a religion for the Red House. We would pour over the stacks for CASH we didnt have or Pat would drool and eventually give in and buy the lighted Eddie head Iron Maiden box set. It lost a bit of charm in the move to the old goodwill and then back, but this is an institution and a reason why wherehouse went out of business. read more

Great selection of vinyl. Found some doozies here all for a decent price. Cool place with LOTS to check out.

When you can find both the single LP for "American Jesus" by Bad Religion and the one-shot Elseworld "Batman: Houdini" in the same store, you know you are somewhere magical. The comic book selection is ridiculously good, as is their vinyl selection. The games are overpriced like crazy, but the real draw of the store is its great selection of indie comic books and records. A great, great shop. read more

Garbage. Literally wanted to sell my xboxone s and the old men there said it was only worth 50 with the box.... then tried to sell a the chromatica my lady Gaga which they were selling for 30 and only offered me 3 dollars for it. Everything in there is expensive. It get small businesses need to raise price for profit but this is overboard read more

Legit new and used record's , cd's and other stuff. They have a great selection for a small town. They have a solid web site for searching out that hard to find disc. I found an Art Pepper CD I had been seeking for a long time. If you like browsing this is a great spot. So check it out Daddy-O! read more

Pros: 1) A ton of new and used games/cds/records/tapes/VHS/DVDs/random sound systems/old school consoles. 2) Comic books, board/card games, model-making supplies. 3) Warhammer! 4) Staff is surprisingly accommodating compared to other similar shops. Cons: 1) Everyone else knows about this place too, so occasionally the rare item you're looking for has already been snagged. read more

Awesome buy one get one free DVDs. Awesome selection of movies, games, game consoles, comics and music.. very organized and staff is friendly.. totally coming back! read more

Boy, is it hot in the summer there. Oddly enough I saw a sticker along the lines "friends don't let friends store vinyl in their car". Felt about the same here when I went, one summer evening. Fans moving stagnant air through the place don't cut it. One is rewarded with a huge stock and supply of individually graded and sealed records across a wide range. I don't like that all the used stock is sealed, I don't take anyone's word for it but I understand some may not want Joe Public handling the merchandise to look at it then put it back. This is made all the more questionable when a number of the prices are high, but then again I found a ton of records I hadn't seen anywhere else and they were in fact in good shape. If you only have a free hour, you will find yourself overwhelmed. How they can keep so much merchandise must be a bit daunting. Maybe if they priced stuff a bit more reasonably they'd move a lot more, but who am I to judge? Four stars cause of the huge selection, but not five because of pricing and HVAC. read more