The vast majority of their records are significantly more expensive than ebay, discogs, and just about any other store in LA. The bins are filled with undesirable albums (priced at $10-$20 each) that look like they've been sitting in the store for ages. Tons of pop vocal, country, folk, and soundtrack titles that nobody really wants but can easily be found for $1-$3 anywhere else. Ironically, Record Surplus advertises itself as "the last record store", which couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, there's at least 50 other record stores in the LA area. Whoever is running this place might want to visit some of those stores to learn a thing or two. If you have a lot of money to spend on overpriced easy listening albums or broadway musicals, then this is the place for you. read more

I'm writing this review to remind me not to come back. I've been coming here for what feels like 20+ years, even back when they were on Pico. I used to find great stuff constantly with great prices. But over the years the quality has dwindled. There's no new arrivals section, so you have to dig through each section only to see the same picked through records that have been here for years. Because of Covid they removed their listening stations which was really the only reason to come before. The "rare" section and the walls have some interesting, accurately priced (ie expensive) records but the rest is pretty average or below. read more

Great location, ample parking, friendly staff, and a variety of vintage/collectible vinyls at reasonable prices. I didnt have any issues rummaging through the aisles, even when it was busy. Will definitely come back if im in the area! read more

I no longer work on the west side, but I already miss Record Surplus. It's probably the second-most diverse record store in the area behind Amoeba, but much more comfortably sized without the parking hassle and busy Hollywood streets. You'll find selections from all genres and eras. The CD section is small but has some real gems, and I've unexpectedly found some rare singles and EP's thumbing through them. Vinyl selection is larger and also occasionally has some hidden gems like signed records. Their trade-in program used to be better - they pretty much only accept classic rock trade-ins now - but that's a minor knock on a very wholesome record store experience that's one of the last of its kind. Staff is great. On my last visit, some teenage girls wandered in maskless (Where have they been the last two years?), and they were offered free masks. read more

I love this place - I have been coming for years and they are always helpful and I find that they update their selections pretty regularly.

It's almost refreshing in this age to encounter a good old fashioned record store so populated by old school grumpies (I say, almost because it wears thin very quickly, especially when you try to engage with such people and are met with borderline hostility for attempting to do so). As a counterbalance to the overt malcontents there is the tall gangly guy who is overly solicitous, and of course turns out to be completely ineffectual and unhelpful along with a very, very nice owner (but one has to question how nice he really is if he is exclusively hiring malcontents, covert, and otherwise). I give this one star because you will find worthwhile stuff in here (although the store is far too large for what it contains - you could fit the store into some thing 1/5 the size and have a pretty decent small record shop and far less rude employees to populate it). Zero bargains to be had, but they do have good curatorial skills, and they do get rare items now and then. read more

Record Surplus - Music & DVDs Near Me - Los Angeles, California

What a great store. They truly have it all. A great place for vinyl on the West Side. I wish I was wealthy so I could come here more often. Likewise, thank you guys for helping me secure the My Little Pony vinyl this past Record Store Day for my Daughter. Yeah, I am sick of it, but she loves it and will no doubt be a loyal customer in 2028 when she can afford her own vinyl. read more

My car only has a CD player so I come here every other week to buy cds. Their selection is Updated frequently and I find something special every time I come here . Very reasonably priced and friendly staff . I love shopping here !! read more

Best record shop in the WLA area. All of the staff is very friendly including who I believe are the owners, a married couple. Their selection is vast -- old and used to new, multiple genres, etc. They have their own section dedicated to more rare, sought after stuff up front, too. 45s, discount section...they even have blu-rays for cheap. I also get 12" plastic outer sleeves here. 25 for $5. read more

I like this place! They don't specialize in the hard-to-find, but they have plenty of hard-to-find vinyl in this store. The clearance section that was once on the second floor of their Pico Blvd. location is now directly to your right when you enter the store, and you may be amazed and what you find there. I'm still shaking my head that I found and bought Stan Kenton's "West Side Story" album in good condition in the clearance section! Also the usual suspects of rock, r&b, jazz, classical, Gospel, childrens, comedy, jazz, etc., etc., etc. Listening stations. Also DVDs and CDs, but they're not crowding out the vinyl with CDs -- at least not yet. As it gets harder to find the quality albums that you want as the years go on, a store like Record Surplus is good for a collector to visit many times. Comparing the square footage of this location to the old Pico Blvd. location, the number of albums for sale has definitely gone down, likely due to the shrinking amount of product available. So visit and buy while you can. read more

My friend Drew is a film and music writer in LA. He gets to do cool stuff like write a column for the AV Club (Pop Shop) where he brings famous actors, comedians, and musicians to a record store in LA and go shopping for their favorite finds then takes a picture of him with them. My inner dork/rockstar secretly wanted to do the same thing with Drew so that I could pretend like I'm just one of the chosen few, one of the ones who Made It and am now shopping all gang busters for an AV column write up like the rest of the clan. Drew and I have done cool hipster stuff together over the years like watching rad bands until the wee mornings during SXSW, seeing bands at Coachella and Lolla along with local acts. But never perused a record store, shopping like one of his subjects. So recently we were eating fish sandwiches at Reel Inn in Malibu and I casually brought up the idea of maybe we drive to Record Surplus in neighboring Santa Monica to shop for albums. Drew wasn't catching on to my why. "Huh? You don't want to go hang on the beach?" he asked, pointing to the sparking waters of the Pacific Ocean over our shoulders. "No" I said firmly, trying not to sound too eager beaver. "Let's drive far away from the majestic waters of Malibu and go browsing through dusty vinyls in a stuffy warehouse with 40-50 something year old mostly men". "Okay," Drew conceded. He had never heard of Record Surplus. But as Yelp points out Record Surplus is popular all right. "40-somethings think this is nifty" the app explains. Which means people who grew up listening to vinyl and who know vinyl frequent here. Just like one of the dudes browsing the opposite side of the first selection of records we approached. "Wow Marianne Faithful cut a vinyl?" I said sarcastically, pulling out an untouched sleeve. "She's really great live" a man across from us immediately said defensively. "Her backing band is really outstanding. A must see". Me: Instantly schooled. I had no idea. But wait, there's more! So much more. Another steal? A rare GG Allin gem. A copy of the soundtrack to Stayin' Alive signed by John Travola with the year '1983' inscribed under his name (for only $12). Zombie movie soundtracks on vinyl. My find: the vinyl soundtrack to the early Cameron Crowe film The Wild Life, (never before released on CD or digital) for only $4!! What a deal for a hard to find record. This is honestly why you want to come to Record Surplus. Because this is the place that isn't picked over, where you can find fresh inventory and you never know what you are going to stumble upon and the cost of the vinyl means you can afford to buy it in stacks. It's clear that whoever is running this ship knows what they are doing. It's true they don't have the massive inventory of Amoeba but who cares? Your vinyl selections have been pared down to what matters here. And they have turn table listening stations which I don't think Amoeba has. Other cool things? CD's and DVD's. They also participate in Record Store Day every spring AND they host free live shows so keep in touch with their calendar. If I lived near here I would check back with this spot all the time. read more

Record Surplus - Music & DVDs Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Came here for record store day to get my hands on Taylor Swift's exclusive release. The line was so long it wrapped around the block, but fortunately we secured the record just before they ran out, they had only 20 in stock. The staff was super awesome and they had a really smooth system for record store day. They even handed out water bottles and cookies to the line!! What other store treats their guests this well?? They also informed the line when certain albums sold out, that way you wouldn't have to keep waiting for nothing. I will be back for next year's record store day! read more

We had day plans for LA on a Saturday and scoped this place beforehand- It didn't disappoint! We came home with several LP's and every single one was in excellent condition- We'll definitely be back next time we're in LA! read more

We stumbled upon this gem while driving down Santa Monica Blvd on the way to the beach. Small parking lot in the back, but watch where you park as all spaces are marked for specific stores. Huge record store! All genres! All price points. They have listening stations too in case you are not sure you want to buy something. The worker, or maybe he was the owner, is very unfriendly and negative. Just expecting you to do something wrong. Maybe this comes from past experience, who knows. But its not a good vibe. Even at checkout, while paying for our purchases, weirdly unfriendly. Yikes! Keep in mind, like any other old vinyl store, very musty in there, so beware. If you get allergic easily, this may not be the spot for you! But for quantity and range of inventory - right on! read more

This is the best record store in LA. Not great for new releases, but great for just about everything else. Their selection of used vinyl is HUGE and always changing. If you like jazz (vocal or instrumental), rock, country, classical, and/or R&B music then you're bound to find something interesting to listen to. Their prices are cheap too. I'd say on average I pay about $4 per record. Pretty amazing considering that place like Amoeba charge something like $15 + per record. They have a smaller CD section where, on occasion, I've found some very cool stuff. For example, I scored James Brown's 4-CD "Star Time" collection for $25 a few weeks ago. Pretty good deal considering this collection is selling for $49.85 on Amazon. They also have considerably cheaper CDs that range from $1 to about $10 and used DVDs and video games are also available. Finally, their staff is very friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. I've never asked them a question that they couldn't answer. Keep LA weird - shop at Record Surplus! read more

See all

Very cute store with a wide selection of records. Wasn't too busy and the staff was super helpful

I went in on a quiet Sunday morning looking for a late Xmas present for a close friend of mine. She had just gotten a portable record player and had been wanting to get back into producing art. I just imagined a great atmosphere to do art would be with a room flooded with the sound of jazz. One problem... Don't know much about the below-the-surface culture of jazz. _Atmosphere: Very quiet and relaxing. Everyone there (staff and other customers) seems so approachable and willing to help one another. _Service: The staff is amazing. I'll have to get the gentleman's name (tall and has glasses :P) but I explained to him that I wanted to discover new jazz musician like that of Duke Ellington and he just grabbed a whole bunch of different records and let me check em out at the listening station. There's a 5 min limit but it wasn't busy so I spent prob like 23 min there. Amazing. _Parking: There's plenty street parking and other neighboring residential streets hat you can park on. Definitely coming back to this place! read more

Huge selection. The people who work here are truly nice, good people. I appreciate their Covid precautions. Bru is a great guy.

All record store stores should get 5 stars, independent and unlike the big chains of yesterday are't limited to just the top selling titles of the specific categories of the times. read more

I really love it here. You can go to Amoeba for the selection, but these guys have everything I like. As everyone says, the vibe here is laid back and the staff are quite knowledgeable. Mostly wanted to point out that when I needed a new turntable (had a cheap USB one) they sold me a Music Hall MMF 2.2 at a big discount to online or other places around town. I will be back! read more

I live nearby to record surplus and I can say it's an amazing store. I've been there several times for different reasons, sometimes to buy CDs for myself, sometimes to buy records for record aficionados. Today I went to buy some records for a good friend of mine who is a composer. I walked in and they had stacks and stacks of really high quality used vinyls only movie music. I combed through it for about 20 to 30 minutes, and selected five records. They also have three listening stations to which you can listen to any opened records that they have in their collection. There were two stations open. I didn't actually listen to any this time because I was just going by titles. I selected five great movies, three of which you probably know: Serpico, Star Trek, and James Bond's greatest themes. My most exciting find was a copy of luc besson's Big Blue soundtrack. This was only four dollars!! I got to the register and the guy combed through the prices of the records, charged me less and no tax!! Awesome. read more

Great vibe here, chill employees, tons of records, a modest collection of used CDs for awesome prices ($6-7 for most)... Plenty of headphone stations for prelistening. I dig this place! Will be back often. read more

Record Surplus - Bag o' CDs - Music & DVDs Near Me - Los Angeles, California

First of all their selection is very baseline, with nothing really special that you wouldn't be able to get anywhere else. Secondly they're charging upwards of $30-$40 for records you can easily get for $20-25 anywhere else. The prices just feel insulting and it reflects a lack of interest in music in favor of scrounging for every dollar they can get. That being said, I did find a couple records that were decently priced (still higher than other stores), so if you aren't REALLY into vinyl and more of a casual consumer, you'll probably enjoy this place. It's an okay last resort. read more

It's amazing that there are stores that sell records at all these days, much less stores that sell MOSTLY records. This one is one of the latter, and one of the better! They have all KINDS of stuff, mostly older, but they can order in anything new that your heart desires as well. They have a cd section and a DVD section as well, but you're really here for the vinyl. I had a lot of fun digging through their soundtracks section... amazing.. loved it. They've got a little bit of everything you desire, listening stations and helpful employees! I don't even own a record player anymore (was buying a present for my brother) and I still want to come back here, for the fun of sifting through their selection all day... read more

I guess I like to think I know what I'm talking about since I grew up in the Mecca of independent record stores across east London and he UK midlands during the 80s to 2000. With every visit I'm reminded of why I haven't been here for six months, The old Phil Donahue/Steve Martin/ Engelbert Humperdinck has a terrible attitude like your typical pretentious hipster record snob. If you want to be treated like a peasant and be told not to touch the slipmats while being watched almost like the hurry up and buy scene from don't be a menace, knock yourself out. It takes a particular type of brilliance to sacrifice a loyal customer who has spent possibly hundreds of dollars on your donated record inventory for a don't touch the measly technics turntable which you put out for people to listen on, that is pure business genius. Smfh. Back to the record parlor in Hollywood read more

it was just alright. I go to lots of record stores in LA, amoeba (like everyone) atomic, headline, the stupid record parlour, burger (one of the best), touch, radiation, descontrol... Okay anyway my focus is on hard to find new wave and goth and punk and shoegaze. That being said this place had some cool souxie singles but nothing I haven't seen it already don't have. Their prices are up and down and unless you're looking for dollar bin type stuff or classic rock idk this place doesn't have much. Staff was whatever they didn't really bug us read more

Randomly stumbled upon this gem of a store. With Amoeba Records gone, I was so elated to see my new record shop--with vinyls organized into MANY categories & of course cross generational records. They carried all records I had in mind--from Aphex Twin to Drake to Lou Reed ones. Amazing shop :-) read more

Selling CD's DVD's to them is a waste of time offer very little and sell for at least 5x more. Any excuse will due for not buying. What does one do who has collected them for a long time and now needs to thin out collection Maybe burn them read more

Snotty and rude on the phone, WORSE in person. I wont' be back.

One of my favorite record stores, I always leave with a handful of vinyls. Very helpful & friendly staff. I love love love this record store!! read more

Record Surplus is a family owned spot with an incredible, well priced selection, the kindest and most helpful staff and such a warm, personal feeling when you're inside. I've lived in LA 15 years and have visited every store in the city, and this is my favorite for all of those reasons. Owned by Neil and Cheryl, who purchased it from its original owners, they run the store with thoughtfulness, care and appreciation for their customers. A wide selection of music is always playing in the store (vinyl only), there are performances in the store and there are often mini posters or postcards as giveaways. Highest recommendation possible - do not miss an opportunity to spend some quality time at Record Surplus. read more

I first discovered Record Surplus in the 2007 Judd Apatow film, Knocked Up, starring Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl. Do you remember that scene when Seth Rogen is talking to Paul Rudd about his business venture, a website that documents every scene of nudity for every female actress, and Paul Rudd says, "Oh yeah, like Mr. Skin," and Seth Rogen is super disappointed that his million dollar idea was already taken, and they're in this super sweet two story record store? THIS IS THAT RECORD STORE. After a grueling internet search, I discovered that they had moved, and the store in the film is actually the old location. After tracking down the name, and new location, I decided to pay a visit. I want to make this clear, before I go any further, that Record Surplus is my favorite record store in LA. Yes, of course Amoeba is fantastic and overwhelmingly cool and it's a pop culture mecca, but there's a certain charm and warmness to Record Surplus. Quaint is the word. The store is smaller in size, one large open space but it's all about quality, not quantity here. And the quality they have is pretty darn dense! I think the biggest reason I felt compelled to leave a review was honestly, the fair prices. Everything is fairly priced in this store. People need to know the kind of deals they're getting here. From new records, CDs, Blu Rays, DVDs, and even Disney VHS tapes, everything is priced fair. They have a sale section located directly to the right of the entrance walking in, and their discounted selection alone (Movies are 92 cents, records are 92 cents, CDs are .92, etc.) is better than most record stores. On top of everything else, the staff is super friendly and cool. You don't even get sweaty like you usually do when you deal with the Amoeba staff. Do yourself a favor, and stop by. Buy something. It's worth it. It's record stores like these that keep music truly alive. read more

The selection is absolutely huge. You might have to really dig to find the good stuff but it's there and you can't beat the prices. I picked up five for $30 and a couple of them never left the wrapper. There's no record store like this where I was living before. Seriously a record store full of used vynal, CD's. I can't remember if I saw any cassettes but I am sure they are in there somewhere, used movies also. Even if you are not a music junkie the place is worth seeing, if for nothing else, the table full of turntables for listening to what you want to buy. Old school turn tables. read more

Record Surplus - Music & DVDs Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Record Surplus is a pretty good store that is prominently advertised on the front of the building, but each time I passed it I wondered what old CDs I might want to look for here. Today you can buy digital music without too much filler, and save money. And that causes a dilemma for record shops. However, there is still a variety of good music and DVDs available at places like this one. I most recently went here on a hunch after I had tried to find a television series on Amazon. It was either sold-out, not listed, or the sellers had issues. But I got the idea to look here for the TV series I had been seeking. I browsed for a while and felt like 'Oh, well', but then I found exactly what I was looking for! And it was about the same price as what one would find on Amazon, but without the shipping cost and postponed gratitude, delayed enjoyment, etc. I would recommend trading or selling some of those old television series sets that you might have with no plans of really watching again. Some series are popular, I know, since I traded in a season of one and hoped to find a different season later. But that didn't happen. I know there are lots of boxed sets of Charles in Charge, Martin, Grey's Anatomy, etc, etc, etc, etc, that people have no plans of watching again. So trade them at a record shop, give some good karma, etc. read more

It's been a while since I've visited a new record store. My daughter and I drove out to Record Surplus to acquaint ourselves with a new shop, based largely on the very positive reviews at Yelp. I've learned something: You can't always trust Yelp reviews on something you're really nerdy about. Take the comment "This is the best record store in L.A." I'm looking right at that comment and the accompanying five stars. The wisdom of crowds sometimes fails. My suspicion is that kids who are just discovering vinyl are excited about the low prices on commonplace albums - as well they should be. The pricing on standard rock records wasn't bad. There were no deals on anything remotely rare, however, and I wouldn't expect the casual record shopper to know the difference. The shop is not large. The selection is not vast. It's a bad sign when you see a single bin marked "Punk." I did, however, find a few gems in that very bin. I did not go home empty-handed, and I was happy with my treasures, including a very cool test pressing of Agent Orange's first E.P. There was a decent Jazz selection, and a lot of 70s-80s rock. If you need a new copy of anything from Saturday Night Fever to Cat Scratch Fever, you can have it for a few bucks. The Joan Jett albums my daughter was looking at were priced out of her range, and I felt like we'd find them much cheaper at a place like Grady's in Ventura. If I'm in the neighborhood, I'll stop by, but I won't be making another trip from the Ventura/Ojai area when Amoeba is an option. There is positively no comparison. The service was good, friendly people on both sides of the counter, and although the selection isn't very deep, there were a few decent finds to be had. This would be a nice shop to have in the neighborhood, but it's not a destination. read more

The only place on the West side worth visiting for your vinyl fix. Excellent selection, excellent prices, what else can you ask for? I listen to soul/funk primarily; their soul section is fucking good. Nuff said. My most recent visit, got 8 records. Most expensive record: Nilsson Schmilsson for $16. Such a great price and record. They could have easily charged double that and some schmuck would've bought it out of sheer rareness. Instead, I left a happy customer, a happy wallet, and a mouth that will not stop singing the praises of this record store to my friends. Listening stations (and lots of them) if you need 'em. Bravo bravo *clap clap clap* read more

Definitely one of the last record stores I routinely go out of my way to check out. I can often go to Amoeba and walk out having found nothing interesting nor remotely in my price range. On the other hand, I've never once been able to walk out of Record Surplus without at least buying something. I'm constantly stumbling across new bands in the downstairs area. The Rock section seems to be mostly comprised of obscure 80's rock bands, I can get by with skipping that section, but I still find great shit in there every once in a while. Sometimes punk records are mixed in with the rock lp's, so it's always worth a skim. At the end of the rock section is a Punk section that I always check, but rarely find anything I've felt is a must-have. it's usually just filled with everything in the SST catalog that you've never really cared to check out (SWA, HR solo albums, Big Drill Car, Blind Idiot God, etc). The Rap and Reggae sections aren't huge, but I usually find decent stuff in there at really good prices. The soul and oldies sections are a bit larger and filled with good stuff. I'm pretty sure there's a 70's electronic section filled with cool computer disco. Lots of sound effects records. There's even an Aviation section with recordings from planes crashing if you're into that, and a body section with records of people farting/burping/etc. I picked up a "sounds of surgery" LP which is basically just an audio recording of various surgeries. Tons of soundtracks. The list goes on and on. Half the store is made up of these unusual categories that you really can't find many other places. The entire upstairs is all $0.92 records, and it's not pure shit either. I've found everything from Miles Davis - Kind of Blue to Lil Wayne - Carter II. Plenty of Joe Jackson, Blondie, Devo, Black Sabbath, and other fairly normal finds as well. There's a couple bookcases filled with DVD's and VHS. I've got some metal videos up there and a few DVD's of shows like Cops and Blind Date. If the rating system went any higher, I'd be sure to give this place an extra star for their pricing system! Everything is priced so the total with tax comes to an even dollar amount. No change required! $1 records are priced at $0.92, $5 records are priced at $4.62 (or whatever comes to $5 even at the register). I love this place, and I hope they remain in business for a very long time. read more

If it's vinyl you're after, give this place a go. They had a handful of CDs and DVDs and a few promotional items, but nothing in comparison to Amoeba. My audiophile husband walked out empty handed. Having been to a heck of a lot of record stores, it was the most quiet and cleanest I've ever visited! It's a large space well laid out. I didn't feel like I was rummaging around in someone's old attic nor did I encounter that musty, dusty smell record stores often have. Nice that they had turntable listening stations so you could preview the album and its quality. read more

Unimpressed. I'm not a HUGE music person but I'm not clueless, and I barely knew any of the records they had. The ones I did know seemed to be picked through the 2-3 times I came here. Also noticed that everything seemed to be in sub-par condition, a little scratched up, etc. Eventually abandoned it forever for Soundsations in del Rey. Not awful, but I'd say below average on a hard scale. Or maybe just extremely not my style. read more

One of my favorite GO-TO spots for vintage vinyl. The records are always clean and NOT run over. They have very nice Hip Hop, R&B and Rock sections with cool titles at a great price. Neil (The Owner) and I have a GREAT rapport and speak frequently when he's at the shop. Today, he asked me how everything was going and I had let him know about the 'NIGHTMARE OF A RECORD STORE' that is... TOUCH VINYL. (Please See My Previous Review on '2/18/2015' for the HORRID details) Chris and Dave are both COOL cats who know their way around any genre of music. If you're looking for a title or product, Record Surplus will lead you in the right direction. I'm in there, a lot! .. Make sure to say HELLO, when you see me. read more