Went looking for CDs and it did not disappoint! After reading some reviews I was a bit worried but figured I'd stop by cause I was in the area and my aunt recommended it. The, I believe owner, was slightly strange but honestly both me and my father just think he's on the spectrum. He was nice just a bit odd, he saw me looking through the CDs and told me where the rest were, as the place had things everywhere. 95% of the CDs didn't have a price marked however when I asked he gave me a range of 5-7 for used and upwards of 10 for new, which seemed reasonable. When I went to pay he also explained to me why he was pricing each thing as it was which I personally appreciated. I got three CDs all good condition for 21 which Is better then what I would have gotten at say target or even online. It was a bit funny I did the math faster than him for getting the total but I've always been quick with simple math. Overall great place, although I would describe it as a hoarder home turned store I could definitely spend hours looking through that place and hopefully will be back next time I'm in the area! Also very pretty jewelry although I didn't get any so I couldn't tell you how well they're priced. read more

Frustrating experience, the store is a treasure trove of items full of books, jewelry, records, purses, you name it! There is stuff stuffed in everywhere with seemingly no organization. I spent a good portion of time sorting through records, enjoying the search however upon getting ready to check out, the owner had arrived and had the staff price out the records-which was frustrating that they weren't premarked (excluding the one I picked up that was marked $1.99 from a previous owner, then offered to me for $15) The owner proceeded to instruct the staff to charge the highest price for each of the record listings online, making what I had thought would be a fun thrift into a more expensive outing than planned. Ended up narrowing down to 3 records, mostly as Id taken up so much time having them find prices that I felt bad not getting them. Witnessed the owner be incredibly rude to customers who questioned prices, telling one person to get out when they questioned a $15 price tag for a paperback of to kill a mocking bird. There is value in vintage, I recognize that- however this shop was also selling a preowned shein cardigan for $22, which is pretty laughable, It's reasonable to set high prices for things Very cool store, but there's no need for the hostility towards customers who questioned prices. read more

I had an incredible experience meeting William and Thomas. They were friendly and helpful, showing me the basement and encouraging me to look around. In a box on the floor in one of the closets I found an amazing carved wood music box, and a beautiful ring. Their prices were fair and negotiable. I am very excited to bring home the treasures I found. Thanks guys! read more

Horrid... Awful experience with store owner being passive agressive. My friends and I felt absolutely unwelcomed and felt the need to leave before looking at anything else even though he was blocking us from proceeding anyway... read more

I walked into the store with my boyfriend and I pointed at a wooden box the size of a milk crate covered in trash and asked how much it was and the shop owner said $300. I laughed and said "you're joking!" and then he said "no I'm not" so I laughed again and walked away because I was uncomfortable. He started to tell my boyfriend about how it was handcarved in Egypt and the alleged artist spent 30 hours making the box, that is a "set of three". There was no other parts of the set to be found. Then he told my boyfriend that there's a bookstore in the back and he should "Educate me." Smelled bad. Man looked like a character from Roger Rabbit. Will not return. read more

I purchased a lovely warm winter jacket at a great price from a great saleman. Thank you kindly. I will be warm and happy this winter. Rhinda read more

This place is awesome! best thrift store I've ever been to. The man who owns this place is such a cool guy! I bought a custom Elvis painted Jean jacket. read more

The good: lots, and lots of items in stock. The bad: Oh, where to start. The place smells like mildewed mothballs, there is no rhyme or reason to the organization of any of the records, and when I picked out 3 albums from the very back of the shop (two operas - not exactly in demand - and a good quality yet unleaded Dolly Parton vinyl), the owner proceeded to tell me that they were all very rare and would each cost upwards of $40. The Dolly Parton album he priced at $75 based on one cursory Amazon search (Discogs and Etsy list the same item for $4). He would not even price one of the operas for me. Does the owner want to make money or nah? read more

enjoyed looking through the jewelry and jackets before the shop owner closed in on me. echo what other reviews on here said about the shop owner being a bit too close on people. i looked to my friend for confirmation that it was uncomfortable and she stepped up so he backed off. i wanted this fashions by rose leather jacket. he had a sale tag on it saying it was originally $220 and marked down to $110. still overpriced especially for the providence/rhode island thrift scene. he saw me try it on and said he could bring it down to $85 without me asking. i felt like that was close enough to the expected $60ish range for such a jacket by this brand. he saw me pull out my credit card and said it's $95. i said oh you said $85 and he said no it's $145 and i marked it down to $95 for you. i said the tag says $110 and you said $85 but sure. i was not gonna fight over the $10. he should just say cash prices vs card prices, many places do that. don't gaslight and follow around your customers in a shop that literally has no space to walk in, especially younger women. took my jacket and my friend and i won't be back. read more

Sophistication - Vinyl Records Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

ignore all the other negative reviews honestly. the store is a hidden gem, filled to the ceiling (literally) with vintage treasures. the owner is an extremely kind, quirky, dapper older gentleman from a generation where a more conversational and personal way of operating was common. definitely worth a visit! read more

I saw a lovely little (what I thought was semi-precious) necklace in the window. I went in to ask about it and as I was going in, the owner was coming out. He told me he was going for coffee and would be back soon. I couldn't wait, so I came back the next day. It was again closed with a sign that said, "back soon." The next day I finally got lucky. I went in and inquired about the necklace. As he lifted it off the stand, he says, "It's $68. The construction is really nice." I think $68 is a little high for these stones, but if the construction is that nice, it's fair. He drops it into my hand and I feel it right away. Its light. I tap one of the stones with my nail and blurt out, "It's plastic! $68 for PLASTIC?!?!" It was already back in his hand and I was halfway out the door when he said, "but it's put together so well...." This guy was trying to charge me almost seventy bucks for kids party jewelry. Buyer beware. read more

Sophistication - Vinyl Records Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

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horrible experience with the owner. please stay away from this store. my wife brought jewelry to the store to sell on commission. After more than a year, the owner said he sold two pieces and we would be paid $40. My wife asked for the rest of the jewelry back, he said he didn't know where two of the necklaces are and refused to pay her the $40 for the other two pieces that were sold. Owner was rude and dishonest - please stay away from this store. read more

"Sophistication" I don't normally bother to write online reviews, but this storefront's used book sales policy is so ridiculous that it prompted me to write a review. First of all, the proprietor of this store seems to think he's sitting on hoards of books made of gold. In reality, they're a vast mix of popular mass-market books (Anchor paperbacks, etc.), some university press books, and a miscellany of other small-press and, sometimes, yes, "scarce" books (but usually not all that rare). Unfortunately for any prospective buyer, none of the secondhand books have any prices inscribed in them! Effectively, his sales are dependent on the volunteered labor of the browser to express interest in a book, which he'll then individually look up online, probably through amazon.com. Months or years ago, when he first acquired all these books, likely from a deceased humanities academic, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and had him lookup several for me, which apparently is the only way he knows how to assign any prices. One screenplay book from a UK press he offered to me for $25-30, but I already had it, used, for about $10. He seems to pick an average or higher-than-average used price online, irrespective, also, of the physical condition of the specific copy he's trying to sell. I was walking by more recently and popped back in just to see if he had any pricing for his books yet, and lo and behold they're still all unpriced. If they had been priced, I probably would have spent a couple hours in the store browsing and would have ended up buying at least ~$100+ worth of books, but I'm not going to waste my time while he has to look up ~20 books individually just to price them after I've already expressed interest in them. I can't speak to whatever else he's selling, but the used books aspect of his business is an opportunistic scam to take advantage of the free labor of browsers tipping him off as to which books are actually desirable. In short... 1. A book isn't "rare" just because it's out of print. 2. University press books are not automatically "rare." 3. Condition matters -- of the actual book being sold, not some Platonic idea of the book in question. 4. It's standard practice for used bookstores to pre-price their books, or at least, if not, to have set price ranges based on specific criteria. This place's excuse seems to be, "But we have so, so many books!" Quantity isn't an excuse to push all the labor onto the book browsers. read more