About Backstreet/FAQ

Backstreet Records User Guide / FAQ

“Where do you get your stock?”

We get our new stock through distributors much like every other record store large and small. We get our used stock from people who bring items in to sell or trade.

“So you buy vinyl, CDs, and cassettes?”

Yes! If you have titles that we consider would be interesting to customers we estimate how much we would sell them for and the offer half that amount in cash or two thirds of it in store credit.

“But you don’t buy everything?”

No. That would be crazy! We tailor our inventory, both new and used, in three ways:

(1)What our regular customer base has a tendency to buy or ask us to carry.
(2)Titles we think are important and people should hear.
(3) Releases that are getting a lot of cultural buzz.

Those three categories are ranked in order of importance. Number one changes all the time as we try to gauge the tastes of our regulars. So the more we know about the artists, styles, and genres you are collecting the more our stock will evolve to reflect your tastes.

“So do you mainly sell to ‘serious’ record collectors?”

No. We try to serve all levels of music fandom. We do deal with titles that are quote/unquote “collectable,” and we understand that market, but our focus has always been first and foremost selling music to people who want to listen to it. So if you’re hoping to find that one rare title that’s been eluding you, we can help, or if you just want a couple of albums to enjoy over the weekend, that’s cool too.

“So do you do special orders?”

We do fill special orders for people! It’s one of our favourite things.

“Does it cost more to special order something?”

No! In fact our special orders are 10% off of our regular stock prices. So if you special order or pre-order a title you’ll be getting it for less than you would buying it off the rack.

“Do you do holds and want lists for people?”

We will do holds for a reasonable amount of time, a day or two, or longer if you are a ‘regular’ with a good buying history. We don’t generally keep want lists as they tend not to work – either they get buried or forgotten in our books, or the customer finds the title elsewhere in the meantime and forgets to tell us. The best bet to find titles on a want list is to visit the store regularly. You’ll likely find it easily, and in the meantime you’ll probably discover music you didn’t realize you were looking for at the same time.

“Do you sell online?”

Not very often. Our philosophy is that selling music locally builds up a better pool of regular customers. If we sell a rare title to someone in Japan it’s unlikely they’ll come in the following Saturday to see what we have in stock.

“Do you have a database of your stock?”

We’re not that fancy. We don’t even have a cash register. You can follow us at social media on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter where we routinely post interesting titles we’ve recently added to stock or announce sales and events going on in the store.