Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Second Hand Rose Records and CD's in the Village

Don't let the look of the store fool you, it's pricey--or so say grumpy Yelp reviewers...yet they admit it has wonderful selection, especially of CD's.

Some of the complainers go on about all the things they like and then just say " if they weren't so expensive."

Sounds to me like a place to look for some find in terms of something you could never find elsewhere ( of course, there is the internet but you may not trust Craig's List)--

Well, here are some the of the review voices themselves:

Second Hand Rose's Music

2.5 star rating
18 reviews Rating Details
48 E 12th St
(between University Pl & Broadway)
New York, NY 10003
Neighborhoods: Greenwich Village, Union Square
(212) 675-3735
Nearest Transit Station:
Union Sq - 14 St (L)
14 St - Union Sq (4, 5, 6, 6X)
14 St - Union Sq (N, Q, R)
Price Range:
$$$$
Accepts Credit Cards:
Yes
Parking:
Street
Wheelchair Accessible:
No
Sort by: Yelp Sort | Date | Rating | Useful | Funny | Cool | Total Votes | Friends' | Elites'

18 reviews in English

  • Review from

    • 63 friends
    • 25 reviews
    2/20/2013 1 check-in here
    I hear you, haters, and you have several points that are valid. But...I dug deep into their show recordings and was rewarded with two that I have NEVER seen anywhere, and though expensive, they were so rare I did not begrudge them a bit. Extra nice to me--they gave me shipping and insurance for free after all the money I spent (which they should have)! I will be back, but only when I have hours to dedicate to serious hunting--there are treasures to be uncovered here!
  • Review from

    • 106 friends
    • 210 reviews
    3/5/2008
    Love, love, love this place. As mentioned, the outside bins are pretty amazing for finding some great stuff on the cheap (A Tin Machine record I'd never seen on vinyl was $2...and yes, yes, I realize we could argue all day about the merits of Tin Machine. Still, $2, mofos!)

    Bonus: A very excellent time-killer (just watch the clock, you'll get engrossed) before you catch a flick around the corner.
  • Review from

    • 50 friends
    • 10 reviews
    7/30/2008
    As a record store, this one definitely has one of hte best vintage record collections in Manhattan.  And as one other yelp-er has stated, the cheapo bins outside are great deals, you just need to be patient as to what you want and you'll get it.

    What annoys me about this store is the This one woman (the young one) that works that that always has a very very bitter attitude about her which really makes the shopping experience there very unpleasant.  Not very helpful and always gives you an attitude whenever a question is answered.. Thats my issue with this store.. But otherwise, everything is okay.
  • Review from

    • 25 friends
    • 84 reviews
    8/21/2009
    Ok, so yeah, they have a lot of stock and the stuff is in good shape, but the  pricing is way inflated (and seems somewhat arbitrary)...

    $75 for the Ramones "It's Alive" 2-LP set?? Saw it at three other stores on the same day for $25-$35 - a SIGNIFICANT difference in price...this is just one example, and the list goes on and on...

    Spend your money somewhere else, where the help is friendly, where you don't feel like you're being watched, and where the pricing is accurate...
  • Review from

    • 138 friends
    • 117 reviews
    9/3/2011
    Those of you who mentioned the owner's family being really grumpy.. I know what you mean. But after going back there over and over again, I came to realize that they're just so tired of people being like "Oo! Old records! So cool!" and coming into grab everything, take a million pictures and leave. If you actually do listen to records and buy records, they'll start being nice to you.

    Their jazz collection is superb. Bunch of good stuff in their $3 bins, $5 bins, etc. But most of their stuff is definitely not cheap. But they have some REALLY rare albums there, so if you look hard, you might be able to find some gems!
  • Review from

    • 4 friends
    • 46 reviews
    2/18/2010 1 photo
    My review of this place concerns only the CD selection, which may be why it currently has more stars than most will give the store.

    The CD selection is non-comprehensive yet plentiful and is not in any order aside from genre and alphabetical.  This setup is more for those who don't mind spending a good amount of time sifting and considering a multitude of artists ... which, hey, is just my thing!  The sticker prices for the CDs range from $8-12, but since most are not new, this may be considered a rather expensive range for used CDs.  However, thanks to what may be a long standing 25% off sale, those prices are automatically reduced to $6-9, which is more like it.  The condition of most discs were pretty good, so for used CDs this is a good place to stop.

    Although I did not check the vinyl prices, I did notice that some of the CD prices were a little higher than usual for certain used CDs.  This is because the owner definitely notices if certain CDs are out of print or originals, so the price goes a little higher if you really want a disc that has yet to be remastered, repackaged, etc.  WIth the sale it may help, but keep this in mind if you're looking for something of age and in particular.

    Aside from the CDs, I liked the layout of shop in that it definitely has a longstanding look of a record store that's been there for some time.  It's got the various colorful wall hangings and eye catching displays, including a wall collection of black and white record covers that looked like they were part of a series (but may just illustrate an album cover fad at the time).  The two people in there, an older gent and a young woman, both seemed approachable.  The older guy was friendly when asked a question or two and visibly enjoyed the music playing overhead.

    Overall I liked the store and if I had more time to spend there I would've done so.  Given its location near the Strand bookstore, this will likely be a place I visit frequently in future trips.
    • Second Hand Rose's Music Inc
  • Review from

    9/21/2010
    Ever noticed all the Swastikas in the floor pattern?
    Look down, there are grey squares painted all over the floor, if you are in the back, you can see that the paint is covering up 5 inch swastikas in the tile patterns. Obviously the building has been there since the early 1900's and Swastikas were once a popular design motif which can be seen all around NYC.

    Anyways.

    I feel as if I'm searching for a record with an accurate price when I'm in this place, rather than searching for a specific record. If you dig past the inflated prices, there are some surprisingly under priced records.

    All in all, if you wanna splurge on a really hard to find piece, it's easy to do it here.

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