Open 7 days a week 11am to 5pm 

Record stores and romance seem to go well together in movies, right? Well, here’s a real-life love story for you!

RPM founders Lizzie and Steve went on their first official date in December 2014, more than a year after first meeting on a Boat Cruise that Steve’s band played a set on. Steve talked about how he’d like to open a Vinyl/Coffee shop one day and how happy going back to vinyl made him and his love for his Vinyl collection, and Lizzie spoke of her desire to run her own business utilising her Hospitality & Computer skills. They of course discussed their mutual love of all things Music and vinyl. Lizzie actually worked in a record shop in the late 80’s in Toronto, when cassettes were a big thing but CD’s had not arrived yet.

Well the ‘one day’ happened about 7 or 8 months later, when the now ‘couple’, opened RPM Records Posters Memorabilia at 113 Marrickville Road in August 2015 as a pop-up shop to see how we’d go.

The RPM name was Lizzie’s idea. That came partially from a mid 80/90’s famous warehouse club in Toronto’s Queens Quay East she loved before she moved to Sydney, partially from 33 and 45 ‘revolutions per minute’, (the speed Vinyl plays at) and mostly because it fit the business model of Records, Posters and Memorabilia.

The Posters & Memorabilia part was a no brainer, because whilst they were considering when and where to open, they were offered a once in a lifetime opportunity from legendary Promoter Kevin Jacobson. RPM ended up with their walls adorned with incredible historical Posters and signed Memorabilia from Kevin’s personal collection. Framed photos from the former Sydney Entertainment Centre and signed photos and albums from the world’s biggest superstars! The RPM Vinyl plan from day one was ‘stock is king & all killer no filler’.

Steve explains, “the all killer no filler – is subjective of course and based mostly on condition. You won’t find any music snobbery from us, so anything from AC/DC to Zappa and all roads between will be on the shelves. The condition will be usually VG+ or better. Occasionally if we find a rare record with only a VG cover, we’ll price accordingly. All records are tested, and mostly vacuum machine cleaned, to ensure the best listening experience. Every opportunity to buy new stock is taken as long as the Vinyl is not too scratched. With the VC Project Cleaning Machine, we can make them almost like new again”.

It was a bold leap of faith to open a shop after only a six-month relationship, but the relationship and shop has gone from strength to strength. The couple married 2 years later in July 2017 next door at the Gasoline Pony.

From day one the shop and the couple have been warmly embraced by the Marrickville and wider community and the feelings were reciprocal. In those early days they’ll sheepishly admit to working 16 hours days and sometimes sleeping in the shop to get it off the ground but have lived in the locality from the very beginning and now live above the shop completing the dream.

Initially it was only 2nd hand Vinyl, but RPM soon realised that Record Store Day (RSD) and new Vinyl were essential for growth. Pretty soon a huge collection of new and sealed brand new albums and reissues were acquired from Australian suppliers in most genres. Nowadays we can source vinyl from Overseas suppliers who have larger selections. Suppliers of high quality and often limited-edition Vinyl at competitive prices. The variety of stock is incredible, approx. 30K titles and it’s always been RPM’s aim to offer high quality vinyl at great prices. In short great value for money.

We now do custom vinyl or CD orders by email sales@rpmrecords.com.au for any stock enquiries or indicative prices for non stocking items.

For a long time RPM, in the old location had resisted putting all their Vinyl online, preferring to let the in-store shoppers and loyal regular local customers get first dibs in an old school shopping environment instead of people online who they likely would never meet in person. They strongly believe a record shop is an experience not available online, it’s a vibe and a community feeling being around other vinyl lovers. Neither of the owners have ever listened to music on their phones as that was one of the reasons to go back to vinyl, not having to be using your phone when at home.

However certain situations have caused a change of heart. Mainly the sheer volume of stock of highly collectable Vinyl RPM holds demands a wider audience. Nine to Ten years of buying at least once a week will do that! Of course, a lot of people don’t have time to visit as often as they’d like, and many people prefer online shopping who want to support us who are not from Sydney but visited when they were in town.

Lizzie and Steve would like to express their deep gratitude to the Vinyl community for helping realise their dreams and welcome on board all new customers from different parts of Australia, to enjoy our e-commerce shopping experience. The aim is to give the same great service RPM have always been known for. Enjoy by pressing the red link above to go directly to the new online shop which will eventually reflect everything we have in the shop but still only less than half so always worth an in store digging experience for the best selection.

Yes, the new location at 163 does have a bathroom, Air Con AND a lovely garden to sit in for Coffee or Tea! When you come through the big heavy sliding door at the entry that you try and soak up the 80’s vibe and start to feel a bit younger. We are all here to recreate a part of our youth….Enjoy your visit to our precious collection. It’s our job to restore and protect the vinyl, they sell themselves.

RPM is a real bricks-and-mortar old school record shop in funky Marrickville, located in Sydney’s Inner West. Since setting in to our new location, we have accomplished the final goal in March 25 which was to have a coffee place, so now we have the Vinyl Resting Place in our back garden with a BBQ for events and a seating area serving coffee, hot chocolate or cold drinks.

Founded in 2015, Lizzie and Steve, united by their mutual love of music, have grown from a small second-hand record store to an integral part of the local Marrickville and Vinyl community, buying and selling new and used vinyl, CDs, posters and collectibles of all genres.

Visit us instore today at 163 Marrickville Road, Marrickville 2204

Phone: (02) 9569 3465!

RPM Records started from a dream of “One day opening a record shop” to having an awesome opportunity presented to Steve and Lizzie in June 2015, to partner with a former major music promoter, Kevin Jacobson, to represent his collection, made up of items as far back as the 1980’s, many rare one offs and signed collectibles. We are the ultimate destination for music lovers. We have a large amount of Vinyl, CD’s, DVD’s, also Music Posters, Books, T-Shirts, and an impressive collection of Framed Vintage Music and Sports Memorabilia for sale. Something for every taste and budget. Recently we had over 50 signed items come in, up for sale for the first time in 10-20 years most of them. Many authenticated by Glenn A Baker in 1992.