Secondhand Record Shop Near Me in Camden Town: Out On The Floor Records

Out On The Floor Records is open every day of the week from 11 am to 6 pm, which makes it the easiest secondhand record shop near me to fit into a Camden afternoon. It sits at 10 Inverness Street, Camden Town, London NW1 7HJ, a few steps from Camden Town tube station. The shop calls itself Camden's oldest record shop, has been buying and selling records since 1989, and has a deep bias toward reggae, ska and rocksteady.

The shop's own line sums up the business: we buy and sell records, that is what we do, and it has kept that single trade on Inverness Street for more than 30 years. The team is small. Jake specialises in reggae, ska, soul and Jamaican vinyl and has been a known figure on the reggae scene for more than 20 years. Mick covers 1960s and 1970s rock, punk, new wave and jazz.

George, the newest member of staff, looks after Latin, hip hop and electronic records, from jungle to house 12-inch singles. That spread of expertise is the real asset here. When you ask a question at the counter, the person answering usually collects the genre themselves, so it is worth naming the label or the year you are after rather than just the artist.

Because of Jake's passion, the shop holds a large amount of new and old Jamaican vinyl. Sound system operators from across London and the UK have long come here for fresh tunes and tough revival reggae, and on Notting Hill Carnival weekend the shop is traditionally packed with selectors and DJs. If crowds bother you, avoid the August bank holiday entirely and come the following week.

The shop also runs its own reggae label, Tuff Scout, started in 2013, which has released homegrown artists as well as Jamaican names such as Lee Scratch Perry, Michael Prophet and Big Youth. Tuff Scout releases sit alongside second-hand Studio One, Treasure Isle and Trojan pressings, so a visitor can cover a stretch of reggae history in a single rack.

Out On The Floor is not a one-genre shop. The second-hand stock runs from Northern soul, Southern soul and Motown to indie and Britpop, British jazz, folk, blues and rhythm and blues, and classic house and techno. The shop's own description puts it neatly: from the deepest Miles Davis to US hardcore punk. Expect a dense, narrow room where every wall is used.

New vinyl and reissues fill gaps, including local artists such as Amy Winehouse and the Pogues and classic reissues like Kind of Blue and Dark Side of the Moon. The honest view is that visitors who only want those reissues can find them in many shops; the reason to come here is the second-hand reggae and soul, plus the memorabilia, which includes punk fanzines such as Sniffin' Glue.

The sale section has one rule: no record costs more than £6. The team deliberately drops some well-known and much-loved LPs into it, and finding a good copy of something you assumed would be expensive is part of the fun. Start there if you have limited time, then move on to the genre racks once you know what kind of condition the shop's cheaper stock is in.

Dig with care, as space is tight and other customers will be working the same shelves. Pull one record at a time, slide it back where it came from, and keep a small stack on the counter rather than balancing sleeves on the bins. If you want to hear something before buying, ask the staff; they are used to selectors auditioning a pile of 7-inch singles.

Selling is a large part of the business, and the shop promises an honest valuation and a cash price. Valuations usually take no more than a few hours depending on the size of the collection, and the team will make home visits.

Wanted lists on the site name Studio One, Treasure Isle, Black Ark and Channel One reggae, UK labels such as Blue Beat, Trojan and Pama, punk from the Clash to the Slits, jazz from Coltrane to Sun Ra, and Latin 78s. The shop is equally direct about what it does not want: collections that are mostly Cliff Richard or classical music are not for them.

Inverness Street runs off Camden High Street just north of the tube station, and after the shop you can walk up the high street to Camden Lock and the Regent's Canal. The canal towpath heading east is the pleasant route on foot: it runs under bridges and past narrowboats toward King's Cross, which takes roughly half an hour at an easy pace.

That walk ends close to Plan B. If Out On The Floor is too crowded, or you want more African and outernational records, Honest Jon's has a shop in Coal Drops Yard at King's Cross, open Monday to Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. Its original shop on Portobello Road in Notting Hill is the place to continue on another day.

Out On The Floor Records is at 10 Inverness Street, Camden Town, London NW1 7HJ. It is open seven days a week, 11 am to 6 pm. Camden Town station on the Northern line is the nearest stop, at the southern end of the street.

Weekday mornings just after opening are the calmest time to dig; weekend afternoons bring Camden's market crowds onto Inverness Street. Come here for reggae, ska, soul and punk on original vinyl, and for the £6 sale rack. Bring a bag that holds 7-inch and 12-inch records separately, and leave large backpacks behind if you can, because the aisles are narrow.