Budget Tapes & Records

Was very surprised at this little place. It has loads of character, and I even managed to find some hard to find prog rock Vinyl here. Not much in the way of fun places to go in Charleston, but this place is great.

giving this 5 stars because of how important this record store was for me in discovering music in late eighties, either from their punk vinyl selection, used CDs or occasional copies of maximum rnr. while this might be normal now, in the eighties, it was truly thrilling skateboarding to the store and looking at records from agent orange, bad religion, gov’t issue and misfits. i live in los angeles now and budget did play a pivotal role in my musical upbringing. thanks!

A lot of history here… I love this place. Ask for John Nelson and get a good deal on CD’s, Video, Head Shop products and the «Adult» section…

Used to be a good shop, but the way he handled Record Store Day last year by holding items for his «preferred customers» didn’t sit well with me. Oh well Sullivan’s is a true record store and not a head shop with records.

Budget has long supported the «alternative» scene in the Greater Charleston area, but it is seriously lacking compared to similar stores in other states. It’s music selection is mediocre at best. Most of it at least borders on the mainstream and unless it’s played on the radio you won’t find much outside of metal or hippie shit here. At least not from my experience. There is a barely mentionable vinyl selection in addition to CDs.
Despite its name it isn’t just a music store. Budget also sells «tobacco» pipes, or at least used to. They might have been banned. I don’t smoke so I can’t say. They sell incense, ugly hippie flags and those hideous wall covering things that college hippies use to cover windows or drape living room walls. Posters, buttons, t-​shirts and other music memorabilia are also available.
Probably the most out of place (as a result one of the more convenient) selections of merchandise sold here is the adult section. Budget, for whatever reason, sells sex toys, videos, lotions, undergarments and things of that nature. While I never had cause to purchase anything there I do have a friend who used to work the adult counter.
The section is of note because the staff at Budget is of a normal, non-​creepy, often cute variety. Believe me when I say a record store is probably the safest option to buy these items around Charleston. The alternative is to drive down to a seedy strip along MacCorkle Ave. called Jefferson, renowned for prostitution and being a good place to dump a body. You might remember it being featured in all its unsavory glory on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart some years ago. The show gave a pretty accurate description.