Yesterdaze

Yesterdaze in Seneca is a long-running record and music shop with decades of experience buying, selling, and doing record shows. In the interview, the owner talks about Clemson-area customers, 60s and 70s LPs, trade versus cash, moldy collections, and why low overhead matters for anyone opening a shop.

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Interview with Yesterdaze

"Yesterdaze1957" turns up in both your email and the Facebook handle — 1957 is not a random number. What's the story behind that year, and does it tie into the shop's origin or something more personal?

The 1957 is the year I was born so I’m an old fart lol.

Seneca is a small city in the western corner of South Carolina, in Oconee County — not somewhere people expect a serious record store. What role does Yesterdaze play in the local scene, and who's coming through the door: locals, folks driving in from Clemson or Greenville, both?

Yes Seneca is a small town, but Clemson university is about 10 mins away, so I get a lot of students, lots of locals. I’ve been doing this for 35 years now, so I do know a lot of people. I also do record shows, so a lot of people from the shows come see me at the store. I also get a lot from north Georgia and western North Carolina.

Your FAQ says you're mainly interested in collections from the 60s through today. What's the honest reason you draw the line pre-60s — is it demand, condition, storage, or something else about what those older collections tend to look like when they walk in?

As far as collections go, 60’s thru today, that’s what sells. But if I can find a good rock-a-Billy collection, I’m all in, and old jazz, so I’m not limited.

You've said popular genres right now are metal, punk, indie, jazz, and classic rock — a specific list. What's actually flying off the shelves fastest of those, and which one keeps surprising you by staying strong?

It is amazing how strong 60’s and 70’s lps are still selling like they are, as well as punk. I guess the most surprising thing is that I have a lot of younger people buying jazz, and they have this thing for Frank Sinatra, which is cool, and then of course I do sell a lot of the new pop releases.

You give more on trade than cash, and store credit is on the table too. Can you walk a seller through the honest math — how much more do trade or credit typically get someone versus straight cash, and when does each one actually make more sense for the seller?

The trade to cash thing is a tricky deal. It all depends on what they have to trade. I’m not trading junk for good stuff, but I do have people that bring in some really good records, and that’s a rarity. Usally it depends on discogs, cause it seems like most people are on there phones looking at the value of the records. I try and keep my prices at medium price depending on the condition and rarity of the Lp. I might go between med and high, so on trade I usally go between low and medium according to discogs on cash.

South Carolina summers are humid and hot, and a lot of local collections lived in a garage or attic. What condition damage do you see most in Upstate SC collections, and what would you tell a seller to do differently going forward?

Mostly I see a lot of moldy records. I’ve got to the point where is will go out and go thru the records before bringing them in. If they have a musky smell, I can usally take care of that thru dryer sheets or charcoal, which both absorb the smell. Usally I tell them if they store them in the basement to get a humidifier and never put them in the attic.

What's the most overvalued type of record you see people bringing in — the "I saw this go for a lot on eBay" collections that turn out to be worth much less than the seller was expecting?

I get I saw this on eBay all the time. Mainly it’s people that don’t understand the pressings and certainly the condition of the records. All they see is the name. In my area it’s mainly Elvis🤣 or Beatles.

Yesterdaze has been a Seneca fixture — thousands of records, clothing, posters, magazines, all under one roof. For someone thinking about opening a similar multi-format shop in a small Southern city, what did you learn early on that you wish someone had told you?

The best advice I can give someone is to start with low overhead. I was lucky I started buying records when I was 13, so I had a lot and started doing record shows in 94, so I learned a lot from other dealers. Plus my father owed his own business, so of course I learned a lot from him. I actually started my first store with my own collection back in 99, which made it where all I had was rent and power Bill, and of course records were a lot cheaper then than they are now. So with all that being said, start small, find a building with cheap rent, and if you have enough start with your own stash of records. New records are not cheap, and I do sell more used records than I do new records. It’s funny most buyers want 1st pressings and not re-issues, and by all means be nice and respect your customers. Remember they are the ones paying your bills. I’ve got customers that I’ve had since the 90’s because of the way I treat them, and they know when they do buy something from me it’s in great condition and at a decent price. Guess what I’m saying is don’t get the reputation of selling over priced records in bad condition.

Last updated: 2026-09-10

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