The following are some random thoughts on my vacation to San Francisco...

Reckless Records, Haight St:

Very good vinyl selection, priced very cheaply considering....lots of bargain new wave records in which the vinyl was in perfect condition though some sleeves were a bit worn. None of the records had plastic jackets which was a bit annoying, but I made my biggest vinyl haul here. CDs were a bit pricey new, but used CDs were very aptly priced. Domestics avg'd $14, WSD's were $21. Amazing selection of bootleg T-shirts as well (got the Coil Anal Staircase Tee, which rules)

Recycled Records, Haight St:

Big oldies, classical, and psych/folk/70's section, with lots of old records in good condition. Not much new stuff, and few gems. Seems to cater more to classic rock and weird rockabilly than 80's or goth/industrial.

Streetlight Records, Market St (in the Castro)

Used vinyl is on a shelf which means annoying sideways browsing, but CD selection is quite good, with a few gems in the bargain section. Had all of the early out-of-print Volume series, and a very large selection of dance 12" singles. CD prices were very good for new stuff, as was domestic indie vinyl.

Mod Lang Records, Berkeley

Excellent excellent excellent used CD selection, with many gothic/industrial discs for $4. Lots of promos and good prices on new indie/experimental/krautrock CDs. Vinyl selection seemed a bit exploitive, trying to take old 80's records and mark them up to $10 and above and sell as "esoteric" for the indie snots, but a few gems could still be found. New indie vinyl was excellently priced. Massive 7" collection as well.

Amoeba Records, Berkeley

The only place in SF that I encountered with a separate "experimental" collection which had a lot of good stuff at reasonable prices (Though world serpents were still $22 and coldmeat slabs $18 which sucks). Saw Current 93's "In Menstual Night" picturedisc on the wall for $75, which is the cheapest I've ever seen it in a store (ltd 1111 copies, you know!). Endless used CD collection which takes years to sift through, but worth it for the bargains you find. Used rock vinyl was so-so, but the place has tons of out of print video collections like Siouxsie, the Cure, etc.

Rasputin Records, Berkeley

Amazing prices on used import CDs in their separate "gothic/industrial" section, and quite a few experimental discs were thrown in there as well. Used vinyl was blah, but the CD collection was huge and new vinyl was there as well. Had sort of that "Virgin Megastore" feel to it, but the good import CD prices belied this overall image.