Wilson's Book World - St. Pete (Website)
I was recently in St. Petersburg for a work event, and had to quickly leave to go back to the office, when I passed Wilson's Book World. I nearly drove right past it; it came up on me so fast. I drive a medium sized pickup, and their parking lot was so small and hard to navigate, I did not think I was going to have room to park, but I just barely made it. leaving, it took me 4 attempts to clear the side of the building, and multiple tries to turn back on to the road. This building looks like its in multiple different levels or rooms, but I don't think it is. Someone may live above/behind it in the attached building? Not sure.
Walking in, I was greeted by a very cheerful person working the counter behind a plastic sheet. Super friendly and offered help right away. Some regulars were walking around shopping which was nice to see in a post-pandemic world. An old man walked in when I did to return some books he bought previously, and was called out for bringing in books that were not purchased there, and hoooo boy did she handle it quickly. Never even let him get a breath, just said no, this is what I can do and goodbye. No, "The customer is always right" bullshit here!
Prices were medium-high ebay average in good condition. Every book has a stamp in it with a pencil written value; almost always $3 on the regular books. Vintage were about $7 and up.. this place knows what it has in inventory and will not be had by someone like me. Condition does not seem to matter, all prices were ebay medium/high sold auction value even if the cover was just barely on there. The stamp itself really affects the condition, and in used book stores that do this, I kind of expect a little lighter on the prices. I really wanted those ace doubles, it's super hard to find them, especially in this frequency, but again with the condition and stamping. I love the organization and, commitment to the alpha system, and even keeping the series books together by number is a super welcome and refreshing thing to see in any book store, something you don't even see at Barnes & Noble. I asked if she had some Dungeons and Dragons modules, and she had several in the "Antiquities and Rare" section for $60 each which was VERY extreme. The box sets themselves the books came from, for example, Menzoberrazan Forgotten Realms- goes for $100 in perfect shape. $60? No way. $20 on a good day. A quick peek around and I confirmed some of my fears.. some things were a little overpriced. I did find a few little gems:
Star Gate by Andre Norton, 1958 pulp edition in fair condition
Riverworld 5 book Boxed Set in fair condition
No stamp in either one, just some light pencil. Star Gate was marked $9 and Riverworld box was marked $15.95. Strangely, when I checked out, she only charged me a flat $20 for both items which was super nice of her. I can't find anything on the Riverworld Boxed Set, which leads me to believe it was somewhat rare. I see the books contained inside for sale on ebay for $35, but no shell. The Star Gate I have in other editions, and goes for exactly the same as marked.. around $9. I spent a little more than I would normally but I did not want to leave empty handed from a family owned business. I hate to be so critical in my quick review, and reading this back, it just really seems like I hated it. It was a nice little store, if you need something to complete a set, I would highly recommend going here to get that done as they have so many hard to find items. If you can wait a few days you can get it on ebay. I did not have much time, but I bet with enough patience you could find some good deals.
See you next time.
