10/15/2026
🚨 IMPORTANT PSA FROM GAMING PARADISE 🚨
We’re probably going to step on a few toes with this one. Good thing we sell hobby’s and not shoes.
Let’s talk about something that’s been hurting the collecting community for years.
SCALPING.
Whether you collect Pokémon cards, video games, comics, action figures, Funko Pops, sports cards, or anything else, you’ve probably experienced it.
A new product releases. You’re excited. You’ve saved your money. Maybe you’re a parent trying to surprise your kid with something they’ve been begging for.
You head to the store. Sold out. You check online. Sold out. Then, magically, that same $50 product is listed for $150 by someone who bought 30 of them before you even had a chance.
Congratulations. Someone turned your hobby into their side hustle and before somebody starts typing an essay about supply and demand, we understand how the market works. We’re literally a collectibles store.
But there’s a difference between something naturally becoming valuable over time and deliberately clearing shelves of brand new products just to resell them at inflated prices.
One is collecting. The other is creating the problem you’re profiting from.
We’ve watched people become frustrated with hobbies they once loved because collecting has started feeling less like having fun and more like competing against people with shopping bots and unlimited free time.
That’s not what collecting should be about and yes, we’re going to say something that might make a few other businesses uncomfortable.
Owning a collectibles store doesn’t automatically make every business practice good for the collecting community. We believe businesses should be working to make hobbies more accessible, not intentionally making products harder to obtain.
At Gaming Paradise, our goal is to build a place where collectors of all ages feel welcome. Whether you’re spending $5 on a childhood favorite or hunting down something you’ve wanted for 20 years, your experience matters.
We believe new products should be obtained through legitimate distribution channels whenever possible, not by competing with customers for retail inventory just to mark it up.
We’re not saying businesses shouldn’t make money. Of course they should. We have bills, employees, and an electric bill that apparently thinks we’re operating a small airport, But you can build a successful business without treating every customer like an opportunity to squeeze out another dollar.
To the parents trying to find that special gift, the kids just getting started, and the collectors who’ve been doing this for decades:
We see you. We appreciate you. And we’re glad you’re part of our community. Gaming Paradise wouldn’t be what it is without you.
We’re not perfect. We’re going to make mistakes. But we’re going to keep working toward building the kind of hobby store we would’ve loved walking into as kids.
And to the people buying out entire shelves just to triple the price?
We hope both sides of your pillow are warm tonight.
