It happens a lot and personally I think it's 
normal.  People tend to favor their friends and 
long time associates/customers.  I really have no 
problems with it as long as they don't tell me 
they changed their minds after telling me I could 
buy the cel.  It did bother me at first but most 
businesses on and off the net tend to work this 
way.  Personally, if my friend came up to me and 
told me he was interested in something I was 
selling, I would want to give it to him/her.  I 
even had one dealer say I could look at all 
future updates and have priority to buy before 
each update if I would sell one of my Lodoss cel 
to them. 

I know it's frustrating sometimes when you send 
an email after catching an update as it happens 
and find out the cel is already on hold or sold.  
Sometimes they won't reply waiting for a reply 
from their friends.  Honestly you can't do much 
about it except try to get to know them and gain 
an advantage yourself.  Well that's my 2 cents..

Take care,
Sy