I think part of the problem people are having 
with middlemen like this is that they are 
unnecessary to the process. 

This isn't true, though, because people are still 
buying from them.  You could also argue that 
retail stores are unnecessary for getting 
groceries because it's possible to order them 
online, buy them direct, or grow them yourself, 
but these stores are still fulfilling a need.

...we sometimes rest easier when we know the 
cel goes to a collector and not somebody who 
wants to profit off of us. 

These terms are not mutually exclusive.  Most of 
my dealer friends are collectors, and they 
want to profit from me.  ;-)

I also think (although it seems to be wrong 
from what I've seen in this thread) that most 
people who do this, can't profit for long. I just 
don't see it happening beyond one or two cels. I 
see many cels of this nature on ebay just sitting 
there and noone's bidding on them.

It's all about what the market will bear.  If 
people buy up cels for $10 each and list them on 
eBay for $30 each and they don't move, it's 
because there isn't anyone out there willing to 
pay $30 for them.  That's why I always start all 
of my eBay auctions (no, no cels-- mostly 
videotapes, lately) at $1.00, because it's easier 
to spark bidding wars on items that start really 
cheap-- getting someone to bid $5.00 and slowly 
increase their amount, dollar by dollar, is a lot 
easier than trying to convince someone to start 
at $30.00.

The fact is, the only reason that these scalpers 
can profit from selling up these cels is because 
there's a market for them.  There are people out 
there who will pay these prices.  If you don't 
like this kind of business practice, the best 
possible thing you can do is to simply not give 
these dealers your business, period.  Badmouthing 
them, however, is counter-productive, and like it 
or not, they have every right to get out there 
and make some dollars.