I seem to be repeating what Atiya is saying above 
but I'll respond to your post since you responded 
to mine. 

First off, I'm always against slamming people for 
their practices in a public forum. In my opinion, 
that should be saved for private correspondence. 
Unless of course, it's fraud and you want to warn 
people. But let me get to your points:

>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.

That example is flawed. I'm not talking about 
retail distributors. I'm talking about those 
people who would clean out a grocery store and 
then triple their prices merely to make a profit. 
Let's say, for example, you are taking a class at 
a university. You have required texts to read. 
One person in your class goes and buys all the 
books. Then places them for 300 percent markup to 
sell to you. You need this book desperately and 
you don't have the time to go somewhere else. 
Some will pay the price. Others will share books 
and share costs. Others won't buy it. I'm in the 
latter camp. I wouldn't buy it and I would be 
angry that the person got there before I did. 

BUT we are talking cels here. There's no such 
thing as a "need" for a cel, anyway ^_^ Everybody 
may have a wish cel that they would die for but 
there's always a price limit as to what they 
would pay. These are, frankly, luxury collector's 
items. 

Lastly, I'm not saying that people should stop 
doing this or that I wave my fist in the air and 
curse them. I'm saying I don't do business that 
way and if other buyers wise up, then they will 
put these "profiteers" out of business. 

>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.  

That's what I've been saying all along! I'm just 
putting in my commentary on why people react the 
way they do. Yes, some people will get angry. 
Some will be thankful that they get a chance at 
these cels. Some will pay the scalper's prices 
and some won't. But to say that other people 
can't complain, then is silly. Scalping is 
illegal for a reason, right?

Wendy