I am a firm believer that a seller can set any
price that they want.  If its their item, they
can sell it for whatever they want.  Legally 
speaking, it is OK to set whatever price you 
want, even if its 5-8 times the original price.
Morally speaking, this is deplorable.  I can
understand if someone (for example) adds an
additional $5-10 dollars on a cel that originally
costed them $60.  Maybe they have figured in
the ebay costs and/or the original shipping costs
to get the cel.  But if this same person (for 
example) puts an opening bid/reserve of $400 for
that cel that originally costed him $60, then
that's just raping people for there money!

People that hike up the prices 5-10 times are
not hoping for the knowledgeable cel collector
to buy from them...they are preying on the 
'stupid' or 'uninformed' buyer.  Its just like
those fraudulent telemarketers who prey on the
'stupid'.  I'm sure we've all seen the Hard Copy
stories of people calling in the 1-900 number 
that costs $4 a minute, stay on the phone line 
for 20-30 minutes just because they want to see
if they have the winning number that was sent
to them in the mail by some fly-by-nite 
sweepstakes.  Most of us would laugh at such
a letter, telling us that we have to pay money
to see if we won money in some sweepstakes that
we can't even remember entering in.  But all
it takes is just a few 'uninformed' and 'stupid'
people to make these morally incorrect people
rich.  Same goes for those who sell cels at
5-10 times the cost.  They really couldn't care
less what we think of their practices.  They
are preying on those who are not informed about
the true prices on cels.  All it takes is 1 bid
from 1 person, and that morally incorrect person
has made big profit.

Anime was at one time a special club.  So were
many other things I adore.  Unfortunately, 
everything seems to go mainstream at some point
in time.  When that happens, price increases
and profiteering follow.  Its a sad cycle in
life.  Although I have not personally felt the
sting of a profiteering mark-up (I don't collect
DBZ, Tenchi, or Gundam Wing cels), I really feel
for those who do collect such cels, and are 
forced to see some of their dream cels at sky-
high prices.
Well, thats my 2-and a half- cents ^_^
Ja!
Sophie