I wondered why the Tenchi cel I got had a 20 
something dollar price tag on the bag back. (I 
paid a good deal more) I've won about 3 things 
from him. I wish I could get it cheaper, but 
reality is, in many ways, he *is* providing a 
service, and he seems to be a decent, polite 
person. While I would love the white-picket-fence 
world of cheap, cheap, cheap cels, the reality is 
without this guy, I would not have a few cels that 
I really, really like. I have no access to 
california, and these items aren't available on 
the net, so without him, I had no chance at them, 
someone besides me would have gotten them- that 
is worth some money. Would anyone in California be 
willing to get a load and offer them here for 
cost? 
...
I didn't think so.
Prices of cels also need to be adressed, because 
a lot of the discussions lately seem to harken 
back to it in some way, shape, or form. So many 
"old-timers" in the hobby just don't want prices 
to go up, and don't want to believe anime cels are 
going for more, but face it, they are. Since anime 
has become more mainstream here (USA), demand is 
higher all around, so prices go up. Maybe it's a 
swell or bubble- maybe it will go back down, but I 
tend to have my doubts, because anime is not 
getting any less popular. Those of you that got 
cels for $20 that now go for $400, be damn glad, I 
never got to experience that, but I can't 
complain, because this is a free-market economy, 
and the hobby will bear the prices people are 
willing to pay.