I'm not sure who this "thomas" guy is either, but 
I also have visited the Animate store once in a 
while, and there is a little more to the story 
that you're describing.

Animate can have GREAT cels for as little as $7 
to $13 each... the trick is to know when to visit 
the store.  I heard that they try to restock 
their cels every Saturday morning (or every other 
Saturday morning).  For those who are regular 
visitors, they definitely know when to appear at 
the store and gobble up all the best cels.

Unfortunately, I live about 2-3 hours away and 
thus I can't make the regular visits.  But once 
in a while I came up with some gems (how about 2 
full-figure cels of both battle-transformed 
Keberos and Yue together for just $6.70 each, 
eh?).

One person I'm pretty sure is a frequent customer 
and tries to grab the best cels is one particular 
E-Bay seller (I think the ID was RYVIUS).  The 
cels being auctioned by RYVIUS probably costs 
maybe $7-17 each at Animate, but the starting 
bids can range from $10 to $20 (resellers, go 
figure).  But most of the cels are pretty nice, 
so RYVIUS definitely knows when Animate restocks 
and is there to buy up the good cels (while poor 
folks like me are left with the scraps).

I think, peggiechu, you just saw the scraps.

BUT there is still another side to this story 
(damn, I'm writing a lot).  Like the Mandarake 
store in LA, Animate sold REALLY REALLY good cels 
for dirt cheap when they started out.  But as 
more people learned about their business AND the 
store owners got a better idea about market value 
for their cels... they naturally raised the 
prices on the better cels.

Even then, though, Animate cels are still cheaper 
than market value.  And if you show up when they 
restock... well, you're sure to score some gems.

Don't believe me?  Just talk with the store 
employees.  They usually know when the next cel 
shipments come in and when they restock.  And 
they won't mind telling you.

In fact, I would feel a little better about not 
being able to get some of the good cels if people 
who enjoy cels buy from Animate rather than 
people who buy cels from Animate just to resell 
for a profit.  Genuine cel-lovers deserve a 
break, don't they?