ABOUT THE BACKGROUNDS:

Most of the backgrounds for prop_lady auctions 
are in fact non-matching (many times, it's 
painfully obvious) but it took some e-mails and 
protest on this forum before Marcia finally 
decided to place her disclaimer ["I do not know 
if it's matching"] on all her auctions.  That 
might have been 1-2 years after she already began 
selling on E-Bay.  That meant that a lot of 
bidders (many simply not knowledgeable enough) 
got tricked into thinking they were paying for 
matching backgrounds.

Even now, many don't know this fact and if the 
background blends with the cel well enough, and 
they still might bid believing that they are 
paying for the authentic matching background 
along with the cel.  This is unfortunate.

However, I don't think Marcia is to be blamed for 
anything here, really (except maybe trying to 
hide this fact in order to boost sales).  I truly 
believe that the majority of the time, Anime 
Assault doesn't know if the backgrounds match the 
cels.  In fact, many times, they can't even 
identify the anime title where a cel comes from.  
I just chalk it up to their general lack of anime 
knowledge.

[MY ADVICE #3 TO MARCIA]

Watch more anime!  Or at least ask your 
distributor what titles do your cels come from.  
The more knowledgeable you are about the stuff 
you sell, the better you'll be able to pitch and 
advertise them.  And you won't have to resort to 
what some consider sneaky seller practices.

And although I don't think you will ever do this, 
you really should warn bidders that more likely 
than not, the background that accompanies a cel 
will not match.

I read in a forum post once that you receive the 
cels from your Japanese distributor and they 
already have these backgrounds paired with them.  
I know that it's true that some Japanese dealers 
will add non-matching backgrounds, but they 
should know when this is the case.  You should 
make a better effort to ask your distributor and 
have them mark the matching v. non-matching 
background cels.

Personally, I don't think you'll take up this 
suggestion because it might hurt your sales.  But 
it would be the ethical thing to do.