I know 'offers' are by definition an extremely 
grey area, but as a long time collector that has 
been around the cel block quite a few times, I 
have to ask a question because I find the 
definition of "offer" has changed quite radically 
since my day. 

When I began, back in the stone ages, offers were 
usually only for rare cels, not for entire 
collections. It wasn't often people even 
mentioned the word offer and sale pages had 
definite prices to the cels. Myself, I've only 
been willing to entertain offers once in my years 
of collecting and made it very clear which cels 
were up for grabs. I have to be honest and find 
the latest trend of "Let's see what I can get" to 
be a little...unprofessional. I have every 
respect for my fellow collectors, but my view is 
the shot is either available or it's not. 
Otherwise, let's not waste each other's time. 

On more than one occasion I've come into contact 
with back and forth decision making and wavering 
when it comes to private collectors and their 
open for offers policy. In my experience this has 
happened mostly with Dragonball collectors (who 
in all fairness, tend to be a little younger) but 
also with other series' collectors as well. An 
offer period is advertised, I've responded with a 
very fair and serious offer and have at times 
gotten in reply an extremely vague email such 
as, "Wellll...I don't know. A few months ago 
there was this guy who said he'd give me some 
more but then he couldn't pay and could only pay 
if some other guy wanted to buy his cel. I 
haven't heard from him in a few months. If I hear 
from him, I'm going to take it." And I find 
myself thinking first of all, "What does that 
mean?" and secondly, "Oiy, if you had legitimate 
offer or don't know if you want to part with the 
cel then don't advertise the darn thing." It's my 
feeling you should be ready to part with a shot 
before it's on the block in ANY form. If 
unwilling to part with it, make that darn clear. 

I thought most people felt the same, but perhaps 
I'm wrong. I'd love to hear other people's view 
on this one especially considering the current 
offer trend. For my taste, much of it is a little 
too unstructured, but heck, I'm always willing 
swallow my opinion of how I feel it SHOULD be 
handled and roll with the times if necessary. 

In the end us cel folk are a small community and 
we're all on the same team. I just want to make 
sure my rule book is current. ;)

Muchas gracias, 

MeganD.