Drac!
You sound like you don't think anyone should make 
money on anything. :-) That would make it a little 
hard to have an economy wouldn't it? 

As someone who has been in the collectable 
business for 26 years, I have to say that this is 
one market where people can make, OR lose, a ton 
of money. 
I have been on the other side of that Beanie Baby 
coin, let me tell you. I was the dealer who sold 
the Beanies for six bucks, getting up at the crack 
of dawn to get ready for the lines of people 
waiting to get the new beanies, only to watch my 
own customers make a hundred and fifty dollars 
for something they just paid six for, in our own 
parking lot. Sure, some of it makes you mad, and 
some people are totally contemptible in EVERY 
collector market.

But, that doesn't mean nobody should make money. 
It is the way the world works. We have to make 
money to survive, if someone is very clever, they 
can do it with collectibles. On the other hand, 
for every person who buys low, sells high, and 
gets out fast, there are a hundred with a room 
full of Barbies or Cabbage Patch kids that they 
can't unload for anything. Right now, we are 
selling our old Beanies for $2 each, and finally 
getting rid of a few of them. We didn't over buy, 
the market just died. As it always does. We told 
them so, but it doesn't matter....people go nuts 
for what they want to collect, even if it is to 
hopefully resell. 

Pins, Cards, Dolls, Star Wars toys, it is all the 
same, that's true. But if there is a need for a 
middle man, because people can't get these items 
on their own (the Deputy Services are a good 
example in the cel world) then there are clever 
people out there willing to help. Call it 
exploitation, or profit mongers, but they are 
there to fill a need or they wouldn't be there. 

Yes, we made less than nothing on the Beanie Baby 
craze, we had to hire an extra person just to be 
able to run our business, and people loved us for 
it. Why wouldn't they? They were making a ton of 
money off our contract to sell the items at their 
retail price! If I could have, I would have made a 
lot more money on Beanies, believe me. 

But I have been in this business too long to 
resent everyone who turns a profit. I would be a 
hypocrite because we wouldn't have a business if 
nobody loved collecting. In all these years, we 
have never been slandered in a much more 
cut-throat world than the cel world, because we 
are honest. We have kept a flawless reputation 
against all odds. That probably means we are 
stupid, because we could have made a lot more 
money than we have. 

 Personally, honesty is most important. If you are 
honestly selling a cel for profit, so be it! It 
isn't morally wrong to make money...really, it 
isn't. :-) You just have to be up front about what 
you are doing, and I don't think anyone can fault 
you for that. A cel dealer has a right to make 
money, we have established that. Well, so do the 
people who want to sell their own cels. If you 
bought a cel for $10 two years ago, and that cel 
was worth $500 now...would you sell it for $10?
Now, I don't mean to your best friend...but would 
you put it up for sale on a website for your 
original price? Even if knew the buyer would 
easily turn around and make a nice profit on it? 
If so, then I will say that you have the courage 
of your convictions and will shut up... :-)
Kathleen