Yes, I am rather new to cel collcting, but I am 
not new to foreign exchange rates.  I deal with 
them once in while in my normal job, and I have 
had to deal with them in the past for other 
hobbies.

I guess I am just wondering if the standards are 
different with cels. I mean, the exchange rate 
between the dollar and the yen has been steadily 
increasing.  Last time I checked it was 124 yen 
to the dollar and climbing.  

Now, before I ever buy / bid on something in yen, 
I always ask what they use as an exchange rate. 
Now I could understand padding it a little and 
not using the exchange rate at the exact moment 
when the auction closes. So, if I were quoted 120 
yen to the dollar or something similar, I'd have 
understood.

Instead, I am being quoted 106!  Now the 
difference betwenn 106 and 120 isn't huge on a 
10,000 yen cel (i.e. $11 dollars - which is still 
close to paying for shipping).  But the cel I am 
looking at is more like 75,000 yen which means 
close to $100 they make just on the exchange 
rate. Is this the normal practice?

If I would still want to get this cel, I must 
sell some of what I have which I'm not going to 
do because I will always feel slightly cheated 
when I look at the new cel. A $100 may not seem 
like a lot so some, but to me, that could buy a 
couple of other cels! 

Does anyone else ever experience this, and is 
this just a normal practice? I am just wondering 
so I know what to expect in the future and won't 
be so upset.