I guess I have to admit to being a relative 
newcomer to cel collecting.  I have loved anime 
for most of my life (30 yrs) but never had the 
ability to buy easily until recently. I do tend 
not to question prices as much as I should but I 
do this for several reasons. 
 1) because I am new and my income comfortable, 
what seems high to a long time collector may seem 
reasonable to me (ignorance is bliss)
 2) I do not like to assume that if a price is 
high they are ripping me off.  I give the person 
the benefit of the doubt.  There may be other 
factors that I am not aware of, including how 
attached the seller is to a cel.  I have seen 
many who sell beloved cels only because they need 
the money.  Who am I to put a money value on 
their degree of attachment?  Only the seller can 
do that.  (It is also why I would not make an 
offer on any cel in a gallery. I assume if they 
would entertain offers they would indicate it.) 
Also, how do I know they did not pay a high price 
to get it in the first place? 
3)I work between 60-75 hours a week.  Often these 
are night shifts.  This makes viewing updates 
regularly very difficult. Often Ebay is by far my 
best chance at buying what I like, since cels can 
be bid on over a longer period of time. To say 
that this unfairly raises the prices is 
unreasonable. If I really like a cel and can 
afford to buy it, why shouldn't I?  Will someone 
else not buy a dream cel from a seller on the 
philosophy it would be fairer to allow the rest 
of us with tight schedules to view it first? We 
each have different advantages; easier schedules, 
friends/connections or income.  Which method 
seems unfair probably depends on where you are 
sitting.
Wow, sorry, I didn't mean to turn number three 
into a complaint. I am very attached to the cels 
I own and have gladly spent a few hundred dollars 
(or more) for them.  I guess I get a little 
bothered by the suggestion that people pay such 
amounts only because they wish to turn a profit 
or to run up the market for everyone else.