Despite a few of these questionable practices 
that Anime Assault is becoming known for, I still 
find a few auctions worth looking at and bidding 
for.  Some of the cels (by themselves) are worth 
quite a bit.  And because Anime Assault is not 
very knowledgeable about certain anime titles, 
many of the cels are not represented very well in 
their descriptions and thus you can "steal" some 
valuable cels for a decent price (if you know 
what you're looking for).

But here are my ground rules for any bidder 
thinking about a prop_lady auction:

[1] Bid for the cel itself, not for the 
background (if there is one) that comes with it.  
Try your best to imagine the cel without the 
background and decide on its worth yourself.

[2] Never trust a background (if there is one) to 
be an authentic match for the cel it 
accompanies.  It almost never is and Marcia will 
tell you that she wouldn't know either.

[3] But also keep in mind, a nice background 
(even if non-matching) for a cel can be tough to 
find some times.  That's why certain folks will 
be anywhere from $2-20 for background alone.  If 
the bidding is close, you might want to decide 
the background alone is worth bidding a few more 
dollars.

[4] Never forget the fees (shipping, handling, 
whatever) that are listed in the auction 
description while you're bidding.  If it's 
unclear, ask the seller before you bid.  This 
should apply to ANY auction you look at.

Overall, I don't think Anime Assault should be 
villified or anything like that.  But it would be 
nice if some of their practices could be cleaned 
up a bit.