I have no problems with anything you've said 
here. Yes, if someone buys and pays for something 
then there is nothing legally stopping them from 
doing anything they want with it. (Providing they 
avoid things like. . . er. . . lewd acts in pubic 
with such items. . . *laughter*)

But the point is, not everyone is pleased with 
actions that are perfectly legal. It's his right 
to resell the cel at any time, but when he's 
apparently snapped up some cels for immediate 
resale - and about doubled the price tags on two 
of them (I'm not privvy to the details of the 
Slayers cel) - it is MY right to decide that I'm 
not going to offer him a penny. As Wndrkn so 
wonderfully put it: "buyers can do what they want 
too."

That said, I would also like to take this moment 
to back up Blueheaven. . . Although people *will* 
pay what they want for given cels (nothing but 
lack of money on the part of the buyer will stop 
that, and sometimes that isn't even a deterrant), 
I think more collectors have to step back and say 
to themselves: "Is this really worth that?"  I 
fully admit to knowingly overpaying for some of 
my cels - but only after carefully assessing some 
points about the cel.

A) What is my estimate of how many cels there are 
in the given sequence or of the given character? 
How many of those are "good" cels - ones I would 
want to own?  (An assessment of the chances of a 
similar cel popping up for sale later.)

B) Is it from a major series, likely carried by 
many dealers? Or a minor, hard to find one? (More 
dealers carrying it is more chances others will 
show up - also more price competition and thus a 
chance of a lower price when others show up.)

Example #1
I now watch people pay *hordes* for cels of Hiei. 
Yes, Hiei is popular - not cheap even before YuYu 
cels went up in price. But collectors! Consider 
things carefully! There are over 110 episodes in 
YuYu Hakusho, plus movies. Hiei is a major 
character, gets a *LOT* of screen time, and almost
every dealer in my favorites folder carries at 
least some YuYu cels. Unless it's an A1End or the 
*exact* cel you want, to the screen capture, with 
it's background - why fight for one?? More will 
show up later. The show isn't going to be the 
most "in" thing forever - prices will go down 
again.

Don't believe me?

Example #2
I wanted a particular cel of Raphael and Mikael 
hugging. I'd seen some from the sequence for sale 
and in private galleries, but by the time I saw 
it in the anime and wanted it, the Raphael kick 
was in *full* swing. I was offered a few by 
different people (dealers and private collectors) 
for upwards of $250. But the sequence isn't *that*
short, and lots of dealers were carrying Narumon. 
I turned away the cels with the high price tags. 
What did waiting get me? A wonderful cel with 
matching sketch from the exact sequence I wanted 
for a grand total of about $80 *after* you count 
in both shipping from Japan and the cost of the 
money order. This wasn't a private deal - it was 
on *Ebay*, so there was ample opportunity for 
other fans to bid against me. And no one did. The 
immediate "in"ness of Raphael was basically over.

So, yes, collectors CAN choose to NOT fuel overly 
high cel prices and still not lose out in the 
end. We just have to get out of the mentality of 
needing to have something *NOW*, and the notion 
that whatever cel we're looking at immediately is 
the *ONLY* one we'll ever have a chance to get of 
that character, scene, etc. . . More often than 
not, opportunity knocks more than once where 
collecting is concerned.

Many Sharp Smiles,
--Drac