Point is:
When Cartoon Network shows a new anime here in
the US, people in the US start to go hog-wild for 
it.  Remember the insane Sailor Moon prices?
The DBZ cel prices that were through the roof?
The price of a single lousy Ryoko cel on eBay
costing the downpayment of a car??

Time passed, and the prices fell again - I
hardly ever see Sailor Moon cels go for over
$1000 (in fact, I don't see many in the $500-$800
range anymore either), DBZ cels (with the 
exception of the episodes showing NOW on CN)
have fallen in price (overall, since there are
exceptions), and Tenchi cels are back to where
they were before the CN exposure.  But now
Cowboy Bebop is showing, and American collectors
want cels from it.

This has little (or nothing) to do with the
Japanese sellers. I doubt they watch eBay or
Cartoon Network.  But the rabid US collectors
who are new to CB and hot for cels are driving
up eBay, seller sites, YJ (through deputy
services), etc etc etc.  And I'm sure the dealers
(here and overseas) notice that they can get more
for a Faye than they used to.  

I'm not faulting the dealers for that.  If they
can sell the cel for more, good for them.  But
if I collected CB (which I don't) I'd just wait
a while for the frenzy to die down.  Fads don't
last long.