all it takes is for one or two "Registers" to be used to obtain first crack at vehicles for all others to be subject to scrutiny.
I know of one Register in the US that is run by one person and seems to exist for that reason.
As for Registers and/or Clubs getting first crack at cars for sale, I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but I can see where members could call foul play depending on the circumstances.
A Club I USED to belong to used to publish classified ads in the newsletter. They did not want the "appearance" of impropriety so a clause was always printed saying officers of the club would not act on any ads until at least 3 days after the newsletter was mailed.
This seemed fair until I found out that this only applied to the ads that were actually PRINTED!
For many years, people would submit classifieds and the Club Officers would then grab up whatever cars or parts they wanted to buy BEFORE ever making it to print. So really the only cars making it to print were the ones the Club Officers did not want. Oh, "get involved and be a Club Officer"? you may say? Sorry, members not allowed at meetings. Invitation only to be a "Club Officer".
So, while I do agree with Marcus' point, in this instance "getting more involved" would not get you anywhere. That Club existed to serve a few people. "Members" were another class that received the crumbs.
I should also point out that being the person that accepts and also seeks out classifieds for a Club magazine, I do find it tempting to pounce on some things myself, but fortunately I have neither the money nor the storage to collect. I also have people asking me all the time what is coming up in the next issue in regards to the classified and I have always turned down any requests as I feel it would be unfair to other members. Of course, the seller could put the car up on eBay from the time it was listed in the classified section to the time it got printed so it could be sold already, but I am always surprised at the number of the people that do NOT want to use eBay.
I have also heard that a few of people think I acquired the two microcars that I DO own via the classifieds in Microcar News (Goggomobil Transporter & Zündapp Janus), the Goggo was acquired long ago before the magazine existed and while I did acquire the Janus while Microcar News existed, it was never offered up to Club members. It was offered privately to a friend of mine who went back and forth about it for about a year before I asked permission if I could be allowed to buy it. Once I had permission from my friend, (?) I asked the seller and was politely turned down (I offered asking price). Months later I received a call from the seller asking if I was still interested and I agreed to the price without any haggling, this was the reason he called me back as everyone else he had offered the car to had tried to get him to cut his price almost in half. I was the only person willing to pay his asking price (which I thought was fair). But he did not want to advertise the car publicly in any way. He was also not a Club member and did not want to place a classified ad. So I had no choice but to buy the car!