Even before the VED and 5000ED scanners (two models that both use that holder) were discontinued, the FH-3 was consistently out of stock. When I bought mine, I just got lucky one day when it appeared as in stock on Adorama's web site and I immediately bought it. Now that these scanners have been discontinued, I recommend checking Keh's website to wait for one to show up and then jumping on it. Otherwise, your friend could always buy an exorbitantly priced one from ebay.