My experience is very limited, but in my travels with others I have noticed exactly the opposite pattern; my non-elite friends and family will be offered buy-ups, and I will not (I am 2P now but was 1P before that and 1K before that). I have been offered a buy-up once or twice, but it seems to me, based on my limited experience, that whatever algorithm they use to offer it favors non-elites over elites (perhaps because they assume that elites can use various instruments to upgrade).