The same seller who when asked by the KKG historian to "donate" the pins was told to put on a bid like everyone else??

As far as the other stuff that is not stuff from my friend. The keys so far are they only things to have shown up after all these years, as for the other stuff stolen who know of any of that is still around, it may have already been melted down.....these obviously were kept because someone, whoever obtained these from the person who stole them in the first place must have thought they'd be worth something someday......

I just hope if anyone else were in this situation that there would be others willing to try and help.

Thanks
BG

The seller has a right to sell the badges. That is not in dispute and the KKG historian asked if they were willing to sell directly to them them and just because the seller wants to sell does not make them a bad person or a thief. Sellers on ebay are in business to make money, plain and simple.

That being said, your "friend" just needs to handle it through ebay with a police report. How are you not seeing the simplicity of that? Stolen jewlery = filed police report.

Personally I feel you are utterly full of crap, but that is just my opinion. You are a seller on ebay yourself, you know the routine, and just want these badges so you can turn around and eventually sell them yourself for a jacked up overinflated price after coveting them yourself for a while. Do you really think people fall for your schtick?

*corrected to indicate the correct working from the Kappa historian*

The only ones who can help are the police, or perhaps the insurance company.

It's simple- get the original police report on the theft sent to ebay. I am assuming that they filed with their insurance company - you could also have the insurance company submit their report.

I've dealt with stolen merchandise on ebay before - it's easy peasy, lemon squeezey.

eta - Apparently, great Gamma Phi Beta minds think alike!

I concur.

Here's the KKG historian's polite message to the seller, just to clear up any misperceptions or misunderstandings that might arise from using the word "donate" in quotes.

I am the staff archivist and museum curator for Kappa Kappa Gamma. I recently learned of your auction and was immediately intrigued by the badges and their connection to a Civil War veteran. Is there a chance you would be willing to sell the badges directly to our organization? Their historical significance to Kappa Kappa Gamma is great as we work to interpret the history of our organization in the context of the women's movement. We have two Victorian house museums in which we display pieces like these badges to share the history of women and how traditional roles in society began to shift at the close of the Civil War. As a nonprofit organization we are unable to devote great resources to acquire objects for our exhibits and rely heavily on donations. But as we prepare to celebrate our 150th Anniversary in 2020, we do have some resources that can be put towards the purchase of objects intended for display and interpretation. Thanks for considering, Kylie Towers Smith, Archivist/Cura


The insurance company will definitely be interested in recovering stolen property. Why haven't they been contacted to get involved?

And so that you can draw your own conclusions, here is the seller's equally courteous and polite response:

Thanks for you email Kylie, As you can see from the bidding several collectors have interest in these pieces. Some may be looking to add these unusual pieces to their own collection. I was glad that an Internet search turned up their father's Civil War connection. He must have been proud to have his daughters achieve a high degree of education around the turn of that century. I have to be fair to all so I must continue the auction. If you are not the high bidder on these pieces I can certainly pass your Ebay name onto the winning bidder. I am sure they will be glad to contribute information, photos, etc. of scarce or unusual pieces from their own collection to assist you in keeping the history of Kappa Kappa Gamma alive and open to all of those interested in the wonderful achievements of that fine organization. Best of luck, Brian from Estateauction

So in other words, the seller isn't a the total douche canoe like BadgeGuy is making him out to appear.

^^^ winner winner chicken dinner!

No, I have absolutely no interest in these pins, EVEN if they weren't stolen!
Yes the seller is not the one who stole these pins (as far as I know) you are are right that the police need to handle this. But the timing will be close and if they can't have the auction ended in time, then whoever the high bidder is, may be out of the pins and the money should the police find that these are the pins in question......

Police in a small town may not act as quickly as police in a bigger city, and this certainly isn't a "major heist" and it's up to that police dept to handle it in their way.

I just wanted to alert people to this situation incase there are any others out there who may be dealing with the same thing.

I am full aware if how eBay works, and that can sometimes be the problem! If someone does get badges or jewelery stolen, and someone else lists it, then all the other people who start bidding on these items have no way of knowing what the situation is.

The fact of the matter is that my friend alerted me to a situation in the so called 11th hour because they were not looking for their badges be user they had no clue they still existed....hoped, but not expected.

I am just trying to help a friend....nothing else.

Because insurance companies cannot deal with eBay, only the police can....if they get to it in time or better, if eBay gets the message in time to do something about it.

So if this is the case then why am I being targeted in reference to the old 1885 pin?? I'm sure the Keepers were able to get it according to your post!

But, that is a discussion for another thread....

If the insurance company paid out, they are in fact now the owners of the badges, so they should indeed contact e-bay. They will also have a copy of the police report as part of their file. A few strokes of the computer keyboard and all is taken care of - ta da!

Oh, you do understand ebay policies? Good. Regardless, the insurance company will want their property, which they now own as they paid the owners for it. They will definitely bring pressure to bear on ebay. Then it is a matter between your "friends" and their insurance company.

ebay does not want to get shut down for selling stolen property.

This is not rocket science.

I can practically hear the Law & Order "Doink, Doink"...we need to alert Briscoe and Green.

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