for crying out loud...
 

i know this is just me ranting, cause i hate it when people sell pins on ebay and crap. but dang, if you're going to sell a fraternity or sorority pin on ebay at least KNOW WHICH ORGANIZATION IT FREAKING BELONGS TO...AHHHHHHHHHHH... that is sooooooooo retarded. i so saw a pin on there today advertised as "AB fraternity pin????" when in fact it's an XYZ fraternity pin and the AB part is the damn chapter guard. freaking losers. WHEW! sorry 'bout that, but some of those people on ebay are really really really gosh darn stupid.

marissa

Some folks shouldn't get so worked up over "pins" on ebay. Like, they're real pins anyways. I don't think so.

Sorry Hoc,

But it appears to me that the pins n E-Bay are very real, and most of us feel that they should be earned, not purchased.

Ebay pins are real. It would not be easy (or desirable) to produce fakes. There are specific companies whose job it is to produce the pins, so it's not like zales sells them or something.

I rest my case.

Your witness, counselor.

Are you angry?

same crap, different clown ....
 

hocnsoc81, why so tense?

Everyone has a different opinion about their badge/pin - some people never put it after they leave college, and others (like moi and others on this thread) do treasure what it means. After all, I'm sure you would get upset if I said a soccer cleet isn't a 'real ' cleet.

I think you could have some real constructive things to say, so why not give it a try instead of this other tripe throughout GC? I think you would find it quite refreshing :cool:

Frankly, it's just rather shoddy to put down someone for what they believe in - whether you agree or not. The old adage still holds true today - "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".

Re: same crap, different clown ....
 

Why is everyone so tense?

Let me clarify:
I often see threads about badges and Ebay, it appears to be an important issue.
I gave my opinion also, eventhough it looked like no one agreed. It wasn't meant as a put-down, just a thought. Heck, I might even change my mind if I ever recieve one in the future.

What would a non-greek person do with these badges? :confused:

Marissa,
Tell us how you *REALLY* feel! ;)

Seriously though, I completely agree with you!

I do think most of the pins (i.e. "badges") being sold on eBay are the real McCoy and while I think the practice stinks, if someone is going to do it, at least GET THE NAME OF THE GLO RIGHT! Ai yi yi!!!

My friend, a KD, was looking through E-Bay to see if there were any KD pins on sale. We were laughing hysterically when we saw a KD pin on sale with the seller saying "Nice pearl Delta Kappa pin!" :rolleyes:

Re: Re: same crap, different clown ....
 

Well, look at the non greek people selling the badges on E-Bay for alot of money... thats what a non-greek person would do!

Bad Badge Cycle -

It belongs to a greek.... somehow it ends up in the hands of a non greek... who then sells it for money to another non greek, who then sells it for money to another non greek... etc...

What would a GREEK person do with a collection of badges?

I've been to a few webpages maintained by a fraternity member which displayed his huge greek badge collection. So I guess the answer to my own question would be...show them off? :rolleyes:

Re: Re: same crap, different clown ....
 

Oh, it's just too easy :rolleyes:

At least they got the letters right. I saw a Lambda Chi badge that is listed as Phi Omicron something. Also saw Zeta Beta Omicron for Zeta Phi Beta. You can really comb through these auctions and find NPC and NIC pins, lots of times under different letters and such because the owners have no idea! Tis a shame!

By the way, I found 2 XO pins, 2 AXO pins, 1 DDD pin, 3 or 4 Pi Phi pins, 1 KD pin, 1 TPA pin, 1 AOpi pin, 1 DG pin and 1 ADPi pin yesterday. Of course wptw will yell at me for advertising that they're out there, but oh well. I just hope some alumnae or HQ office can get the badge :)

shadokat, let me know if you see a LXA Badge on ebay out side of the LXA web thread! Thanks!!!!!!

:)

I don't know about all the other organizations, but Phi Mu holds ownership of the badges, and they are actually supposed to be returned to the exec. offices in the event of death....
I really think it's a shame to see pins and badges on ebay, but the thought crossed my mind that, if the pin or badge belonged to a relative, and you had no idea what it was.... what would you do with it? Just a thought....

There was one of our badges on E-bay once and the dude who was selling it described the lamp as a "teapot"--I started to laugh until I realized what an idiot this person was and that he shouldn't have even had his hands on the pin to begin with.

...they hold ownership , huh? The way I see it , the person who paid for the badge, owns it. If you do return the badge will they give you back the money or at least give the money to your chapter?

One thing we tried that worked was just e-mailing the person selling it and explained to her what it meant. It was the number 7 pin of our chapter, so we wanted it really bad! The woman selling it was very apologetic and told us that she acquired it through a will and really had no idea what it was. She was proud to give it back to us, and we used it for an officer pin....

But what's chances that everyone is that nice? Well, it's worth a try at least!

I happen to agree with you on the ownership of the badge. What we're told, though, is that the badges can be willed to a legacy or we can wear them to the grave. Otherwise, they are supposed to be returned to national offices. As for what the fraternity does with those that are returned, they are passed to sisters who have lost their badges to theft or something of that sort. As far as I know, there is no return of money. Strange but true.

Maybe it could be considered paying money for the honor of wearing the badge (i.e. rent?)?

That's an interesting way of looking at it. I personally wouldn't object, but if they're going to do that it should be understood from the beginning...it's a little misleading to say that members BUY their badges, because that implies that the badges are theirs totally.

I don't totally object to the idea of returning the badge now that I know what happens to them. It could also be that there are stipulations to wearing the badge if you are not a 'member in good standing....'

So, what you all are trying to say is that sometimes newly initiated members can recieve badges from DEAD PEOPLE? :eek:

What is that stench?

...oh right, it's this dead horse.


I'm not going into the whole argument again, but I will say one thing:

To say that an ebay seller is stupid because they don't know the greek alphabet, or because they can't squint at a half inch wide DZ pin and tell whether it's a lamp or a teapot is, well... stupid.

I know plenty of brilliant people who couldn't recite the greek alphabet if you held a gun to their head (or if you made them hold a lit match in their hand!). Perhaps they were too brainy and nerdy to get a bid so they never learned, who knows? Anyway, knowledge of greek letters and symbols does not always equal intelligence (as evidenced every day on this very message board).

It's ironic how greeks complain so much about being stereotyped and then make the same superficial judgments about others.

wptw

Ouch! I wouldn't make a statement like that on GC if I were you. Unless you want to get flamed.

No, that's not what I'm saying. It isn't widely known what the return policy is used for. I just know that in extreme cases, a pin can be replaced using this method. New initiates' badges are ordered through a jeweler.

Oh, I don't know. I think it would be a safe thing if the sentence were changed to "Some Greeks."

Some of us do stereotype. Not all of us.

I guess what we have is a circular stereotype here. We're being stereotyped as being stereotypical.

Jeez. That's scary. I just want to be like everyone else.

Hey, now, don't go losing the rag, wptw! I'm just saying that this person obviously wasn't a member and really should not have been in possession of the pin. I love my sorority and I'm going to do my best to make sure that my pin doesn't end up on e-bay like that one--if I don't have a legacy to give it to, I'll have them bury me with it and if anyone wants it, they will have to pry my "teapot" out of my bony fingers. :p

Why, you wouldn't happen to be Teapot Dude, would you?

I would also agree that intelligence can not be measured by whether a person can recite the Greek alphabet BUT if I were to sell an item on ebay, I WOULD TRY to figure out what a funny looking letter is called. That is to the seller's benefit so he can get the correct people to view the item- thus getting a higher price! I think someone could easilyfind this type of information on the 'net.

Achtung: No, I'm not "teapot dude". I'm a badge collector, so I've got a pretty good grasp on what all the letters and symbols are. And there's no "rag" - I'm not angry or upset. Just perplexed why some people continue to cast so much ire toward people who are just trying to make a living selling estate jewelry. Get angry about pins being sold on ebay if you like, but why take it out on the dealers? Calling an anonymous person a stupid loser simply because they aren't knowledgable about the details of a narrow niche of American society is unfair and actually makes you look like the narrow-minded one. I certainly don't expect the entire world to know or care what my badge looks like.

DeltAlum: Circular stereotypes. That's funny. You're right of course. I should have said "some greeks".

Alpha Gam: Agreed. A little research to get the description right would certainly attract more bidders and bring more money. I don't mind the mistakes though - you can find some great bargains that way.

You know what's funny? Have you seen the ones where the item is mislisted, and then there's note down below that says something like "thanks to a helpful ebayer who identified this pin as a Delta Zeta sorority pin and not a Triangle-Z teapot pin..."? Do you ever chuckle to yourself and wonder who these "helpful ebayers" are? And why in the world they would do this? Seems like shooting yourself in the foot to me.

wptw

Like AlphaGam1019 said, it is to the SELLER'S BENEFIT. If I acquired a large amount of athletic equipment (which I know nothing about), I would definitely identify it correctly before going to the bother of listing it on ebay. I mean which will get me more bids - listing a "Brie Neptune Lacrosse Stick" or "petrified butterfly net looking thing"? If someone is intelligent enough to use the internet to sell things, they are intelligent enough to do MINIMAL research to identify those things properly. If they don't, then yes, they are stupid losers. That applies to ANYTHING, not just pins and badges!

But 33girl, I think you might be mistaking a seller’s conscious choice for stupidity. I often buy large lots of pins when there is a greek badge hidden in there. So after a few months, I’ve got a drawer full of miscellaneous pins and jewelry. I group them as best I can and I sell them off with little or no research. I’ve probably mislisted plenty of Masonic and other fraternal items. It’s not because I’m stupid. It’s because when I weigh the time it takes to do the research against the extra few bucks I’d make, doing the research just doesn’t pay off. Costume jewelry is a better example - I know nothing about costume jewelry, and if I type that into a search engine I’ll get about 205,000 hits. No way I’m going to waste my time researching it. By the way, type in Sorority Pin and you get about 5,500 hits.

If I just found a sorority pin in an old drawer and it’s the only thing I’m selling, then sure it makes sense to do the research. But if I’m a dealer and I just bought 5 estates last weekend, I’m going to describe the little items as best I can, get them listed, get my money and move on to the more valuable items like cars, antique furniture and fine jewelry. If I’m a smart dealer, I know that people are doing keyword searches for “Sorority Pin” and as long as I’ve got those keywords in there someone is going to properly identify it and buy it regardless of whether I call it a teapot or a lamp. That actually sounds like a pretty smart business decision to me.

Some of you write these pleading emails to sellers asking them to understand why your badge is so important. Well, who has taken a moment to try and understand what the seller is all about, and what’s important to them? Just trying to make you see both sides of the argument, which is what educated people like ourselves are SUPPOSED to do. I’m quite sure there are stupid dealers out there, but that really isn’t the issue. The issue is how greeks are perceived by our communities. And when we continue to let emotion lead us to making judgments without real basis, then we continue to present ourselves as spoiled elitist children.

wptw

And now for the free advertising!!

Pins found: 2 LXA, 1 KS, 3 Pi Phi, 2 Beta Theta Pi, 2 PIKE, 1 KKG, 1 ATO, 2 Phi Kappa Sigma, 1 TKE, 4 XO, 3 DKE.

1 each: Phi Kappa Psi, DZ, AGD, SAE, Sig Ep, SGR, DU, Omega Psi Phi, DTD, Fiji and DDD.

Thanks for the advertising Shadokat. I'm selling a few this week and could use some help with those Christmas bills.

wptw

I have a Mark McGuire rookie card, from the Oakland Athletics. But because I do not like the Oakland Athletics, I am going to get rid of the card. I will probably just give it to some Oakland Athletics fan, for free. NOT.

Somewhere in this 4 page thread, somone said, "Why would somone want a pin that they do not know the meaning behind?".

I say money, its all about the benjamins, baby. Plus they are just pretty cool.

Check out the Alpha Delta Phi pin on ebay right now, well over $500.

I am thinking about resaddling this dead horse and taking her for a ride.

No problem wptw. I live to line your pockets :rolleyes:

wptw - I totally see your point about having tons of stuff to sell, and I agree. But if you (not you personally, of course) don't know FOR SURE, just list it as "sorority or fraternity pin" and leave it at that. Don't try to sell the "Epsilon Chi" pin and think you're smart...when it's Sigma Chi. You'll just make yourself look dumb. As you said, people do searches on sorority pin, why make it more difficult?

Agreed 33girl. Guess they're just taking a shot in the dark. In any case, their loss is our gain - a mislisted pin is to the advantage of badge rescuers and collectors alike.

wptw

Yes!! I am not only a Kappa but an Sigma Alpha Iota (professional music fraternity for women) as well, and when I got my SAI badge it was in pretty bad shape. The pin was bent, a pearl was missing, and it needed some severe polishing. It had definitely been worn and used before I received it. My educated guess is that it was worn for years by someone who passed away, sent to HQ, and then sent to my chapter when the badge order was placed.