E-Bay
 

:( Another quill up for auction on e-bay...

Just an idea... when anyone sees a Quill on ebay, jot down the auction number and post it here. I know that I always go out there and try to find them to make sure that it's being rescued by a member but sometimes I can't find them with a basic search.

I haven't looked for this one yet - I hope it finds its way to a good Alpha Xi home.

I know that isn't a quill, but this is a pin...I don't know who wears but here's the ebay link anyways:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2121967457

Here's an old 21-pearl one:
Item # 2121937231

And another, more recent:
Item # 2122879053

Just a thought, how do we know someone is an AXD just because their name sounds AXDish? Not that I suspect any of the current buyers, but if I was a pin collector and wanted to get a nice pin at a low price without pissing members off, I'm make my screen name sound like a sorority member's!

Well .. the current high bid on the latter one (#2122879053) is mine (I'm a 1971 initiate of Epsilon Kappa Chapter - Western Ky. Univ). And, BTW, I've refrained from bidding on the other because of the screen name.

But you have a thought ... how do you know and even if you email and ask they could certainly lie about it.

Maybe we could come up with someway to register screen names with HQ ...I know that the Delta Zeta's have an online network and they pass along the screen names.

Paige

Now that is a really great idea.

I was bidding on one pin on eBay, and one of my sisters from my chapter actually emailed me and said, "Hey, is that you?" (My first name is part of my screen name). It was pretty funny to run into her that way. But most of the time, we're not that lucky.

Very disturbing!!!
 

I just saw this on ebay:

ALUMNAE DIRECTORY

Very reassuring that 778 pages of peoples personal home addresses and phone numbers are being sold on ebay!

On another note, I ordered one of the Alpha Xi Delta Stained Glass Jewelry Box's from ebay and it is so beautiful! I am thinking of purchasing another one to give as a gift.

Well if any of you see the screen names kristi_azd and sigepchica, they are me. Just wanted to let you know to save the trouble of finding out!:)

Re: Very disturbing!!!
 

Well the good news is that no one bid on it.

I use texasaxid when bidding on quills or A Xi D stuff. I was trying to get the first pin but it went higher than I was willing to pay. Hopefully whoever got it is an AXiD. I am now bidding on the one with the chapter guard from Xi - U of Kentucky. Don't know what I will do with the guard if I do get the pin - maybe donate it to the new chapter for the president to wear during her term.

A national directory isn't a bad idea but what a job to keep it updated! We'll just have to trust that those not Alpha Xi aren't smart enough to use a name with the letters in it!

Stephanie:D

Actually, that guard would be for the Chi chapter, so don't send it to UK!!;)

Whoops - wasn't paying that much attention when I looked at it - what can I say it was late! Thanks for the correction.

Stephanie

Two more badges on ebay .....

I've bid on one #2126310715

The other is being auctioned by a rude collector and I won't deal with him/her/it. This is #2126343912. Its also listed with a very high starting value and a very very high "buy it now"

Paige

I saw that guy too - he said he doesnt reply to people asking him to donate the badges to nationals or inquiries about badge numbers etc - and forwards anything he thinks is rude to ebay. i got the impression that when he said he wouldnt give out the numbers - it was bc he didnt want someone whos badge might have been stolen to be able to claim it....very shady - and very outrageous $$$ he is asking for (in my opinion)

I won the Chi chapter pin and guard for $175. As the pins are $150 new from the jeweler I though this was pretty good.

I notice the other two pins. Paige, I hope you get the one for $60! What a deal if you do!
I also haven't bid on the other guys pin - not because of the price but because of the comments. I think this is the guy who, several months ago, had a really really rude message on his auction saying just about the same thing - but being much nastier about it. As much as I hope he doesn't sell the thing - you know he will just relist it or sell it another way. Maybe if I get another spare $170 I will by it too.

I am going to donate the pin I bought to Delta Psi chapter (where I am the Chapter Advisor) for their president to wear during her term.

Do you know what you're going to do with the Chi guard? I am a Chi alum (University of Kansas), but our chapter has since closed. Not that I can afford to buy it from you, but I may be able to find someone who wants it :)
Ironically, I was led to this forum by my friend (who is a Delta Omicron) when I was upset about finding quills on ebay. Glad to know that other Alpha Xis are helping the cause as well. I sent the urls of the 2 badges for sale to fraternity hq, but who knows if anything will come of that.
Someday I'll have the money to be able to help out as well :)

Way to go!!
 

Gotta Love our Advisor, Thanks Stephanie!!!!
You are truly a blessing to us all, I am going to miss you so much during recruitment!

ACK!!! now someone with the ebay screen name of axd_fh has bid on the old quill from Beta chapter.

I sent an email to hq asking if that was them and if they are going to start trying to get quills from ebay.

Paige

And if they aren't, well, fh isn't a chapter designation ... I'd say it's pretty shady, no matter who they are.

I got a return email from headquarters and the axd_fq ebay screen id was from them.

Headquarters wants to start a list of ebay screen names to that we aren't bidding against each other. If you want to be included, send your name, email address, and your ebay screen name to
fhq@alphaxidelta.org

Paige

I got the quill from Beta chapter that was on ebay ... YEAH!!!

Someone tried to snipe it in the last seconds but my bid was high enough to beat them!!

Paige

saw this and wondered if anyone else would be interested in reading:

O Brother (and Sister), Where Art Thy Pins?

The New York Times Company, August 11, 2002

By KATHERINE ROSMAN

(a Kappa Kappa Gamma alumna member)

CLEVELAND -- In a basement room at the airport Sheraton here last month, 15 members of the Fraternity Pin Collector Society huddled around a conference table.

James Bond would have been proud of the planning. Information about the date and place of their sixth annual conference, called Pinfest, had been kept in strict confidence among members. A false date had been posted on the society's Yahoo Web page. Still, nerves were frayed. Occasionally, someone sneaked a look at the display behind them. Laid out on five banquet tables was perhaps the largest collection of vintage sorority and fraternity pins in the country. Affixed to swaths of velvet and displayed in glass cases were the group's collective glory: over 5,000 pins with a combined worth in the tens of thousands of dollars. Some were studded with pearls and diamonds. Many dated back to the 19th century.

After a cursory discussion of the tricks of their trade -- say, which small-town antiques shops might still harbor, unaware of its value, a Kappa Kappa Gamma pin from 1949 -- the conversation turned to the topic of the day, Mary Silzel.

To the rest of the world, Mary Silzel, 63, might be just another grandmother frittering away her senior years on eBay. But to those gathered at the Pinfest conference, she is the enemy -- a one-woman wrecking crew determined to keep them from collecting pins at any cost.

"She is militant," said one collector, who like most people in the room did not want his name used.

"Violent," another agreed. "Commando," a third whispered.

Although none of the collectors had actually met Mrs. Silzel, heads around the table bobbed in accord.

There is a battle raging in the electronic heart of the American marketplace, and Mary Silzel is smack in the middle. On one side are the collectors who spend hours on eBay looking for pins with historic or artistic value. On the other are people like Mrs. Silzel, loyal sorority and fraternity members who are spending thousands of dollars to keep their pins out of nonmembers' hands.

Their fervor has collectors watching their backs -- afraid of Greek loyalists and the angry e-mail messages they send -- and the price of pins skyrocketing. A Kappa Kappa Gamma pin that might have sold for $5 five years ago went for $1,025 last month to a sorority sister working in league with Mrs. Silzel.

A loyal 1956 Kappa Kappa Gamma alumna of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., Mrs. Silzel joined this battle in early 1998, when she first ventured onto eBay and was, she said, shocked to find Kappa Kappa Gamma pins being bought by people who were not Kappa sisters. "I thought, 'How terrible!' " she recalled from her home office in Orange County, Calif.

Fueled by indignation, Mrs. Silzel went into action and was soon an eBay regular, outbidding deep-pocketed collectors for every Kappa pin she could click her mouse on.

It wasn't long before she realized that she needed reinforcements, and within months she formed Keepers of the Key, a group of about 40 sisters around the country, united in the effort to stop people who are, in Mrs. Silzel's words, "determined to steal our pins and then hold them ransom."

Nearly every Greek letter organization, known as a G.L.O., objects to outside ownership of its pins. But without the resources to purchase the increasing number of pins for auction (more than 100 are offered on eBay every week), national headquarters are searching for ways to keep pins from entering the open market.

When the administrators of Sigma Kappa sorority learn of the death of a member, for example, they mail what can only be characterized as a bereavement letter for the eBay age from their national vice president for alumnae affairs, Marianne Chattin Burton.

"DECEASED was a recognized member of our Sorority and she will be missed by many of her sisters," the letter reads. "As a member of Sigma Kappa, DECEASED was provided with a triangular-shaped badge bearing the Greek letters sigma kappa. . . . If DECEASED's badge was not buried with her, we would be most grateful if you would please return the badge to Sigma Kappa National Headquarters."

Hallmark it is not. But war is being waged, and the generals have scant time for niceties.

The retrieval of pins on eBay is left to grass-roots volunteers like Mrs. Silzel, who has emerged as the grande dame of electronic auction warfare. Her Keepers of the Key have spent more than $17,000 of their own money in the last two years to "rescue" nearly 100 pins, which they dispatch to the sorority's Heritage Museum in Columbus, Ohio, or sell to sorority sisters who have somehow lost theirs.

"We Kappas have a record of which we are proud," Mrs. Silzel said. "Other G.L.O.'s have varying degrees of dedication to the cause, but we Kappas have been on the cutting edge and are more passionate about the integrity of our badges than most."

Collectors, many of whom refuse to give their surnames because they fear an onslaught of e-mail from rabidly loyal Greek alumni, say that the healthy competition has turned ugly. "They dropped f-bombs!" a Pinfest attendee from Tennessee said, alluding to profane e-mail messages he says he has received.

Ian Marks, a founder of Pinfest and the only one there who did not ask for anonymity, said that angry sorority sisters posted information about where he lives and what pins he owns on a Greek Web site. "You have no idea how evil it is," he said of the hostility.

For Mr. Marks, his collection, which includes more than 1,000 pins from over 600 Greek organizations and others, like Yale's Skull and Bones, has become, as he puts it, "a huge security issue." For this reason, he says, "I carry my most valuable pins on my person."

Like many of the collectors, Mr. Marks is a Greek letter organization alumnus (Sigma Phi Epsilon), and insists that if not for people like him, vintage badges would have been melted down to scrap metal long before eBay.

On the subject of Kappa pins, he demanded: "Who would have known that Anna Elizabeth Willits made the first pin at Stevenson's in Pittsburgh in 1870? Who would know that? I do!" So does Mrs. Silzel. After all, 1870 was the year Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded, at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Ill. But to her, the value of the pins lies not in their history, but in their hard-won exclusivity.

She said scornfully of collectors, "The very fact that they hold and resell merchandise that they know is likely lost or stolen makes them unequivocally unfit to be in the possession of a Kappa key, given the ideals to which we all pledged ourselves and which are symbolized to us and others by our badge."

Mrs. Silzel believes in a by-any-means-necessary approach to bringing Kappa keys "home to Kappa," as she puts it. She and her Keepers of the Key barrage owners of Kappa keys with e-mail messages, imploring them to sell or give up their keys.

She is also not above spying. Despite efforts by the founders of Pinfest to hide the conference site, Mrs. Silzel planted a mole at the scene. Unbeknown to those at the conference, Stephanie Lou Haymond, with her flowing blond hair and bright smile, was not, as she maintained, starting a collection to display at her Greek memorabilia store in Salt Lake City, but gathering information on Kappa Kappa Gamma pins and their owners, so that Keepers of the Key could later target them with e-mail messages and bid against them on eBay.

Members of Mrs. Silzel's army do occasionally get burned by the opposition. In July, Ms. Haymond found herself in an eBay bidding war with tyoregon over a 1938 Kappa pin. After five days of bidding, Ms. Haymond vanquished tyorgeon with a bid of $511. Congratulatory notes flooded the Keepers' chat room. "Great save, Stephie Lou!" said one.

But after the adrenaline rush faded, Ms. Haymond found herself with buyer's remorse. It wouldn't be so bad, she said, if her husband had not found out. "Now he thinks I'm a freak."

According to tyoregon, the eBay handle of an Oregonian who didn't want his name published because he said he had received one too many threatening e-mail messages from angry sorority sisters, the truth was worse than Ms. Haymond imagined. "I bid her up," tyoregon said, adding that he decided early in the auction that he did not want the pin. "Why not have fun," he asked, adding that he had grown weary of Greek letter organization alumni throwing around terms like sacred. "You're not going to find pins in the Ark of the Covenant," he said.

Maybe not. But there are nine million Greek alumni out there, many with pins in their junk drawers that could fetch hundreds of dollars. The proliferation may drive eople like Mrs. Silzel into litigation she has so far avoided. Most fraternities and sororities have bylaws proclaiming pins leased for life to members. By these standards, any pin making its way to eBay is stolen property.

For its part, eBay is not obliged to abide by a sorority's rules and requires documented proof of theft before it will delist an item. While Greek organizations are becoming increasingly protective of their trademarks -- some even hiring brand consultants -- so far, none have been willing to risk an expensive lawsuit.

In the meantime, Mrs. Silzel and her Keepers of the Key will continue their crusade, as she calls it, which she believes honors their bonds of sisterhood. "There is no profit involved, no prestige, no recognition," Mrs. Silzel said. "Simply the reward of helping a Kappa sister retrieve a lost piece of her heart."

ALPHA XI DELTA STATEMENT

Alpha Xi Delta Fraternity Headquarters is aware that many sisters (including Headquarters staff) watch for Quills being on eBay. Some sellers or collectors are more kind than others to work with. And, it is true that some Alpha Xi Deltas have sent unkind emails to sellers about selling Greek badges.

It is true that when you pay for your badge, it is considered a "lifelong leasehold" and not a purchase. If a seller has a badge, the only way he or she could have taken possession of it would be if a member or a member’s family sold it or gave the badge away. That's not the sellers fault.

Alpha Xi Delta asks that you not ridicule or harass others for selling Alpha Xi Delta badges. While the sale of badges is shocking and appalling, at this time, the only way to stop a sale of a badge is to prove that it was stolen from the “rightful” owner.

Each initiated member must care for her badge. Only by specifically providing for your Quill can you be reasonably certain that it will end up in the proper hands, and not in a flea market or online auction. Make a specific provision in your will as to where your Quill should go when you die. If you do not have a will, make your wishes very clear to your heirs. Another option worth considering, particularly if your Quill is jeweled, is donating it to a specific Alpha Xi Delta chapter for use as a rotating recognition or award pin.

Our Quills are beautiful and precious, please care for your badge properly to ensure it stays in Alpha Xi Delta hands.

a while ago there was a seller on ebay who was selling a quill that looked kind of fake in the pic, and then said that it was from the eta beta chapter. to my knowledge we have no eta beta, we don't even use eta! he even had put a HB chapter guard on it and said it was from the Penn State chapter which is Beta Lambda, (i think!).

oh, by the way, if you see Xigirl bidding. thats me.

Nationals is collecting the names of sisters who bid on ebay, on a list to be shared only with other people on it. If you want sisters to know who you are, email HQ.

If you choose not to participate, that is up to you of course, but the collecting of user IDs is in fact happening - I have heard if from HQ itself. They are not buying pins from members - just letting us know if we wish what other sisters are bidding, so we aren't simply competing with each other to rescue pins. While I do not support being rude to any seller, and I have never asked anyone else why they are bidding on something, I do think that a) if we have a list of buying sisters program in place and b) it doesn't reveal anything personal, merely your user name, and c) it is only shared with other sisters, I think it would be unfair to be surprised if members query as to whether or not you are a sister.

I agree about making sure we all behave like ladies! Just a question, has anyone ever emailed the screenname okcatsmeow? I think they may be an alumnae of my chapter. One of our alums has something about cats meowing in her email address so I just wanted to know if anyone had contacted her since I have not had the chance. PM me and let me know!

PS: I am currently bidding on the engraving and have wanted one forever but never had the money to bid so please don't bid against me if possible, I would really appreciate it! I have not emailed HQ w/ my name yet, but I,m going to do that now! For all that might have missed it posted above, it's kristi_azd. Thanks again!

I have had a few encounters with okcatsmeow - and I will fill anyone in on a PM - but I am afraid to disclose the cattyness in an open forum in case its someone from here.

I would DEFINATELY recommend purchasing one of the stained glass jewlery boxes. I bought one a few months ago and it is beautiful. Definately one of the most special pieces I have!

The email thing is in fact going on. I emailed them two days ago and recieved an email saying that names were still trickling in and they would have a list sent soon. I don't believe they are going to reimburse any of us, but at least this will help us keep the costs down so maybe our pins won't be such hot items anymore. Send in your name now so they'll put you on the list.

Do we send an email to the address listed on the national page or to where?

Sarah, if you send the information to fhq@alphaxidelta.org, I'm sure that it will get to the right place.

That's the address I sent it to.

I just submitted a letter to the lady at FHQ who deals with eBay and pin-selling. Whether or not you are OK with pin selling, misrepresting merchandise of any type on eBay is NOT cool:

I would like to call to your attention two pins currently being sold on eBay by the same seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...item=715621232
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...item=715623764

Both are modern pins (witness the member numbers on the back rather than names) rather 1940s pins as the seller claims they are. Also, the first pin has too few pearls to be that old, and the second pin is almost certainly a modern sterling one rather than white gold (since white gold pins are not made today).

I don't know what Alpha Xi's policy is in a case like this, but I would hate for a sister to pay an inflated price for what she thinks is an old pin.

I wrote to the seller that I suspected the pin was newer, and she wrote me back a very nice reply:


I called her and you are absolutely right. She was BORN in the 1940s and so
obviously did not JOIN the sorority until the late 1950's - early 1960s. I
am unable to change the auction because there is a bid on it; I have
amended it though. My sincere apologies for the error. I just flat screwed
that one up!


It's nice to see a pin seller who is responsive and polite! It's a refreshing change from sellers like the one KDDani posted about.

Sorry to crash. . .
 

I'm always interested in what is up for auction on eBay, so I was reading your thread. On the two pins listed above, they have the same member number on the back!! (63-395. . .is that the member number?) I'm assuming that the same person just had two pins, could that be true? In that case, does AXiD stamp your member number on ANY pin you order from them, no matter how many you order?

Just curious, wanted to point out my observation. By the way, the white gold/sterling one is GORGEOUS!!! (I like the plain over the pearled pins anyway)

Good Luck in Bidding!

yes, that would be her member number and that makes me wonder why nationals can't/doesn't contact the original owner and ask her what's up with selling her pins. The seller says in each of her 3 auctions that she got the pins directly from the owner. She even added in her addition to the auction that seh talked to the sister to verify when exactly she was a member. This would indicate to me that she is still alive and the eBayer knows and is in contact with her. Wouldn't the owner/sister/disaffiliated sister (I don't know her status) be liable for knowingly selling pins that belong to headquarters??:confused:

Mindy

PsychTau, to answer your question, the pins very well could have the womans number on both. I know that unlike many organizations, you are not required to buy the jeweled pin. In my chapter, the New Member Orientation chair purchases the plain pins for us, only asking if we prefer gold or silver. I know that later on when money allows, I would like to have a jeweled pin. Since my member number will never change, I would expect that it will be engraved on the jeweled one as well.

fuzzie....good point! I admit I was skeptical about how old those pins appeared to be, but I didn't even pay attention to the fact that this woman may be alive! This is so strange! If anyone finds out what the deal is, let me know!

Has anyone seen this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...item=723564349

I asked the seller if this sweatshirt was made in mistake - bc I didnt think someone who was not in Alpha Tau Omega could wear their letters - or if there was a particular story behiind this shirt and she just said:

"It has the ATOmega letters in yellow/gold and Alpha Xi Delta embroidered over it. The shirt is navy blue"


Well duh:p

What the HELL???? :eek: :eek:

I have never seen anything like that shirt before in my life. It has to be a mistake, it just makes no sense. Whatever the case, an ATO is bidding on it right now. I don't know what they would want with a letter shirt that has our name on it, but maybe that's just me.:confused:

Sorry to crash your forum!

I've seen shirts like that before, usually for sweethearts or something like that. One of our girls (An Alpha Gam) had a Sigma Nu leter shirt with our name on it too, after she got engaged.

Maybe this is something like that?