After speaking with a wide number of people - other Greeks (AXIDelta, KKG, A-Phi, SigK...) , Ebay, sellers and my own EO (I'm an Alpha Phi) - it is a frustrating situation all the way around...
To put it simply - ther is NOTHING to be done...These pins come to people and they can do what they please with them. Sell then, give them away or in many cases I am told (Pawn Shops) they are melted down for scrap metal or the stones...
I have gotten into very nice and VERY HEATED discussions wth individuals about this and find it annoying and sad...Collectors like them because they are unique and small...They have no idea what they mean to the particular groups...
There are no grounds for a lawsuit aganst ebay or the sellers. There is one collector on ebay who has a great deal of money and NO ONE can outbid him on pins...he has collected many PanHel pins as well as one particular sorority...The collector can be very nice and then can be mean about it...
I wish there was more that could be done, but other than individuals buying them and getting them back to their Greek groups, hands are tied...
It would be wonderful to have $$$$ to purchase these, but many, if not all groups are not in the position to do so...
Consider a couple of the Alpha Phi pins recently up for auction...2 separate, unique and very highly unique/sought after pins sold for a total of $2900...Someone had the money to pay that and they got them...
Sorry to be such a downer about it, but I've accepted that there isn't much to be done...Yes, it is a VERY good idea to let a family memeber know what to do with your pin when you pass on...
Just keep bidding and hopefully they'll get back to the right owners...
