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I’ll promise to refrain from one of my typically long-winded replies on this subject if you’ll collectively agree to stop using “dealer” and “collector” interchangeably.
Dealers are only in it for the money. They’re not greek. They don’t care about your badge. They’ll scour the earth to find them and they’ll do whatever they can to get a high price.
Virtually every pin collector is greek themselves. We collect the badges because they mean a lot to us. We know they also mean a lot to you, but that doesn’t really change anything. Ebay is an auction site. So whoever wants it most, gets it. For those of you who collect militaria or glassware or Elvis autographs… imagine someone writing to you during the auction and saying “hey this piece is really important to me so I’d appreciate if you’d just let me have it”. Silly, eh? That happens to badge collectors every day. Keep that in mind when the response you get is somewhat terse.
I’ve argued my side of this topic all by my lonesome for quite a long time. It’s nice to see a few others with very good insights into the debate. These bear repeating:
IvySpice: “Nor do I understand why it bothers people if a non-stolen pin ends up in the display case of a collector who admires the physical and conceptual beauty of Greek life in America. How are the ideals of the GLO damaged by this preservation of a symbol?”
KappaKittyCat: “And it's also worth reminding that the huge, public badge rescue efforts are what have driven up the cost of eBay badges in the first place.”
KappaKittyCat: “guess what I'm saying is that I'd rather have them in the hands of members than collectors. But I'd certainly rather have them in the hands of collectors who value their beauty and open meaning than melted down for scrap.”
SmartBlondeGPhB: “However, Gamma Phi is very well aware that buying the badges is not the answer and the fact that they show up for sale really isn't the true problem. The problem is a lack of education on the proper disposal of a member's badge as well as a simple lack of caring on the part of members.”
wptw
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