Badge Trends 2

[badgeguy]

Ok, I'm gonna start a new thead dealing with the subject starting to be discussed in the other thread so it doesn't get locked.

I'm gonna propose a scenerio and I want all you ladies and guys to answer this:

A person goes to an antique show, or walks into a pawn shop, antique shop, and see that one of the dealers is selling a pin from XYZ organization.

I wanna know what IS the right, and moral, and ethical thing to do in your eyes.

Knowing that this pin is from an organization that still exists, does the person,

A) walk on and either let someone else have it, or let it be melted down
B) buy this pin with their own money and donate it to the orgs HQ, knowing that group wouldn't pay the person back
C) buy the pin, and offer it to members of that org so that they can wear it or do with it as they see fit

Now, I know that some of you will want to say that there is an option D but I know that that option is the way of business people, like the Wilson Bros. Jewelery, or fratpin.com those are the ones who are "profiting" off of this.


There are dozens of posts in ither threads where ladies and guys want to have pins for their personal usage. I know of one or two orgs that sell old badges back to members but that is very unique and most others do not...

So, what is the right thing to do?

[pas]

Out of those three I would go with option B.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by badgeguy

C) buy the pin, and offer it to members of that org so that they can wear it or do with it as they see fit

By "offer," do you mean "offer as a gift," "offer at cost" or "offer to sell to for profit"? Those would be three very different possibilities.

Frankly, I don't think there is just one answer that is the morally right and ethical answer. I think there are various ethical possibilities and various unethical or borderline unethical possibilities. I also think there is a difference between an ethical response and a generous response.

[badgeguy]

To clarify, option C was at cost. Option D which I was referring to was the "for profit" answer.

Basically, someone who is familiar with Greek letter orgs comes across old pins, what should they do?

It seems that there are lot of people who feel only the HQs should have these pins, and there are others who state that they would love to be able to acquire these old pins that people find.

The bad part is that there really isn't a good avenue to do this. eBay as we know has it's draw backs because anyone not a member can buy the pins. As with any online auction site.

And according to the rules or "unwritten" agreements it's been clearly stated that GC is not the place to offer up such things.

So, it seems to me that there is a bit of a paradox in what one should do. If one chooses option B and send the pins to the orgs HQ, one may typically be out some serious cash and these pins will typically not be offered to other members and just be housed in storage.

If one chooses option C, then how would one go about doing this fairly? PM each GC member and see who responds first? How would it work?

This is why I've started this thread, is really live to hear suggestions on how and what people should do.

Or, should people in general just walk away from old pins and let them get melted down and call it a loss?

[GTAlphaPhi]

You could also let people known to you to be members of that GLO (e.g., people you personally know, established GreekChatters, etc.), so that they can decide what they'd like to do with regards to the item. That way, you're not out of your own money.

Originally Posted by badgeguy

Ok, I'm gonna start a new thead dealing with the subject starting to be discussed in the other thread so it doesn't get locked.

I'm gonna propose a scenerio and I want all you ladies and guys to answer this:

A person goes to an antique show, or walks into a pawn shop, antique shop, and see that one of the dealers is selling a pin from XYZ organization.

I wanna know what IS the right, and moral, and ethical thing to do in your eyes.

Knowing that this pin is from an organization that still exists, does the person,

A) walk on and either let someone else have it, or let it be melted down
B) buy this pin with their own money and donate it to the orgs HQ, knowing that group wouldn't pay the person back
C) buy the pin, and offer it to members of that org so that they can wear it or do with it as they see fit

Now, I know that some of you will want to say that there is an option D but I know that that option is the way of business people, like the Wilson Bros. Jewelery, or fratpin.com those are the ones who are "profiting" off of this.


There are dozens of posts in ither threads where ladies and guys want to have pins for their personal usage. I know of one or two orgs that sell old badges back to members but that is very unique and most others do not...

So, what is the right thing to do?

Originally Posted by Jen

Option C should have options:

1. Do you offer it to the member for free and you absorb the cost?
2. Do you offer it to the member at the cost you paid so you're not out of pocket?
3. Do you offer it to the member for a profit (big or small)?
4. Do you trade it straight up with a member who has a pin from your organization?

It's way too broad an option to not have these sub-options.

Personally, if I had the money and it wasn't that expensive I would purchase it and offer it to any interested member at cost or trade (only if they happened to have a pin from my organization.) If no one was interested, I'd keep it until someone was. If that never happened and I kept it, I'd make sure it went either to a local chapter or HQ in the event of my demise.

That being said, I would only put out the money in the first place if the badge wasn't that expensive. I'd rather save my money for things from my own organization.

[OPhiAGinger]

D) Immediately contact members of the pin's GLO, alerting them to the presence of the pin offered for sale. Then leave it up to them to buy it or not.

[badgeguy]

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

D) Immediately contact members of the pin's GLO, alerting them to the presence of the pin offered for sale. Then leave it up to them to buy it or not.

That option isn't available when you're at an antique show, or pawn shop or someplace locally. I'm not really speaking about eBay, or other online places because those places are able to be viewed by anyone with a computer.

If you're dealing locally, it's impossible to alert anyone....it's a yes or no thing at that point.