some jerk selling pins on ebay...

[AchtungBaby80]

Originally posted by kristiAZD
P.S. I was on ebay yesterday and there is another guy who is selling a bunch of pins and has a really NASTY explaination of his feelings. He even laughs in our faces. I don't think his name was Skidmarks, but these two must have been separated at birth.

What exactly did he say? This smacks of a soap opera...

[LeslieAGD]

Originally posted by AchtungBaby80


What exactly did he say? This smacks of a soap opera...

Next time on "As Ebay Sells..."

[Peaches-n-Cream]

The Days of our Pins
The Young and the Pinless

[LeslieAGD]

Originally posted by Cream
The Young and the Pinless

Yep, and that's why it's on Ebay! LOL!

[kristiAZD]

Originally posted by AchtungBaby80


What exactly did he say? This smacks of a soap opera...

Someone had posted what he said before I posted and I quoted it after my original post. The only thing was that the collector or whatever had "Ha Ha" after it. He was basically mocking our wishes for people to be repectful. I couldn't believe the immaturity. And the dude that posted it thought it was respectful. That's what I found to be REALLY amusing.

[Indigo1913]

With regard to our pins being sold on Ebay, I don't know if many of our organizations have any stipulations regarding the disposition of pins after our passing. In many cases these pins were picked up at estate sales and I wouldn't be surprised if there were also fenced items that had been stolen. In any case, if you feel so inclinded you might want to purchased your organization's pin. I know I have done so recently. I too am concerned about unscruplious (sp) people buying the pins and trying to pass themselves as a soror. On the other hand, if a person is a serious collector and plans to research the sororities and fraternities; display the pins with diginty then I guess I won't object too badly. As for the nasty sellers, you're going to find nasty no matter where you go, so why bother to pick up that thrash? That's my 22cents.

[wptw]

Someone had posted what he said before I posted and I quoted it after my original post. The only thing was that the collector or whatever had "Ha Ha" after it. He was basically mocking our wishes for people to be repectful. I couldn't believe the immaturity. And the dude that posted it thought it was respectful. That's what I found to be REALLY amusing.

The seller is not a he. She's a she. And a very active member of her NPC sorority, if I remember correctly. And what I said was: She got her message across in "a MORE respectful way" as compared to the other seller. Having seen quite a lot of these so-called "polite" letters y'all send to pin sellers, I think her message is downright sweet!

I'll post it again, since I like it so much.

"Only legitimate emails will be answered. These pins were purchased from several antique dealers who bought out estates and sold them to me by weight or value of the pearls and stones. I did not get them for free nor am I bound by any groups bylaws as to “leased” pins being returned to national HQ. If this is your calling in life, please bid and do what you like with them. Please do not send me email telling me to return them to your HQ. Any emails received to this effect will be forwarded to ebay and logged as harassment and your ebay membership could be revoked. There are so many nice ebay folks that I have bought and sold these pins to over the past 5 years. Unfortunately, there are always a few who ruin it for the rest of us! The good news is more antique dealers are selling me and other collectors pins directly and not listing on ebay because they are tired of the annoying emails telling them to return pins to HQ!!!"

HA HA!

...and did you call me DUDE?!
How bizarre.

wptw

[wptw]

On the other hand, if a person is a serious collector and plans to research the sororities and fraternities; display the pins with diginty then I guess I won't object too badly...That's my 22cents.

Worth every one of those 22 pennies. Well said, Indigo.

wptw

[hawaiiagd]

Originally posted by wptw

The seller is not a he. She's a she. And a very active member of her NPC sorority, if I remember correctly. And what I said was: She got her message across in "a MORE respectful way" as compared to the other seller.

I agree... her response to the Pin Seller Harrassment Squad is much more tasteful/tactful/respectful then the other guy...

But.....

Perhaps it's just me, but I'm actually more troubled by the active member of an NPC sorority dealing pins then the jackass collector....

I mean... the jackass is just that... a jackass... he's ignorant to the cherished symbols of our fraternity... he sees the pins as nothing more than pieces of jewelry... parts of his collection that can bring in some serious profits... just like most antique dealers, the memories and sentimental value placed on the items they sell mean nothing... it's how much they can get for them that is....

Then there's the NPC Sorority member... she IS a member of a GLO... she has been through an initiation.... she knows the meaning of the cherished symbols... she should treasure her own badge... and she should know what badges for other GLOs mean to their respective members... right?

Fraternally,
Mai Ly

[wptw]

Surprise! The "jackass" is also a member of an NIC fraternity.

And so am I. I'm a very serious badge collector AND I'm a very dedicated member of my NIC fraternity. The VAST majority of collectors are fraternity and sorority members. And we aren't "ignorant to the cherished symbols of your fraternity". Quite the opposite in fact. We just see the issue differently than you do.

There is still some confusion out there about the difference between dealers and collectors. Dealers are typically not greek and are in it solely for profit (nothing wrong with that, by the way). The two people we've discussed here aren't "dealing pins" - they're collectors. Collectors are very serious about continuously improving what we have, so we sell off duplicate or less valuable pins to fund the continued evolution of our own collections. That's what you're seeing when you stumble onto one of our auctions. We're generally nice people, but after a few hundred rabid emails we get a little snotty ourselves.

wptw

[hawaiiagd]

okay

[LeslieAGD]

Originally posted by wptw
(nothing wrong with that, by the way).

wptw

Actually, we feel that there is something wrong with it...that's why this topic has been discussed so much. Our badges are not "collector's items." They are a testament of our brotherhood and sisterhood and they should be solely for us!

[wptw]

Actually, we feel that there is something wrong with it...that's why this topic has been discussed so much. Our badges are not "collector's items." They are a testament of our brotherhood and sisterhood and they should be solely for us!

Then you should continue working hard to prevent them from reaching the open market in the first place. I stand by my statement: Regardless of what these pieces may mean to you and me, once they're on the open market you just can't blame a dealer for selling them for profit, just like he sells a thousand other estate jewelry pieces. That's what he does for living! How is he supposed to know (and frankly, why is he supposed to care) that you object to this?

Think for a moment how you would react if some crazed band started emailing you at work every day and telling you that your job is immoral and wrong, that you should cease it immediately and return all your assets to their HQ. Absurd!

wptw

[ZTAngel]

I have a question for you wptw....
I understand that you are a member of a NIC fraternity. I am just wondering if it does perhaps bother you in a way when you see a pin from your own fraternity for sale? I mean, this could be a brother who had passed on and his family did not know what to do with the pin. I just can't help but feel a little bit of frustration to see a "vintage" pin online knowing it is from a deceased sister. Surely you can understand how I feel, right?

[wptw]

Hi ZTAngel,

Sure I can understand. Yes, it bothers me a little bit when I see a pin from my fraternity on ebay. But only because I really want it for my collection, and I may not be able to afford it. It's the same sad feeling I get when I bring my car in for service and I look around at all the brand new 7 series BMWs at the dealership!

But I don't feel the least bit of anger or outrage toward the seller. That emotion would be entirely misplaced. And that’s what I see in most GC discussions on this issue - misplaced anger. I would love it if every loose badge from my fraternity went to a member. But if that doesn’t happen, then what am I going to do? Get all angry at dealers who are just making a living like they always have? Get all angry at collectors who are just preserving and honoring bits of Greek history like they always have? Get all angry at some poor relative of a deceased member who means no disrespect but has no idea what to do with the pin? Get so blind with moral outrage that I fool myself into thinking the practice is somehow illegal? No. I’ll just quietly rescue as many as I can and save my outrage for something I can actually change.

And the vast majority of the time, the ones I don’t rescue will be bought by...
A) A member.
B) A collector, who will display it proudly in his library and cherish it as much as any non-member possibly could.

I can live with that.

wptw

P.S. Now, if the seller were a disgruntled member of my fraternity, or if the buyer was someone trying to impersonate a member, then I'm sure that would bother me. But these cases are exceptionally rare.