ebay(again)

[Kevin2]

Kelli, yeah, I agree. We should sue the stuffing out of these people These people have no right to sell our stuff. I did a search on my Fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, and found a long list for sale.

Beta Theta Pi Song Fest 1950
Cassette MINT US $8.00 - 06/01 18:12

Story of Beta Theta Pi,Shepardson,1930/good c US $15.50 2 06/03 00:09

1947 BETA THETA PI Fraternity History Book US $18.05 3 06/04 16:58

Beta Theta Pi Parking Sign US $9.88 - 06/05 01:57

344725195 Beta Theta Pi Dance Card 1896 Victorian US $10.60 4 06/05 10:24

Beta Theta Pi 1903 steel engraving matted US $9.99 - 06/05 12:05

Beta Theta Pi 1908 engraving matted US $9.99 1 06/05 12:58

Songs of BETA THETA PI- 1957 college songbook US $2.99 - 06/05 20:28

SON of the STARS- BETA THETA PI 1957 Pledge US $2.99 1 06/05 21:28

BETA THETA PI STREET - CUSTOM STREET SIGN US $11.95 - 06/06 17:37

1943 Songs of BETA THETA PI US $5.99 - 06/06 18:21

Beta Theta Pi 1940 Songbook US $5.00 - 06/06 19:38

10K GOLD~BETA THETA PI~FRATERNITY PIN~DIAMOND US $43.00 3 06/06 20:00

Songs of Beta Theta Pi 1930 Fraternity music US $7.00 - 06/08 08:56

Kevin Mullinix
Beta Theta Pi Alum
Epsilon Mu Chapter
George Mason University

[SigEpYoda]

Kevin,

I too found alot of historical artifact that most of us would love to own. Many of them are from the early days of my fraternity. I don't mind people selling t-shirts or part favors, but many of these people are selling old pins, manuals, etc. It really bothers me to see my history going to the highest bidder. My guess is that most of you have a national list serv. I encourage you to write to the list serv and tell people not to buy anything from Ebay. If we eliminate the demand, the supply won't be there.

[BFulton]

I'm undecided on this one. The idea of sacred pins, manuals, etc. going to someone who is not a member of that organization really offends me. However, I'm wondering who the buyers usually are -- do most items sold this way wind up back w/a member, or are people who do not have membership buying them? If so, what would they want them for?

Just curious as to whether anyone has any insight on this.

Personally, I'd rather buy back anything I see offered for sale from my sorority than risk it going outside again...

I agree w/SigEpYoda that the party favor, etc. sales are not as troublesome, though how many of those have fraternal crests on them?

[Kevin2]

SigEpYoda: I think thats a great Idea. I know I'm going to say something about this. We all need to get the WORD OUT to make a stop on anyone buying our stuff. Spread the word around campus and your various chapters. Or at least make a strong effort at discouraging the practice. I agree, these Ebay people dont get the big picture or importance of selling our historical effects like pins, manuals, etc.. at the highest big. It definitely looks pretty cheap if you ask me. By the way, I used to work with one of your Sig Ep brothers(Marquette) in Sacramento, Ca. named Chris.

BFulton: I dont know specifically how Ebay works. I have a feeling that members can buy the items, but then I dont think that there is any way you can stop a non member from buying the items. SigEp is right I think. We have no choice really but to get the word out to discourage the buying or influence Ebay somehow that it isnt profitable to allow this buying/selling to happen. It would be nice if there was some kind of legal solution to this but I dont see how it effective it would really be.

Kevin Mullinix
Beta Theta Pi Alum
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia

Did anyone else read the last ebay topic? There is a good argument in that message about the legalities of selling this stuff on ebay or elsewhere. I think we can all agree that nobody (greeks) likes the idea of this stuff being sold, that it is unethical (especially for greeks, because we know better) to sell these items, but, it is not illegal. In the other message "just the facts" made comments regarding the legal aspects which make a lot of sense to me. It's OUR responsibility to make sure that our badges & other items are handled properly by us during life and that they are also handled properly (through planning) after death. If we fail to live up to our obligations about how we handle these items, then it is noone's fault but our own when someone buys these items at an estate auction & sells them on ebay. And there doesn't seem to be a legal means for us to stop the sales, because the items were purchased legally (estate sale laws) and are also being sold legally. I agree with BFulton in that I would rather buy back the item than take a chance of it getting back in the wrong hands. If we stop bidding on these items it will only be more likely that the people who should not have the item(s) will get them after winning the auctions. I think we need to hit the heart of the problem by educating our members about how to plan for the future with regards to the handling of our badges and other items.