Selling your own GLO's badges on EBay

[1908Revelations]

I agree with everyone that selling your own badge it wrong!!! Period!
But is it just me or are these people selling these badges for almost nothing!! I say that because I paid a big grip for my badge, which is 10k gold w/20 real pearls. For things that are worth so much to people you would think thay would sell them for a lot more money than $35 (some I saw were way less than that).

[AlphaFrog]

When I lost my orginal badge, and I announced here, I had a CHAPTER sister PM me and tell me I could buy hers (plain one, that she would have sold to me for more than the price I could have bought the most blingy badge for straight from HQ) because she was just going to put it on ebay otherwise. I couldn't afford the price she was asking, so I assume she went through with it. I also saw another sister selling her own badge and her own COLONY FOUNDER'S pin - yes, folks, she was a colony founding member of Alpha Sigma Alpha who sold her badge on ebay. I alerted HQ to it, and they figured out who it was. I don't know what happened, but I really hope her membership was terminated, because it obviously didn't mean anything to her anymore!!!!

[Jen]

I don't get why someone would sell their own badges. Seriously, donate to a local chapter. If they don't care about their own organizations badges, why are they even IN a fraternity or sorority?? They could just buy badges from their IHQ and re-sell them on eBay to make a profit.

And to dupe people on top of it is just disgusting.

[kddani]

And as an aside, I personally NEVER trust an ebayer that only accepts money orders. The buyer has no recourse if the item isn't as described or never shows. Well, technically they could go to the cops but that's pretty fruitless.

For instance, this seller sold an ADPi badge. http://cgi.ebay.com/Alpha-Delta-Pi-P...QQcmdZViewItem
It sold for $61, even though it was plain, because the listing asserted that the badge was 103 years old. However, the "04" had to have been for 2004 - ADPi did not exist under the name ADPi until 1913.

So some poor buyer was led to believe that they were buying a pin with over 100 years worth of history. They have no recourse against the seller because they paid by money order. If you pay by paypal, you have a level of protection, and if you pay by credit card you have another layer of protection.

So not only is this person selling pins of their own orgs, they are ripping off members of other orgs by blatantly misrepresenting their pins.

[kddani]

Dever, I think most of us have accepted that there are people selling and collecting badges. Granted, we don't believe that a member of a GLO should be profiting from the resale of his OWN GLO's pins.

The seller fraudulently misrepresented the ADPi badge. There is no "typo" involved. "While a plain Adelta Delta Pin pin, it is very old!!!!!
Date: 2. 4. 04. Makes this pin around 103 years old."

Granted "Adelta" is a typo, but this pin is three years old, NOT 103. That's a huge difference. This is not at all honest, it is blatantly misrepresenting the truth. And if this person deals in pin collecting like it appears, there is absolutely no excuse for his ignorance. It is fraudulent misrepresentation.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by OrigamiTulip

I know we've discussed the sale of badges by non-members before, but I came across a couple of ebay listings that got me thinking about this issue from a different angle. How do you feel about people who sell the badges of their own GLO on Ebay? Especially when they are badges that have historical significance to the GLO? For example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lambda-Chi-Alpha...QQcmdZViewItem


Personally, I think that it's really sad that people are so disloyal to their GLO that they would stoop to selling their badges to non-members. Don't most GLO's have policies to deal with such traitorous behaviour?

I would like to point out that the listing for the item I quoted above is WRONG. The chapter isn't Las Vegas, it is from the Reno chapter. The seller has LXA in their name, so the fact they can't even get their own chapter right, and also selling their groups badge is very tragic.

Maybe the person is perping LXA? If they were an LXA with all tese badges why not donate them for an honor badge at a chapter or send them to the Main Office? Very suspect! Either way it is tacky and fraudulent. Of course poor taste isn't an eBay violation, but incorrect item descriptions are.

Caveat emptor!

[1177SSS]

Long time lurker....

I am pretty sure the ebay seller you are talking about is on GC.

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by 1177SSS

Long time lurker....

I am pretty sure the ebay seller you are talking about is on GC.

I REFUSE to believe that somebone that's part of THIS community would stoop so low.

[1177SSS]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I REFUSE to believe that somebone that's part of THIS community would stoop so low.

You can "believe" what you choose. However I have first hand knowledge of the ebay seller. I buy badges off ebay and send them to our National Organization. The last one I purchased was from this seller.

[AlexMack]

Originally Posted by 1177SSS

You can "believe" what you choose. However I have first hand knowledge of the ebay seller. I buy badges off ebay and send them to our National Organization. The last one I purchased was from this seller.

I think I know the badge you mean and it made me sad that this person was selling off another GLO's pin.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I REFUSE to believe that somebone that's part of THIS community would stoop so low.

hee hee hee


You're a funny man.

[UGAalum94]

IF you didn't know better, I can understand why GLO pins would seem like a cool thing to collect: they are beautiful and historic and often have variety, etc.

But a member of any GLO would have to understand that GLOs have rules about who can possess badges and pins and what should happen to each even after a member's death, so you would understand that your collection reflected failures to follow ritual by as many members as you had pins. That would suck the joy out for me.

(I think you'd have to be a sick little puppy to enjoy having a collection that devalued the rules of the groups that gave the items meanings. You only want it because it's XYZ and XYZ doesn't want you to have it?)

But people who SELL the badges and pins, even after they understand the wishes of the groups, really gross me out, and I think we should all be vigilant that we don't create a market and we fully inform others so they don't contribute.

(In the second case, I'm thinking of moms and dads who might not be Greek, but who think their sons or daughters would like the item. They might not fully understand that even though they are buying the item for a member, there's still a problem.)