Idiots...

[Leslie Anne]

Well, as jmagnus said, it looks like it isn't actually their ritual. Seems to me that it's just a print out of some documents from here:
http://www.tke.org/member_resources/chapter_operations/
No big deal if it's openly available. ?

[When Doves Cry]

Well that's not fair; making someone pay for something that they could get for free

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

A "friend" of mine just sent the seller a question. I'll let you know if "she" hears back from him and what he says.

Thank your "friend" for doing this because MY "friend" was going to do the same thing.
I don't think the seller misrepresented himself in his item description so scamming the "scammer" is a gross misrepresentation in itself. People who do this give eBay a bad name.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by jmagnus

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=006

Just wondering what you all think about this. Don't worry about any non-greek seeing this and trying to bid because:

1. I'm pretty much sure that there is nothing in it.
2. I have a friend who set up a ebay account and bid 900 for it.

Just wondering your thoughts. I personally think it's funny that he says TKE members only should bid on it...like the idiot is actually a member...it makes me laugh.

Just so we don't lose the link!

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by EE-BO

Trusting in the wonderfully wicked ways of Greek Chat, I expect there is someone out there who read this and plans to bid $899.99 right before the auction closes

I thought of that too, then I thought... that could really backfire on someone if the guy didn't really make a bid that high. Also, I believe that I've read in the bidding agreement that if the high bid falls through, the item goes to the next highest bidder. I worried about that when I was bidding on auction after auction last year for a pink DS Lite (the things we do for our kids). I was worried that someone who won an auction that I had lost would back out and I'd end up with two. Therefore, that strategy might not be wise either.

[Leslie Anne]

Yes, it can backfire on you if he didn't actually place the bid or if he retracts the bid. Otherwise, if you're the second highest bidder it's optional. You get a "second chance" email and you can either accept it or reject it.

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

Thank your "friend" for doing this because MY "friend" was going to do the same thing.
I don't think the seller misrepresented himself in his item description so scamming the "scammer" is a gross misrepresentation in itself. People who do this give eBay a bad name.

While I don't think it's a good idea to makeup fake IDs and make bogus bids on items, I feel like the seller is grossly misrepresenting what is for sale here in a sad attempt to make cash. None of that info is ritual. If it was, I'm sure TKE's HQ wouldn't have put that info on their website for anyone to download and print.

[nittanyalum]

If he is really misrepresenting the item, eBay should be contacted to let them know about it.

And you'd be wise to tell your friend to retract his fake bid, eBay does not play around with that stuff these days and if somehow he ends up "winning", he may well be tracked down. I understand the anger at these things, but contact your national if you really think someone's selling your ritual, contact the seller to see if it's an honest mistake, or contact eBay if you think something fraudulent is going on. But fake bidding or bid escalation in general is a VERY bad idea these days.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Yes, it can backfire on you if he didn't actually place the bid or if he retracts the bid. Otherwise, if you're the second highest bidder it's optional. You get a "second chance" email and you can either accept it or reject it.

That's good to know!

[jmagnus]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

A "friend" of mine just sent the seller a question. I'll let you know if "she" hears back from him and what he says.

Not to offend anyone, but I am not that stupid. It actually is a friend, not me. Getting charged money I don't have or possibily facing criminal charges...not really my style. I'm the kind of person who would just report the seller to ebay (which I did). Don't get me wrong, it makes me really angry that someone is trying to sell something like this, but I wouldn't do something stupid. Although, I'm not saying that I didn't have a part in the suggestions

And no, I didn't even bother to email HQ. I've sent them things like this in the past and the response is usually quite the brush-off. Unless it is an actual ritual book, they don't want it (no money, archives are full, blah blah blah...) If collectors happen to see this and bid, good for them. In the odd event that they do win, they wasted their money to learn something they could have seen for free.

So yeah, I'll try to keep checking in with you all as much as possible and I'll let you know if I hear anything else.

[jmagnus]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Well, as jmagnus said, it looks like it isn't actually their ritual. Seems to me that it's just a print out of some documents from here:
http://www.tke.org/member_resources/chapter_operations/
No big deal if it's openly available. ?

Yup, everything is right there...for free.

[jmagnus]

I reported the item to ebay again, this time as possibly stolen. I imagine that a TKE member left this somewhere, the seller found it and decided to sell it.

I received an autoresponse from ebay saying I would receive a response in 24-48 hours which surprises me. Usually I get the autoresponse telling me that "ebay will not be able to inform you of the outcome due to our privacy policy", or something to that effect.

[cuteASAbug]

I gotta ask- why do you care so much? It's not secret, any Joe Schmo can get this information off your HQ's site, and people sell stuff on ebay that they don't know about all the time. If some poor sucker wants to pay for this thinking that it's the real thing and has the money to do so, I say let him. Heck, if I knew that someone out there was willing to pay for it, I'd probably put my Advantage up on ebay.

[Xidelt]

I'm with cuteASAbug on this one. Who cares? It's NOT ritual. How do you know it's stolen? How do you know the seller didn't print it off the TKE website and put it in a binder himself? Get a life, people. Go rescue a badge or something.

[33girl]

We had someone do this with some non-secret ASA ceremonies - try to pass them off as "ritual" on ebay.

Just because it has a candle, an open motto, and a Greek word or two doesn't make it a ritual.