ebay etiquette

[ASUADPi]

I think the whole reason this thread was started was to establish etiquette and protocol with sisters we know are using Ebay. For example between me and shannan or me and sherra, etc... (I really hope I'm making sense although I have a feeling I'm not).

Obviously like HBADPi said, unless EO/Grand Council adopts rules we can't expect every ADPi to accept them.

Now I could be wrong on why this thread was started, it is just my guess (since I'm not the thread originator).

[honeychile]

Okay, my responses on a couple levels:

1) As we've said ad nausem, communication is the key to a good ebay experience. If there's something you REALLY want, you need to let people know! Let us know here on GreekChat, go to PO and tell them, email the other bidders - keeping polite, but realizing that not all sisters act sisterly 24/7. There has been more than one pin that I have been interested in, but stepped back because some other GC ADPi seemed VERY interested. BUT WE ALL HAVE BUDGETS!! I think you only get a few chances to say "I REALLY want THIS particular pin!" and you should use them wisely. If, say, texas*princess tells me to back off on eight different types of pins, at some point, I'm going to remind her that my money is as good as hers, wish her luck, and tell her that the best woman will win the auction!

2) Which brings us to courtesy. I think those of us who frequent GC "know" each other better than those who don't, and we show each other a bit more courtesy than someone who registers with our list, but never posts or tries to get involved with the sisterhood. I didn't know Leslie when I emailed her about "my bracelet", but I'd like to think that I was polite about it, and she was very polite in return. In an ideal world, everyone who has ever been an ADPi would do the same, but I'm afraid it's never going to happen. Some sisters will never live the Creed; they will never learn the joy of Living for Each Other. Count it as their loss, for you have learned the more valuable lesson!

3) I would encourage each sister here to try to go to a "real" auction. Why? Because you almost always lose. You will become a much happier ebay buyer if you learn to lose graciously. There will ALWAYS be someone who sits back and snipes. Auctions are a "game" of chance; you will win some, and you will lose some. And since GreekChat, PO, or even computers are only a small portion of the Alpha Delta Pi experience, we cannot reasonably expect our list to be memorized or respected by all.

We have a long way to go before we develop the guidelines that the Keepers of the Key, the Crescent Catchers, and other such groups have already done. We need to put the past behind us and start thinking towards the future.

So - let's get back on topic. In what ways can we help our Executive Office develop guidelines for those who wish to keep our pins in the hands of Alpha Delta Pi?

Please, no more accusations, no more bitterness - just IDEAS which we can pass on to EO, please!

[adpiucf]

Here's my $.50:

It's just an online auction. They're just items. People can bid on whatever they want, and they don't have to rescind a bid just because someone asks them nicely or meanly. If they want it, they will have it. That is why this is America. Just because one person wants something and watches the auction more closely than another doesn't make the late bidder less deserving.

I don't think ADPi needs to regulate its membership on Ebay. If there is a committee established for the purpose of educating the membership on chapter history and ritual, and the subpurpose of preserving (or rescuing) paraphernalia through sorority funds and member donations, than so be it. A great place to start is with the Ritual and Heritage Director/s, and to form a specific task force. Work with pin collectors, instead of fighting them, to buy before the auction begins, if it comes to that.

In the meantime, the only etiquette one need abide on ebay is that s/he with the most cash wins, and for everyone to show good sportsmanship all around. These are just material things, and yes, they may have historic and sentimental value, but come on.... to quote William Shater, "It's just a[n object] people!"

Win some. Lose some. Let's agree to disagree and move onto the next thread.

/End $.50... I think I may have just saved a penny!

[JaimeNicole]

Originally posted by honeychile
So - let's get back on topic. In what ways can we help our Executive Office develop guidelines for those who wish to keep our pins in the hands of Alpha Delta Pi?

The only thing I can think of is that maybe not enough is done during years spent as a delta teaching to our sisters how you should value your pin. When I say this, I don't mean like, putting it in your will or stuff like that, I mean teaching sisters how all the things that makes ADPi different from all other sororities are in that pin (ie what the symbols on the pin mean). I know for me personally I am one of those sentimental pack rats and i would LOVE to be able to keep my pin and in 20 some years give it to a family member to use or to have for alumnae purposes etc, but for every one person like me, Im sure there is one that just sees their pin as that thing you have to wear to meetings because to them, they don't pride themselves on the physical pin itself but of the experience they had and the memories they are making while in ADPi.

*Its really late at night. Did that make any sense at all?*

[ADPi-Jen]

Yes, pins are beautiful and important...but our entire sisterhood does not rest in the pin. Our sisterhood is so much more than that little pin.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my pin and all of the symbolism and meaning behind it. But I would love ADPi and all of my sisters past, present and future, just as much if there never were a pin. Wouldn't you?

[ADPiShannan]

Its so funny you said about going to a real auction. Its always so hard to lose something you really had your heart set on. You do get over it though.

I know I went to my first auction back in 00 for my major. I was doing a Interior Design internship and we were decorating this couples house in antiques, they said it had to be antiques. Anyways there were these 2 paintings that this auction was having and they sent me to go get them. Bad idea lol. I had no clue about auctions. I was used to ebay then, but had never been at a real one. I knew we only could spent so much and I was sad to see it go WAY up past that. Needless to say I didnt get it and my boss was upset, but she realized we may have lost it and she took me to another auction that weekend to show me exactly how to bid and some tricks, not that they work if someone has much more than you to spend.

Only thing I can really think of, if you REALLY want a pin because of something that means so much to you from your chapter, for a diamond sister, or something, Id email the seller. It may not always be a nice email you get back, but at least you tried all you could. A diff sister may want that pin for the same exact reason and saved more money to get it. You can try to get them to back down and you can send them an email, but thats about all you can you. It is a online auction and you do win some and you do lose some.

[adpiucf]

Another thought on etiquette:

There are 1,000s of living, breathing ADPi's living all around the world. We have less than 100 listed on the safe sister list of bidders. I think it is safe to assume that you have plenty of ADPi's not on the safe list (who also don't have "ADPi" listed in their ebay screen name).

Let's make it a policy to stop harrassing bidders with mean emails. It's really not going to accomplish anything, except to alienate people. I found I was really successful by using the following format. I got a response from EVERY high bidder I emailed (3 were ADPi's we added to the safe list, one was the mom of an ADPi, and one was an ADPhi fraternity alumni who dropped out of the bidding after I showed him that he really wasn't bidding on a vintage fraternity badge):

Congratulations on being a high bidder of the _ITEM_! I'm a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and I just wanted to pass along to you the significance of this item. (Explanation HERE). Again, good luck on the auction! Should a member of ADPi not win, I just wanted to let the potential winners of this piece know its history a little bit better. I know you will treasure it.

Best,
ADPiUCF (sign your real name)

So my advice: BE NICE.

[texas*princess]

adpiucf, I agree wholeheartedly!