Hogwarts Herald

Some rare Harry Potter books are being auction via live auction (includes eBay Live) by Bloomsbury Auctions on Saturday, January 23, 2009. A rare proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (i.e. Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States) is one of the items.This proof copy is one of only 200 that exist. It is an unedited version of the book that includes errors, such as J.A. Rowling on the title page. It is a nice Harry Potter collector’s item, but boy are proofs boring looking. The cover is mostly white with just a yellow stripe. I guess it could be more boring being entirely just white. This one starts at £1400 and is estimated to be valued between £2,800 and £3,200.

Also on Saturday they are auctioning First Edition Signed Copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and a First Edition Signed Copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. These both start at £150 and are estimated at between £300 and £400.

If you’re thinking of buying a Harry Potter item on eBay this Holiday Season—especially an autograph—be sure you’ve done your homework first. For instance, many of the items up for auciton, such as J.K. Rowling signed books and signed cast pictures from the movies, aren’t legitimate. Not that everything of this sort is a scam, but you need to be careful.

Here are a couple good resources to help you better determine what’s legitimate and what’s a scam:

Signed Harry Potter Books and Collectibles: A very thorough guide from a collector.

Fake Signed Harry Potter Books on eBay: A blog entry by Rod Collins, a rare & collectible book dealer.

One last note…As far as I can tell, and I’ve done quite a bit of checking, the eBay auction below for J.K. Rowling’s handbag is perfectly legitimate. Even if on the surface it seems legit, it’s important to dig deeper, follow links and do some checking. It’s wise to approach these things with a little skepticism.

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As an update to a story from the other day, J.K. Rowling’s Black Clutch Handbag (which she carried with her to The Sorcerer’s Stone premiere a few years back) was up for auction on eBay, with the proceeds going to charity. The auction is now over and the handbag fetched $608.47 (£310.00)…which is, when you stop to think about it, a huge bargain.

Everything seems to point to this bag being authentic: The Handbag Heaven web page; a story about the auction in The Scotsman; the fact the charity reserved a few bags for sale on eBay starting on November 28th (which is when this bag went up for auction); and it’s clear all of the auction proceeds are going to the Women’s Fund of Scotland. This all helps to validate the authenticity of the handbag, something you need to be careful of on eBay.

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One of the regular features we’ll be doing here at the Hogwarts Herald is sharing unique Harry Potter stuff for sale on eBay…and it doesn’t get much better than this:

JK Rowling is selling her Black Clutch Handbag (which she had with her at the premiere of The Sorcerer’s Stone) on eBay and donating the proceeds to charity…namely the Women’s Fund for Scotland.

The bidding is currently up to US$455.12 and there’s still 2 1/2 days left (the auction ends early Friday morning at about 2:15 am Eastern Time).

UPDATE: With about 14 hours left the bidding’s up to US$561.22.

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