Hogwarts Herald

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.

Still, there’s a small, skeptical part of me that wonders: If Scarlett Johansson’s bag sells in the Handbag Heaven live auction for nearly $6,000, how does J.K. Rowling’s handbag, which she brought with her to the premiere of the very first Harry Potter movie, only sell for $610? There’s no doubt that Scarlett Johansson’s a huge star, but J.K. Rowling is a legend known and loved throughout the world. Did the Women’s Fund of Scotland do a good enough job of validating the authenticity of the item? It doesn’t seem so. Because of the frequency of scams on eBay, especially with celebrity items, you have to really go overboard in making sure buyers know this is the real deal.

At Harrods of London brand new Rodo handbags (the brand of J.K. Rowling’s handbag) sell for around $300 for a slim satin handbag to $1052 for a more detailed soft clutch. One would think that a handbag of this quality that was owned and used by one of the world’s most prominent figures would sell for many times the $610 it fetched on eBay.

This all points to one thing: whoever bought this handbag got an absolute steal…and a great, one of a kind piece for their Harry Potter collection. It’s really too bad, however, that the Women’s Fund of Scotland didn’t get more money for such a valuable, unique item.