When you decide to collect Harry Potter memoribilia as with collecting anything ie: antiques, trading cards, the beatles records, it is important to decide the focus of the collection. You may be collecting because it is a passion, or for your children, or you may see your collection as an investment.

If it is simply a passion and you enjoy it than anything goes that makes you happy. If you are collecting for your children then their input comes into play. However if you view your collection as an investment certain things come into play. How long your willing to invest, how long will the series be popular, what items are good investments and will hold value. These are things to consider when starting a collection, especially when it is a planned investment.

I am going to advise on each of these to some degree and where to look for these items. However my main focus in this article is going to be collecting Harry Potter as an investment. My hopes that is if you are just starting a collection or are planning to start a collection this guide will give you some basic Potter memerobilia knowledge. Or if you already have established collection that this gives you some new ideas on how to acquire items or inform you of items you didn't know existed.

First off, when collecting is a passion as Harry Potter is for me anything goes. I have the craziest things that I've picked up over the years. What really stands out for me is the realistic replicas that bring me closer to the Harry Potter world. If realistic replicas are your thing as well good places to look are the Noble Collection (noblecollections.com) for starters. You will find all sorts of prop replicas from wands and brooms to chess sets and quills. These items can get pretty pricey but are very realistic replicas and if you truly like the piece then worth the money. However as an investment they are mass produced pieces and only time will tell if they will hold any value. You can also find noble pieces listed on ebay. Just type potter noble into your search. You might find a better deal than the website.

Another good place to look is wbshop.com. There you can click on the Harry Potter banner and be directed into the HP section of the wbshop. The nice thing is these are all WB licensed products and they do make some good pieces for you collection. It is easy to check out age appropriate items for your kids here as Noble items may not be something you want to let children play with. The wbshop will offer more children friendly items.

Now when adding to your collection on ebay... I want to stress a point here. Please remember to check the offerings from other countries. Japan has some wonderful HP items that are not sold in the States. Many other countries also have their own exclusives. Often if you scroll to the bottom of the ebay page when searching for an item it will say see items from ebay international sellers. If you click on it, it should show you on the items available overseas. If you find an item but the seller does not ship worldwide, don't be afraid to contact them and ask. If the transaction goes well you may have a contact who will inform you when new HP items become available in their country. Items that are exclusive to certain countries are a little more valuable outside of the country itself and will be more limited and should hold value a little better. The downside on this as an investment is alot of collectors won't be aware of the items existence and may not be looking for it on ebay.

Another thing you should do is try to find someone in the know. You will see certain sellers that keep popping up when you search for Harry Potter items. Contact them and see if they are willing to lend you some friendly advice. They may even have the items your looking for. I have found ebay to be a very friendly global community and have established many wonderful working relationships with people here and abroad. Harry Potter collecting is a shared passion for many and you'll always find someone to give you tips and info regarding new and rarer finds.

Okay now I'm going to touch on the serious collectors who are looking for investment pieces. There are key words one should always be looking for. Promos or promotional items, props (screen used), Limited Edition and Exclusive. Often in listings the words or abbreviations of: promo, prop, LE and Excl. are used. If you don't turn up results in your search try an abbreviation.

I'll talk a little about each of the above a little to give you some basics on each. The golden ticket or holy grail of HP collecting is the screen used or movie props. These are hard to come by and come at very high price tags and with good reason. Try to make sure the seller is reputable and if at all possible comes with a COA although be warned that cheap COA (certificate of authenticity) can be printed up easily. You are going to pay to have a real piece of potter history. Even the a signed script can cost some bucks but make sure it's not a reprint. Now if you are looking at this as an investment it should hold it's value for a long time as the movies and books have been so popular the world over, remember however any collectible is only worth what someone will pay for it and factors on it's popularity.

Promos... One of my favorites. There are different kinds of promos. Some stores offer promotional pieces for reserving the movie before release or being there at a particular time. These are easier to come by but the chances are not everyone will get one. It's nice because different stores will offer different promos. A note about regular Potter merchandise should be mentioned here: check when new Potter items come out at a store to see if they have an exclusive. An item exclusive to a particular store usually holds value well. There are other kinds of promos and one of the hardest to get your greedy little hands on is the Press promos. These are promotional items created and given to select members of the media and are getting fewer and fewer as the movies progress. My best suggestion on finding these is to always type potter promo into your search as almost all HP sellers will list it as a promo item. These hold their value very well and hopefully will continue to do so.

In addition to the above Promo items there are also cast and crew exclusives. Once again finding these are sometimes very difficult to find but well worth it if you come across them.

As for limited edition pieces and exclusives. I touched briefly on items exclusive to certain countries and stores so always be on the lookout for these items. I also want to give a nod to comic con exclusives. The San Diego Comic Con seems to put out a lot of Potter exclusives and to find them type Potter SDCC into your search.  Now the limited edition pieces... ahhh what can I say. They typically hold value because they are in fact, limited. Always try to find out what the production limit is on the item An item limited to 500 pieces will of course be more value than one limited to 5,000 pieces. Make sure you have your facts straight when buying LE items. Also the Harry Potter Limited Edition watches almost seem to hold their value and beyond. Make sure though that they are as complete as possible, with protective films, COA's and boxes still intact.

Odds and ends: I want to include a few odds and ends here of HP collectibles that you may or may not be aware of. If you like collecting and are looking for certain pieces but can't find them they may not be in production. For example the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans box is an item I have dearly wanted them to create. As far as I have found they have not, but sometimes you can find an extremely good prop replica that was handmade by someone. There are alot of Harry Potter prop makers out there. Just type Potter replica or Potter handmade into your search and see what pops up.

Also, I want to give some nods of very widely collected items that branch beyond HP. Hallmark ornaments are widely collected and they have been releasing a new HP ornament every year. These are often fun to collect and fairly easy to attain. Also cookie jars are very popular collectibles and they do make HP themed ones. A few are harder to find but it's not impossible. Action figures are always collectible but will only hold value if they are still in box and remain unopened, and it is harder to predict which ones will be rare. This will not be easy if you have children. NECA has taken over the HP toy line in the states as far as action figures go. You can search the NECA product line just type it into your google search.

Gentle Giant releases a line of HP busts and statues. I believe all of them are limited to certain amounts each one. They are very good interpretations of the HP characters and retail for about $50.00 a bust but you can find them cheaper on ebay until the production is sold out and then they can go for much higher prices. Also Gentle Giant has released comic con exclusive pieces.

If you want to own small pieces of Potter history and a very widely collected item turn to the Harry Potter trading cards. Some of them contain pieces of props and costumes used in the HP films. The autograph or auto cards are also widely sought after and trading cards seem to hold value well.

I hope this guide has given you some new ideas on where to start or add to your collection. If anyone at anytime has any questions about HP collecting or the products I am more than happy to help. If you are a member who deals in Potter products and would like to be listed in this guide please contact me so I can update it. All the best and happy hunting, the Potterverse awaits.