This guide is a quick rundown of tips on finding authentic witch bottles, spell bottles and jars on Ebay. There are some dishonest sellers who will dump non-magickal items into a bottle, drip some wax on it, and call it a spell bottle. Don't be fooled by first impressions. Spell crafting is an art form, and the proper herbs and other elements must be used in order to make an effective curio. Just like you cannot mix together glue and cardboard and call it a chocolate cake, you cannot stuff some potpourri into a bottle and call it a spell. Here are some questions that you should be asking your seller prior to investing in a spell bottle:

What are some of the herbs and roots that were used in the bottle?

If the seller is an authentic practitioner, they will know which herbs and roots should be used for that particular spell. We typically do not want to share an entire recipe, but your seller should be willing to at least answer to what some of the key herbs, oils, etc. are in the bottle. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If your seller cannot answer to some of the ingredients that were used in the spell, and/or appears to have no knowledge of herbs and roots a red flag should go up.

Are there gemstones and crystals in the bottle? If so, which ones?

This is the same as above. The creator of the bottle, though they most likely will not want to share their entire brew, should be able to answer to some of the elements used in the bottle. When considering the prices of certain bottles, this is also a good question to ask. You might want to know if a bottle is loaded with quartz or lapis, for example.

Has an intention been placed into the bottle, and if so, how?

Any practitioner and crafter of bottles should be able to answer to how their bottles have been intentioned. Many spell casters will imbue their bottles by the same methods, while others will imbue each bottle a different way. 

You should feel confident that you could actually open up the spell bottle, separate the decorative elements and carriers, and see an assortment of herbs, roots, gemstones, and resonant elements. If you open up your spell bottle and see a tangle of basket filler, some crayon shavings, and shards of broken glass obviously your seller is not a spellcaster and is just trying to make a profit off of thousands of years of tradition. All spell bottles, regardless of their tradition (Vodou, Wanga, Pagan, Chaos etc.) include natural elements, herbs, and symbolic elements. If the creator of your spell curio seems shrouded in too much mystery and is unwilling to share some of the ingredients or methods used in the item you are buying, it is probably best to look elsewhere.

A lot of sellers try to remove themselves from the responsibility of answering questions by falling into what I refer to as "dead grandmother syndrome" whereby they claim to have received items from someone else. You should still press the seller to account for the processes used in the creation of the bottle, because by doing this you can reveal the honesty of the seller.

I am tired of people in search of a quick buck exploiting thousands of years of tradition and I am grateful that the Ebay metaphysical community is finally waking up to a lot of the scams going on around here.

Here's one more tip:

You can easily gauge the number of phony witch bottle sellers by the number of no votes this guide will get. It may be more than we think.