As with most collection's it should be something you like and this can be easy or hard with Zippo lighters, you can decide to collect a theme like Harley or Playboy but both have been a staple of the Zippo line for years and getting them all could be a challenge.

You could collect older vintage but you will need to decide what is vintage and the condition if any you want in your collection. You may decide that as long as it is a Zippo you will collect it and this is good as it opens your collection up to any lighter or product they have made but you may find that some of your earlier buys don't go well in your collection if later you decide to have some order or do start collecting a certain theme (this happen to me and I ended up trading away a lot of lighters that did not wind up fitting into what I decided to collect).

You can collect lighters that were made for or used by the military and this can cover all branches of the service or just one, they can be correct period lighters from WWII all the way up to today (Vietnam are the hardest as most are fakes and the only real real way to tell is if it was a factory lighter or was the lighter that the service person used that you are getting it from).

You can collect Advertisers, Certain companys (Zippo included), Railroad, Trucking, Cars, Racing or many of the other themes Zippo has done over the years.

There are many books about the value of Zippo lighters and they can be used as a reference base but the same two lighters with no set price may have a different selling price in the hundreds of dollars on a place like ebay even when they sell within days of each other.

The thing that effects value the most is condition and packaging, if in mint shape and with the original packaging it will sell and be worth more than the same lighter in poor or used shape with no packaging no matter what the age.

How much is it worth? depends on past sales (but this can vary) and how often it comes up for sale (you need to do your research). Many factors might affect what someone will pay for a lighter like certain Pat#s, bottom stamps, corporate logo, hand painted (Town & Country), only a certain # made and what or who the lighter was made for.

By and far the most value and the highest prices are going to be for lighters that had only one or a few made, old lighters made in a differant style than today, lighters MIB that were from times that Zippo used logo boxes, lighters made in the Canada plant that is now closed and lighters that were discontinued for some reason (license or legal) after a short time are going to command higher prices than the ones that you see everyday and were made by the tens of thousand.

Don't be fooled by terms like Limited, Rare and Vintage.

Limited and rare can mean anything as far as Zippo is concerned, it could mean that they just stopped making them after 2 million or only made for a certain time period, the only limited and rare lighters are those known to have only a certain # made (better if they have a # on them), were made from a certain style or finish, a case material like titanium or steel no longer used or have some feature that makes them special like a factory stamp, different color felt or different wadding.

I was once told by a Click member that vintage meant any lighter made before he was born and this was as good an explanation as any I have heard, although I am not a vintage collector my expanation of this term would be any lighter made before 1957 when all lighters after this date remain unchanged till today.

Then there is the internet, here you have to do some research if you have never bought from a dealer before, make sure they have the lighter on hand ready to ship before paying, make sure it comes in the original packaging (remember you are buying new), contact them before hand by email and see if they answer and you will know before you buy that they will get back to you if there is a problem, make sure the site is secure.

Then of course ebay, here you need to know your Zippo's, make sure it is real (ask or look it up), check the seller's rating as to shipping and problems, always try to pay with Paypal as it provides some protection, if it is a new lighter (out this or last year) check prices from many sellers as they can vary, look and look and look as I buy great many lighters on ebay and I have always seen the one I want come along at least two or 3 times a year if not more so if you don't win the one you want don't worry it will come up again (unless it is the one of a kind or that real vintage lighter you have never seen before).

Books, the internet and clubs are the best places to start, I am a Zippo Click club member and I guess it is the best place to start if you are a beginning collector as it is the largest club, is owned and run by Zippo and has many helpful members who will answer questions on the forums, it has a great many resources, special offers on lighters from limited and pilot runs that almost always will retain their value and for $20.00 a year they will send you stuff that goes well in a collection, if you should decide to join from reading this here please use my name (beerbrandx) as this will garner me coveted click points.

Many of their members have great web pages that not only have their collections but other good resources for collectors and they are free to use which is always nice.

I am also a member of LighterTricks.com and this too is a good place to ask question's about lighters as there is a good forum, it is more open than Click and the owner and moderators do a good job of keeping out spam and porn but you need to read the rules and don't post questions where answers are easy to find on the boards that have already been posted, it is more geared to tricking than collecting but it is free to join and members there are very helpful too.

As I get permission I will post links to sites that have helped me in research or sellers I have bought from that gave good service.