I would guess that most Americans have become a collector of some item at one time or another in their lives. I have collected rocks, stamps, foreign currencies and now, Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG) cards.

With the exception of rocks or other free-oriented items that hold more sentimental than actual value, most any collectible, from Ty's Beanie Babies to Civil War action figures can probably be bought, sold or traded on the Internet.

Manufacturer, distributor, retailer and personal Web pages abound. Manufacturers want to support the collectable with as much detailed information as they can, but usually can't or won't sell directly to the public. Distributors and retailers often offer the items for sale right off their site with secure online "shopping carts," accepting online credit card transactions for immediate results. Personal home pages may also offer to sell collectibles, but require you to send check or money order to complete the transaction.

One of the latest trends for collectible is use of online auctions.

Here is how the typical online auction works. The person or company wishing to hold an auction (we'll call him or her the auctioneer) places advertisements on Websites that collectors will most likely visit including their own Website if they have one.

The auctioneer is expected to list up front the rules of the purchase including applicable taxes or shipping or handing fees, acceptable payment methods, exact ending date and time for the auction (most are over done over a week or two of bidding) and means of contact (usually via e-mail).

For the individual items being auctioned, you can expect to read a complete description of each item including the condition, special identifying marks (i.e. color, signature, edition, date) and minimum bid and raise accepted.

Most often, you will e-mail your bid to auctioneer. At regular intervals, which often get dramatically shorter as the final hour of bidding approaches, the auctioneer will post a list of all the items with the highest bid price and the e-mail name (or part of it) that currently holds that bid price. The first bid received at a particular price is the one accepted, so you may wish to bid more than the minimum raise to avoid getting outbid.

At the appropriate time, the auction is closed and the final results are posted. If you won anything, you can expect to get an e-mail stating what you won, the total due and where to send it to.

One thing you are sure to notice on most auction Websites is a wild threat about posting your name on every "bad trader" list in the world if you choose to bid and then don't pay if you win. This is evidently the biggest problem online auctioneers have. Since anyone can get a free e-mail address under a bogus name with HotMail, RocketMail or Yahoo, it is impossible to prove who a bidder is and track them down. Often a bidder will bid on the same item in multiple auctions. If they win one of the auctions, they no longer need the item and then decide to not pay the second auctioneer.

When you win an auction, send the payment in the form of a money order. Postal money orders are insurable if lost, must be endorsed by the recipient and require no time to clear a bank (so you can get your collectable faster).

Also, because you never really know who you are dealing with, always send money via certified, registered or other trackable mail that must be signed for upon receipt. It is a federal crime to commit mail fraud and few shady dealers are going to risk the consequences if they know that they have to sign for the mail (thus proving they got the payment).

So, whether your collection is a hobby or a livelihood, the Internet can be an excellent resource to buy, sell or trade your collectibles.