Collectors' heaven is located on the Internet; the pearly gates are at a place called eBay.

The online auction company is the world's largest personal online trading community. If you have ever wanted that coveted final Nirvana concert bootleg or the metal arm used in Terminator, then your wait is over. Boasting over 1,000 categories, eBay contains numerous antiques and highly sought-after collectibles.

How does eBay's buy-and-sell system work? Visit the site, (http://www.ebay.com) register with an e-mail address, pick a user ID and then browse the categories for whatever interests you.

Items are purchased through a standard auction procedure, with a starting time and a deadline for bidding. As in a normal auction, the highest bidder is the lucky recipient who then must send money to the item's owner. Upon receiving payment, the item is shipped out to the victorious bidder.

Sophomore Bill Lovett discovered eBay at a friend's house and soon purchased an autographed Sandra Bullock photograph. Lovett also sold a Van Halen concert video, thus giving him experience both in buying and selling.

"Each time you sell something, even if it doesn't sell, eBay will charge you 25 cents for the insertion fee," he said. "If your product does sell, then you have to pay eBay five percent of whatever you make off the item."

Some items such as concert videos or movie pins go for under $10. The more exclusive movie collectibles such as storm trooper gear and Harrison Ford's gun from Blade Runner fetch hundreds of dollars, even thousands sometimes, depending on the number of people bidding. The quality and popularity of the item up for auction plays a major role when the opening bid is set.

To establish trust among the eBay participants, each item owner is given a seller's feedback rating. The rating is in parenthesis next to the user ID: the higher the rating, the higher the trust factor.

"The rating includes feedback from just about every person who bought from that particular seller," Lovett said. "You always want to check for the positive comments, because that way you know you won't get screwed over."

Anyone can post an item for auction, with a written description including as many details about the item as possible. When attempting to sell memorabilia from films, it is always helpful to include a picture of the item. Autographed items require a certificate of authenticity to prove that the signature is not a forgery.

College students need money, and selling collectibles has never been this easy. Old baseball cards, comic books and concert bootlegs may lure an interesting party.

Blair Witch fans will be interested in the large collection of film memorabilia, even one of the cameras used to shoot the film.

"You can actually buy a prop that was used in a movie, and that just blew my mind," Lovett said. "You can find anything you want."

So if you are low on cash or just want to impress friends with collectibles, then check out eBay and be prepared to spend hours bidding.