Clicking once, clicking twice -- sold!

If roadside flea markets and country auctions are hard to resist, imagine visiting, in the comfort of your home, an auction on the World Wide Web that provides the same tempting array of art, antiques and collectibles.

A casual buyer with a taste for bargains will find plenty on which to bid, although most on-line auction sites tend to be more specialized than the typical bit-of-everything estate auction.

The Web can also be a boon for the serious collector. A Civil War sword? A rare Buffalo nickel? Even hard-to-find items can be found almost at your fingertips. For example, Miles of History sells Civil War memorabilia, including documents, weapons, uniform buttons and insignia. An auction that closed Dec. 19 featured a pair of curved "musical bones" that were usually played to accompany a harmonica. Antique Trails, which showcases antiques, collectibles and contemporary wares from the Northwest, held an auction of American Indian items through Jan. 7, including a Navajo jewelry set, American Indian blankets and pottery. Antiquephoto.com presents an arresting gallery of its selections, which includes portraits, theater stills and macabre scenes. Coin collectors can find ancient, Mexican, colonial era, and rare gold coins at Numismatists Online. Even the uninitiated may be tempted with descriptions like this one for a 1904 $5 gold piece: "Wow, fell in love again, rare S, low mintage (97K), flashy lustrous cartwheel deep gold surfaces, super struck up, fairly clean for a 60; would be a lock 62 (1850.) but for two marks on jaw -- will see good bidding action." Philatelists Online features a bidding process whereby the highest bidder pays no more than 5 percent more than the second highest. The site also holds a mock auction so first-time users can practice bidding. Most sites have no minimum bid, but at Steal-a-Record you can do almost that. The site notes that, with no minimum, almost 80 percent of all participants "win" something. Last month, a lucky bidder got one of Elvis' Love Me Tender 45 rpm vinyl records for $5.52. Surfing through categories like "rhythm, rock and doo-wop" and "space-age bachelor pad music" make this auction experience memorable. For visual pleasures, Artists Online features varied styles of paintings, which are catalogued in detail, including resumes and reviews of featured artists. Fine antiques are available through the Annex Galleries. Auction number 3996 held in November featured a toy soldier doll that sold for $125, a Victorian dome fruit centerpiece at $1,100 and a signed Art Deco bronze for $2,300. All items are catalogued on line in color. Some items lend themselves more easily to on-line auctioning. Ron Pook, of the Pook & Pook auction firm in Downingtown, Pa., said: "If you're buying a piece of silver, that basically has a standard surface. A coin auction is another example. If you have a description, that's it. When you get into fine art and antiques, you're getting into a gray area. A chest of drawers with a fine patina might be worth $10,000. You have one that your grandmother let stand outside, it might be worth a quarter of that." Standard auction ethics usually dictate that the bidder takes an item "as is, where is." When buying on line, most buyers should have the right to return the item after a five- to seven-day inspection period. Some services charge fees of up to 10 percent from the seller, although some charge the buyer. The buyer will usually pay taxes, shipping, and insurance, if necessary. Bidding rules vary from site to site; most have minimum bids. If you absolutely need hand-to-hand combat when bidding, look for the real thing on the Auction Hunter, a searchable database of antiques, collectibles, real estate and fine art auctions in the Northeast. The Internet Auction List on USA Web is another bidder's heaven, listing hundreds of auctioneers' sites by category, as well as national publications that include auction schedules. Before you rush out the door, though, consider how an on-line auction can help save money. If you have ever bid too high because you felt competitive, or because you just didn't like the looks of the person bidding against you, you won't need to worry in a virtual auction. Most Web auctions simply notify buyers via e-mail if their bid was accepted or topped within certain period of time.

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