It's common for collectors to do their buying and selling entirely on eBay, the global online auction site. The facts are staggering. There are now about 84.5 million active users worldwide in the 39 eBay markets, including Australia. At any given time there are about 112.3 million listings worldwide in more than 50,000 categories.

The eBay network in Australia began in October 1999. According to June 2006 ACNielsen research, more than 52,700 Australians derived their primary or secondary source of income from selling on eBay. For more than 17,500 people, eBay was their primary or only source of income.

The network is best known for its auction format but users can also buy and sell in fixed-price formats. These online "stores" are increasingly popular with collectors who want to offload surplus stock and generate money to buy new items. By March 2008, eBay hosted about 547,000 of these stores worldwide. Around half operate internationally.

One of these is run by Jillianne Norris from her home south of Brisbane. Her My World giligan2 store is her main source of income and has been for the past eight years. It fits in well with the demands of looking after four daughters. She says she only makes a few hundred dollars a week but that's enough to require an ABN.

Jillianne buys and sells in several areas but one of her personal passions is for the vintage board games shown here. The '60s and '70s games she especially likes are popular in the US, so this is a good reason for having an international site. She can find the games here relatively cheaply and sell her spares overseas for a profit. There's a skill to knowing which ones are in demand and a skill in describing them so other collectors can locate them easily.

Her favourite games are those relating to television shows and popular culture, and these are also the most desirable in the US. Game value depends on condition and whether the contents are complete and also on current events. The release of a new movie based on a classic television series (Charlie's Angels, Dukes Of Hazzard, Get Smart) boosts the popularity of the original games. If one of the stars or creators of the series dies, this also has an impact. This happened when Snoopy founder Charles Schulz passed away.

There are people who collect the games but there are also those who collect to a theme. This explains why the Monkees board game is in such demand - it's worth about $100 in the US. Similarly, those who collect James Bond memorabilia are likely to want an original 007 board game.

The Patty Duke Show, The Bullwinkle Show, The Flintstones, Lost In Space, The Incredible Hulk and The Partridge Family were all turned into games, as were some English series such as On The Buses. All are now desirable, valued at between $30 and $70.

When selling, Jillianne prefers the auction format to the fixed-price "Buy It Now" system but gives a reserve price close to the amount she hopes to receive. There's a chance that high reserves will scare off bargain hunters but if a bidding war eventuates, that's a bonus.

Milton Bradley's Twiggy game is a top-shelf rarity and is worth about $80 to $100; others in that range include Annie Oakley and James Bond. Charlie's Angels is worth about $60, Snoopy about $40 and The Flintstones about $30. This shows the steadily rising value of items that used to be available at garage sales for a dollar or two.

Jillianne estimates the total value of her collection about $15,000. Mint condition is important to many collectors but, for her, the design is the biggest attraction. She likes genres that look as if they have been enjoyed by several generations of children. Her favourite boards are framed and displayed like Pop Art.

US themes dominate but there are some locally produced board games. One of the most desirable is Victory, which was manufactured by Parlour Games in Melbourne. It's sought-after by games enthusiasts but also by World War II collectors. Its rarity and social significance gives it a current value of about $150.

There are serious collectors of Victorian and Edwardian period games. Most of these were produced in England but a few were made in Australia, or featured Australian themes, and are very collectable. Notable examples include The Australian Bushman Game (circa 1900) with a Boer War theme and the Commonwealth Navy Game (circa 1905) featuring our new coat of arms.

Twenty years ago an Australian museum paid more than $2500 for a rare mid-19th century game, A Race To The Gold Diggings. These are now given the same worth as children's books and one of the best collections is (or was) at the James Hardie Library in Sydney.

Games are generally easy to date because they usually have a copyright notice or are connected with some historical event.

The design style is also a clue to its age.

Australian games are slowly taking off in popularity. The Skippy game is popular, partly because there are so many collectors of Skippy memorabilia.

Digit Dick's Walkabout On The Barrier Reef is another with an Australian theme and John Sands, the company that packaged overseas games for the Australian market, also made some local products. One of its classics is the Surfboard race game.

My collection

Welcome to the house that eBay built.

"It is a large home with a lot of interesting items," Jillianne Norris says. "We think there are probably over 100 different serious collections going on here."

Her impressive collection of 400 board games dominates one corner of the lounge room. This is where she runs her eBay store, selling surplus games to fund buying new ones.

Her four daughters have inherited the collector gene.

Elle (pictured left) collects religious statues and rosary beads, and Emma (right) collects Barbie dolls, vintage shoes and fashion accessories such as dressmaker dummies. Twins Amber and Cynamon are into 1980s music, costume jewellery, holiday dolls and kitsch shell art. Norris's husband collects guitars, toys and old radios.

Searching on eBay may be fun but nothing compares to the thrill of the chase. Norris thinks nothing of getting up at the crack of dawn to seek out garage sales in far-off locations such as Beaudesert.

$30

The Surfboard game is a rare local edition created by John Sands to cash in on the Australian surfie craze.

$50

The Burlington Bertie game is named after a popular British music hall song, usually performed by a woman dressed as a man. The game is played by tossing rings onto Bertie's papier mache nose. It's not dated but is likely to be from the 1920s.

$80

Twiggy (the world's first supermodel) is one of the most desirable games from the '60s, which was the golden era for collectors. Typically, this is a Milton Bradley game manufactured in Australia under licence by John Sands.