Traders’ Dreams (unrated) ***

You think you’ve bought weird stuff on eBay? Wait until you meet some of the people profiled in Traders’ Dreams, co-directors Marcus Vetter and Stefan Tolz’s hugely entertaining, often hilarious look at the global phenomenon of the online auction site.

In the film, which is continuously informative and cheekily irreverent, we learn about some of the odd things people have attempted to buy and sell via the hugely successful enterprise — from air guitars and 16,000-ton aircraft carriers to an extremely, um, personal item that allegedly once belonged to a famous pop songstress.

Amusing as it is, Traders’ Dreams also provides a thorough history of how the website, the brainchild of founder Pierre Omidyar, survived the dot-com bust, fended off competitors and ballooned into the sensation it is today. eBay commerce also spawned an unexpected industry of do-it-yourself businesses around the world, from honest entrepreneurs aspiring to get rich — or at least make a living — from their own homes to less-than-honest profiteers eager to prey on the faceless bidders willing to pay for just about anything, even a solitary cornflake, as long as the bidding is still open.

The background information is fascinating for anyone who’s ever clicked a ”Buy It Now” button. But it’s the unwavering focus on the colorful and interesting characters behind the mouse that makes Traders’ Dreams a dream of a documentary.

Directors: Marcus Vetter, Stefan Tolz.

Producer: Stefan Tolz.

Running time: 83 minutes. In German, English, Chinese and Spanish with English subtitles. Plays at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and 4:30 p.m. Friday at Regal South Beach.

This story was originally published March 4, 2008 at 12:03 AM.