by Jennifer Wilson, CBCNews.ca

Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec top the list for the "eBaying-est" provinces in a country that bought and sold more than $7 million worth of NHL rookie cards and more than $45,000 worth of outerwear on the online auction site in 2007, according to the company.

The site's "Community Counts" data, released Thursday, tracks the number of items auctioned or purchased in communities across Canada. Based on postal codes, eBay said the top communities in Canada were Belle River, Ont., Sooke, B.C., and Kemptville, Ont.

Belle River topped the list with 1,249 active buyers and sellers - that is, people who completed a transaction during 2007. The top selling item in that region was hockey cards and the top item category was car and truck parts.

"We typically think of big cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as being the e-commerce hubs of Canada," said Andrew Sloss, the country manager for eBay Canada. "In fact, small towns and communities like Belle River are doing big business on eBay, proving that you don't have to live in a major urban center to be a significant part of Canada's e-commerce engine."

The top communities for eBay sales in 2007 were:

1. Belle River, Ont.


2. Sooke, B.C.


3. Kemptville, Ont.


4. Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont.


5. Chelmsford, Ont.


6. Fort Nelson, B.C.


7. Tottenham, Ont.


8. Cornwall, P.E.I.


9. Kingston, N.S.


10. Ste-Marthe-Sur-Le-Lac, Que.

2007 was the first year for which the company tracked Canadian purchasing and selling numbers. Other facts from the company's data:

• Canadians spent more than $30,000 a day on women's shoes and $29,000 a day on handbags
• Albertans bought more than $200,000 worth of Hot Wheels cars and trucks in 2007
• Quebeckers spent more than $28,000 on navel rings
• Ontarians bought more than $328,000 worth of freshwater fishing tackle and vintage lures
• Nova Scotians spent more than $333,000 on watches