It’s not only classic works of fine art, but also handbags, sunglasses, vintage cars and clothing that are now going under the hammer of traditional auction houses online.

Buying an antique, painting or vintage chair at auction may be the world’s oldest – and quaintest – recycling scheme.

But there’s nothing quaint or old about the way technology has breathed fresh air into the rarefied atmosphere of dusty auction rooms.

The eBay generation, comfortable with bidding online for all manner of goods on the basis of just a photo, is taking the logical step of sourcing bigger ticket items from traditional auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Bonhams.

And the houses have also caught on to the idea that the internet can radically extend their reach to potential buyers.

Pontus Silfverstolpe, co-founder of Barnebys – an easy-to-search website listing more than 110,000 lots due weekly under the hammer – cites last year’s sale of Edvard Munch’s The Scream for $120 million as a watershed.

“I think we have completely changed the auction market. Collecting all the items on sale at auction houses into one place and making it easy for anyone to find them has allowed people into what has previously been a pretty closed, exclusive world.

“Online auctions have opened up a new market and it’s getting easier for anyone, anywhere in the world, to gain access.

“Ten years ago, the huge problem was everyone wanted to see the item [physically] first, but the reputation has grown; it’s easier to get a condition report and to research an item online and people trust a serious auction house with good experts.

“Now fine art sales have been revolutionised, with Picassos sold on the internet for millions of pounds.

“For me it was amazing to see The Scream, the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, listed on Barnebys.”

The shift towards buying art and antiques online is evident in the figures. According to a report by The European Fine Art Foundation, Sweden (where Barnebys launched in 2011) boosted its share of the €20.9 billion global market from 0.1 per cent to 1 per cent between 2011 and 2012.

According to Mr Silfverstolpe, it’s not only Picassos but handbags, sunglasses, vintage cars and clothing that are now going under the hammer of traditional auction houses.

“That’s a huge change from 20 or 30 years ago. Our generation is thinking about sustainability and buys vintage as much as new.”

The site’s facility for customised searches and personalised email alerts on available items across the world has yielded heartwarming results.

“A friend in Sweden typed in his family name at Barnebys and found a sculpture of his great-grandfather on sale at an auction house in Denmark and bought it.

“An English couple had been given a set of glasses for their wedding but over the years some had broken and they had been looking for replacements for 20 years,” says Mr Silfverstolpe.

“Two days after putting out a search alert on our site they found them at a small auction house in England and bought them.”

Once you find an item, you bid directly through the auction house or via specialist bidding platforms.

“I was at a Paris flea market recently with a friend looking for a particular lamp,” adds Mr Silfverstolpe. “He’d spent so much time on it, but I told him: ‘search our site and I bet you will find it’. And he did.”