BY MELISSA HECKSCHER >STAFF WRITER

Breaking up is hard to do.

But at least now people can make a little money off of it. Just log on to www.exboyfriendjewelry.com, a site where people can sell their once-beloved romantic gifts in the name of closure.

Well ... and maybe a little cash.

"It has so much more to do with moving on," said Megahn Perry, 31, who founded the site along with her stepmother, Marie Perry.

"It's not just about getting the money," added Marie, 44. "This might be the best gift I've ever gotten, but if you break my heart, I can't stand to look at it anymore. I'm not going to wear it."

The mother-stepdaughter team came up with the idea for the site after Megahn, who was married and divorced in her early 20s, set out to sell her engagement ring along with some other jewelry her ex-husband had given her.

She could keep the jewelry, she thought, but she knew she would never wear it. She had offered to give the items back, but her ex didn't want them.

"I didn't really know what to do," said Megahn, who lives in Woodland Hills. "I went to a pawn shop, but that seemed creepy and not very respectful. Consignment stores seemed, I don't know ... it just seemed odd to take your stuff to this strange place."

She was discussing her dilemma with Marie when the idea came to them.

"It was just a conversation over dinner," said Marie, who lives in Encino. "It was one of those things where we were both like, `Oh my God, you know what would be so funny?"'

But more than funny, it's fascinating. What makes Exboyfriendjewelry.com different from other online merchant sites such as eBay and Craigslist, Megahn said, is that every item up for sale has a story - and sellers have to tell it (house rules).

"I think we've learned a lot about humanity from doing this site," Megahn said. "The listings run the gamut from hilarious, silly, 'I'm over it' stories, to bitter, to heartbreaking."

Consequently, the ads read more like pleas for support than sales pitches:

"Not married anymore!! Don't need it anymore!!" reads one ad.

"He cheated, I need to forget about him," reveals another.

And another: "Loved My Ex-Husband, But His Girlfriend Wasn't My Type!!!"

Ah, heartache.

Take it from "Sybil." A 28-year-old attorney who asked that her real name not be used, was dating a man for two years when, three days before they were supposed to get married, he committed suicide and she discovered he was already married with children.

"Yes, those double-life stories you see on Oprah do happen," says her ad for the platinum wedding band she never had the opportunity to wear. "I've held on to this ring for almost two years, but it's time to move on."

In a phone interview, Sybil said selling the ring - it's priced at $4,500 - was the right thing to do. She was starting a new relationship and wanted a fresh start.

"I don't think that anybody wants to hold on to something they've got that's a bad memory," she said. "It's everybody's right to sell your own things."

And there are a lot of things to sell.

About 15,000 people have registered with Exboyfriendjewelry.com since the site's launch in February. More than 4,000 items have been sold.

Prices on the site range from $12 for a charm necklace to more than $14,000 for a 2.53-carat diamond engagement ring.

The site is ad-supported, so posting and reading ads is free. That said, Megahn and Marie haven't quit their day jobs: Marie works as an agent for cinematographers and set designers; Megahn is a writer and actor who most recently appeared on the VH-1 reality show "I Hate My 30s."

Sellers have the option to sell or trade their items or give the proceeds of their sale to the site's "Good Karma Fund," which benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

"It's sort of laundering that bad karma," Megahn said.

And it's not just about jewelry.

A "Gifts That Should Have Been Jewelry" section allows people to sell items ranging from wedding dresses, to shoes, to handbags, to kitchen appliances.

"To date, I have made about $500," said "Chase," a 22-year-old Newport Beach woman who turned to the site to sell designer jeans, a Louis Vuitton bag and a pair of never-worn shoes, all of which she received as gifts from an ex-boyfriend.

"These things sit in my closet and collect dust and are better off with someone who will actually appreciate them," she said. "When the items are actually sold, it is just one less thing I have to look at in my closet or my jewelry box. It's a chance for me to start over and actually move on."

As is the case with buying anything online, experts recommend using a third-party Web site such as Escrow.com or Safefunds.com, which holds funds until a purchase or sale is deemed legitimate. Buyers can pay the third party, get the jewelry shipped, have it appraised and then can either finalize or cancel the transaction.

"What I always tell people - and this is true with buying anything online - is that it's a buyer-beware situation," said Dean Abell, certified gemologist, appraiser and vice president of Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers in Westwood. "What I tell my customers is that if you feel that the price is good enough to take a chance on it, then go ahead."

Melissa Heckscher (310) 540-5511, Ext. 329; melissa.heckscher@dailybreeze.com

DUMP THAT JEWELRY

>For more information, go to www.exboyfriendjewelry.com.

>Exboyfriendjewelry.com isn't the only Web site to bank on breakups. Founded by Elizabeth Rothbeind and Allison Wasserman, two friends living in New Orleans, www.Ex-cessories.com also provides an outlet to sell jewelry from past relationships. The site's slogan: "Don't get mad ... break even."