EXCLUSIVE

The homeless guy Miley Cyrus took to the VMAs is finally cashing in on his big night with the singer ... by hawking her Moonman.

Jesse Helt is auctioning the trophy on eBay-- the bidding starts at $10k, but there's a "Buy It Now" option for $15k. Helt got his 15 minutes back in 2014 when he accepted Cyrus' Video of the Year award with a tearjerker speech about homelessness.

People connected to Jesse tell us he's been on a hot streak -- he recently got a studio apartment in L.A. and he's expecting a baby in a few months. We're told he's selling the VMA to prep for il bambino.

If $10k sounds steep -- keep in mind Coolio's trophy for "Gangsta's Paradise" once sold for $6k, and someone paid $72k for the "We Are the World" statuette!