eBay admits FAILURE in China, eBay Eachnet to close, Tom Online to run new China JV auction site

[BellisimaJ.]

Nada on the announcement board.

Gee, I'm so surprised-----they're always so forthcoming with information. :

[amy]

[quote author=BellisimaJ. link=topic=3089.msg37635#msg37635 date=1166640791]

Nada on the announcement board.

Gee, I'm so surprised-----they're always so forthcoming with information. :
[/quote]

Reasons not to issue an announcement:

1. eBay wasted almost $400 million (largely funded by US sellers' fees) on its failed China site--money that could have been used to fix the US site.
2. eBay is closing the China site but they will be setting up a mini-site (like they did after they closed the Taiwan site) to assist Chinese sellers in selling on the US site--i.e. the US site will still be flooded with cheap Chinese knockoffs.

[bargainbloodhound]

The cultural gap is one big reason EBay's chief executive, Meg Whitman, is shifting strategy in China.

The cultural gap is the reason Yahoo controlled auction sites have kicked eBay's ass in every Asian market where they have gone head to head.  eBay's attempt to force a US business model on people while ignoring cultural differences has killed its chances in Asia.

[BellisimaJ.]

The cultural gap is the reason Yahoo controlled auction sites have kicked eBay's ass in every Asian market where they have gone head to head.  eBay's attempt to force a US business model on people while ignoring cultural differences has killed its chances in Asia.

Ebay is a slow learner........

[mandy]

NYT article:

EBay’s decision to close its Web site in China and take a 49 percent stake in an e-commerce venture with a Chinese company is the latest sign that local knowledge and connections matter in the Chinese market.

While eBay’s new partner, TOM Online Inc., has suffered a series of commercial setbacks in the last three years, no one questions that it knows the Chinese market and has political influence.

TOM Online has been a fairly small, struggling company until now. It earns nearly 90 percent of its revenue from providing cellphone services, mainly sending the latest entertainment news and weather in short text messages or multimedia messages to cellphone users. Most of the rest of its revenue comes from advertising on a Yahoo-like Internet portal that specializes in Chinese entertainment news.

The company’s heavy dependence on value-added cellphone services, without actually being a cellphone service provider, has made it especially vulnerable...

full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/techno...2ebay.html

[mandy]

The latest update: eBay China employees are upset that they must sign new employment contracts with Tom Online which may result in a change in benefits and salary.

full article: http://www.chinatechnews.com/2007/01/10/...pany-deal/

[mandy]

A joint venture company in China operated by Internet auction pioneer eBay Inc. and China's Tom Online Inc. appears to be hitting a rough patch even before the venture sells a single item...

As previously reported, on Dec. 19 eBay  and Tom Online announced their intent to jointly own and operate an online auction business in China...

Yet nearly three months later, the deal's appeal among consumers and financial community is waning after an initial burst of interest, according to Tom Group Inc., one of Tom Online's largest shareholders...

full article: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/eb...2AF27B8%7D