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***mandy*** · 10-13-2005, 02:43 PM,

Quote:TAOBAO.COM, a Hangzhou-based free online auction Website, said yesterday trading value on its Website jumped 41 percent quarter-on-quarter from July to September, surpassing rival eBay China.

Taobao, which was founded by Alibaba's Jack Ma, said the gap will widen after it acquires 1pai.com in November, which used to belong to Yahoo China.

The value of transactions on Taobao's online totaled 2.34 billion yuan (US$289.6 million) in the third quarter,

full article: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2005/10...rading.htm

**amy** · 10-14-2005, 04:17 PM,

Another Alibaba/Taobao story. Alibaba is now claiming a 60% market share in China. After eBay Eachnet fell behind Taobao earlier this year eBay stopped providing the press with break outs of its China numbers Lol

. eBay is now saying that it shouldn't be compared to Taobao because Taobao is free which somehow to eBay makes it "not a comparable site". Ummm, free or not, Taobao is still a C2C auction site just like eBay Eachnet and it is beating the pants off eBay. Lol

Quote:The claim by Taobao.com was said to be "meaningless" by its largest competitor eBay EachNet, the main eBay subsidiary in China. "The performance data of Taobao.com and ours is not comparable," said Liu Wei, Senior PR Manager with eBay EachNet. "As the service that Taobao.com provides is free, it is not possible to estimate their exact trade volume or determine whether the price offered is reasonable or not."

Meanwhile, Liu said that eBay was not going to publicize the performance data of eBay EachNet. "It is not necessary and meaningful for us to compare with others on such self-claimed data.".

The funny thing is, until eBay fell behind Taobao earlier this year, it used every opportunity it could to "publicize the performance data of eBay EachNet" and "compare with others on such self-claimed data" Happy001

http://www.interfax.cn/showfeature.asp?aid=6465&slug=INTERNET-E-COMMERCE-TAOBAO-EBAY-EACHNET

***mandy*** · (This post was last modified: 10-20-2005, 08:28 AM by mandy.)

article on eBay-Taobao rivalry:

Quote:The two leading Chinese Internet auction sites escalated a bitter war of words on Wednesday by arguing the superiority of their respective strategies for conducting online auctions.

Taobao.com, the Alibaba auction site backed by Softbank Corp. of Japan, and in which Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) recently purchased a 40 percent stake, sparked the battle by saying its site would be free of charge for three more years

"We call on eBay to do what's right for this phase of China's e-commerce development and make your services free for buyers and sellers in China," Jack Ma, chief executive of Alibaba.com, said i

full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051020/wr_n...tions_dc_1

The Taobao press release that sparked today's war of words:

Quote:Alibaba.com announced today that its Taobao.com Chinese-language consumer auction site will remain free for buyers and sellers for three more years, until at least October, 2008. In addition, Alibaba.com will invest US $120 million to further grow Taobao.com's trusted e-commerce marketplace with the goal of creating one million jobs for entrepreneurs in China.

full press release: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051019/nyw164.html?.v=31

eBay press release in response to Alibaba/Taobao:

Quote:eBay today issued the following statement regarding Taobao's pricing challenge:

"Free" is not a business model. It speaks volumes about the strength of eBay's business in China that Taobao today announced that it is unable to charge for its products for the next three years.

We're very proud that eBay is creating a sustainable business in China, while providing Chinese consumers and entrepreneurs with the safest, most professional, and most exciting global trading environment available today.

full press release: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051019/196179.html?.v=1

see also this story from today on eBay China's site:

"eBay China auction Site Offers Human Babies For Sale": http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...897.0.html

related topic on Taobao's parent Alibaba:

" E-commerce key to China Web growth: Interview w/Alibaba's Jack Ma ": http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...900.0.html

**amy** · 10-20-2005, 05:47 PM,

Quote:"Free" is not a business model. It speaks volumes about the strength of eBay's business in China that Taobao today announced that it is unable to charge for its products for the next three years.

Are the people who run eBay 2 years old? Their retaliatory rebuttal is humorous, but that statement doesn't bear any resemblance to (the) reality (of what Taobao said).

Question for eBay: If free is not a business model then what does that say about Skype and Meg's prediction yesterday that it and all other Internet phone companies in the not too distant future will offer free calling? Is there a difference between a business model that includes consumers receiving free VOIP calling and a "not a business model" that includes consumers receiving free auction listings?

Oops, off topic. :twistedevil: China: TenCent's user base is several times larger than the combined user base of eBay Eachnet and Alibaba Taobao. My prediction: within a year of the planned opening of TenCent's auction site later this year both Taobao and eBay will be eating dust, with eBay in 3rd place.