eBay and Yahoo Japan to announce partership

[mandy]

EBay Inc and Yahoo Japan will link up their auction sites to make cross-border bidding easier, in a deal that will give U.S. auction titan eBay another chance to woo lucrative Japanese consumers...

EBay and Yahoo Japan, which together have about 4 trillion yen ($36 billion) in annual successful bids, will first launch a Japanese-language site on which Yahoo Japan users can bid for eBay items, spokesmen from the two firms said.

The companies will introduce the site, called Sekaimon or "Gateway to the world," at a news conference at 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) in Tokyo. The Web address is http://www.sekaimon.com ...

full article: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArt...nologyNews&storyID=2007-12-04T025144Z_01_T24388_RTRIDST_0_TECH-YAHOO-EBAY-COL.XML

[mandy]

More info on the partnership:

Yahoo Japan on Tuesday launched a new auction site called "Sekaimon." The Japanese name translates to "gateway to the world." By using their Yahoo Japan login information, the site will let users bid on items listed on eBay's U.S. site. The site will translate eBay item names into Japanese and help with payments, shipping and customs clearance. Both companies will share the revenue from the new site.

In phase two, scheduled for March, users will see eBay items listed on Yahoo Japan's auction site. Before the end of 2008, items from Yahoo Japan's site will be listed on eBay in the U.S. Users in both countries will be able to bid on all items...

full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/eBay-Yah...60604.html

[sneakymagenta]

Before the end of 2008, items from Yahoo Japan's site will be listed on eBay in the U.S.

[mandy]

more:

Shop Airlines will manage and operate the Sekaimon site and will host a customer service function to assist US sellers. The company will facilitate all payments, shipping and customs clearance on behalf of Japanese buyers. Yahoo Japan users can access the service and shop for items on the eBay U.S. site by using their existing Yahoo Japan IDs.

US sellers need not worry about international shipping or language issues. Shop Airlines will instruct sellers to ship items to US locations where it will handle customs and additional requirements before sending them directly to the buyer in Japan. In effect, the seller is dealing with Shop Airlines, not the individual buyer in Japan.

PayPal will be the default payment option for all international purchases...

full article: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y207...bu0205/s04

[sneakymagenta]

In effect, the seller is dealing with Shop Airlines, not the individual buyer in Japan.

That's one positive.