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Will the Middle Kingdom sinicise its latest barbarian invader?

Jun 22, 2007 07:28

Ebay.cn launches: Surely now they can ship my fighter jet?

Ebay just launched its Chinese site, Ebay.cn. Chinese people who might have previously been dismayed over certain products only shipping within North America can now breathe a collective sigh of relief.

One such person is Chinese businessman Zhang Cheng:

[Zhang Cheng] who bought a Russian fighter jet online at eBay, wanted his money back after finding it could not be shipped to China... Zhang Cheng bid US$24,730 and paid a US$2,000 deposit for the former Czech airforce plane, Xinhua news agency said. But legal experts informed Zhang that the MiG-21, located in Idaho in the US, was "almost impossible to ship back", Xinhua said, quoting the Beijing Times. Moreover, the seller had clearly confined the destination of the plane to the US and Canada, Xinhua quoted a member of eBay's public relations staff as saying. Source

Possibly a counter-measure to order to avoid such embarrassments, Ebay.cn has wisely set up its "Ebay International Trade Virtual University", which will teach new users the do's and don'ts of good and proper eBaying.

No word yet on whether or not Zhang has enrolled in the course.

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wushumaro

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wushumaro says...
Hey Rick. That is great! I can finally get stuff when i'm in China...

From a business aspect though, I'm wondering what most people think. I know that China right now has a huge bidding site called taobao.com

in fact, my girlfriend's sister gets ALL her products from there at super low prices, do you think Ebay has big shoes to fill?

Anyways, Rick, I would like to talk to you if you have time could you email me at wushumaro@yahoo.com

thanks. peace

Jun 22, 2007 07:59

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RickM

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RickM says...
Cheers man. I'm sure ebay will catch on pretty quick here. Though I think initially it might take some time to be used by regular people, as it seems to be somewhat geared towards small/medium business so far.

Jun 22, 2007 08:23

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ChrisAmico

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ChrisAmico says...
That jet was quite a bargain at $24k. Anybody still looking for something to get me for my birthday...

Bigger question in my mind: Will this mean PayPal will start accepting RMB and free exchanging it to dollars, like it does with other major currencies?

Jun 22, 2007 11:44

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