PayPal Finds a Niche in China
EBay’s (EBAY) flagship consumer shopping service has struggled in China, but the company is more successful here than many may think, thanks to its fast-growing online payment business, PayPal.
The company’s legacy in the world’s largest Internet market by number of users has for years been tainted by losing the consumer-to-consumer e-commerce market to Alibaba Group’s retail website Taobao.com. But while Taobao and Alibaba’s payment platform, Alipay, still charge little to no sales commission to merchants–a strategy the Chinese company used to undercut eBay–PayPal’s China General Manager Alan Tien says the company has found a commission-based revenue model that works in China.
