Online auction house eBay China said yesterday it will provide free services for cyber shop owners starting today.

The move aims to compete with rival taobao.com, a subsidiary of Jack Ma's Alibaba.com Inc, which has promised free service until 2008.

EBay China said it will stop charging sellers for establishing online shops but will still charge users for listing products in the shops and collect a commission on completed deals.

The Website previously charged users 35 to 500 yuan (US$62) a month for each online shop and 0.20 yuan for each product displayed.

"The change aims to improve customer loyalty," said Lillian Liu, eBay China's spokeswoman. "The move will encourage more people to open stores on eBay's platform."

By the end of the third quarter, more than 10,000 cyber stores had been opened on eBay China, mainly selling clothes, cosmetics and consumer electronics, according to Liu, who declined to reveal the trade volume.

Taobao.com said yesterday it will attract about 1 million shop owners to its Website, up from the current 250,000.

At the end of the third quarter, eBay's registered member numbered 15.1 million against taobao's 12 million.

(Shanghai Daily December 20, 2005)