Yahoo-Kimo Inc (
Yahoo-Kimo cancelled the Yahoo accounts of "qoo5_3," "momoko0o0," and "liwen7" after the Criminal Investigation Bureau confirmed the three had been selling knockoffs of the British fashion label Burberry. The three sellers were once rated as "excellent sellers" on the site.
"We regret to see this illegal practice conducted via our auction site," said Maureen Wu (吳曉嵐), Yahoo-Kimo's associate public relations manager. "We hope online users will be more cautious about products they buy and report any unusual transactions to us."
As a customer to customer (C2C) online auction site, Wu said Yahoo-Kimo merely provides a marketplace for online users rather than content or products, and therefore had difficulty in gauging the quality of products offered for sale. The company also has no right to take legal action against users and can only cancel membership of the site, Wu said.
Wu said the ratings for the sellers were based on their transaction volume and evaluations from buyers.
One of the sellers, nicknamed "Orange Mama" (橘子媽媽), became a well-known online retailer after claiming that she sold goods worth more than NT$1 million every month through online auctions.
Wu recommended that victims of fraud ask for refunds from the sellers in accordance with the Civil Law.
Pan Jou-juan (
"I think the incident will help enhance consumer awareness about shopping in virtual stores but impede the development of e-commerce in Taiwan," Pan said.
According to the Institute for Information Industry (資策會), NT$20.47 billion worth of goods was sold online last year, up 35.2 percent from the previous year. The institute forecast that the figure will reach NT$26.62 billion this year.
Online auctioneers are also benefiting from the revival of e-business.
Yahoo-Kimo estimated that its site handled transactions worth NT$10 billion last year, a five-fold surge from the previous year.
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