There is something to be learned from what Alibaba.com, a counterpart of eBay in China, achieved. Accidental Product Manager was the one who brought my attention to this news.

While they tried to go the traditional way of reducing the prices to keep existing customers and entice new customers into signing up, their addition of financing into their process is something that is going to help the typical sellers and buyers in an online marketplace.

However, I am not necessarily commenting on the model they chose, but what it achieved for their customers that stands out. In such an environment, anything a business does to cure their customers’ headaches is the only model that will succeed. That is how businesses should be run, not just for making money. Needs/wants should be cured.