BEIJING—Alibaba.com Ltd. said it will accept payments from users of eBay Inc.'s PayPal service on Alibaba.com's new online wholesale platform, a deal that suggests the two companies are setting aside a longstanding rivalry to realize their global expansion goals.
It’ll be interesting how this plays out. If I report a problem to Paypal for a Chinese seller sending me shoddy product, I am entitled to a full refund. I will have to pay for return shipping via EMS, but I will get a refund on my entire order total. Seeing how China has been so used to reeiving payment via wire transfer, actually being responsibe for post-transaction issues may very well change the landscape. After a few of these Paypal claims, a Chinese seller may stop selling on AliExpress, raise prices, or actually perform quality inspection on the product they sell.