South Korean media reports that eBay is putting its subsidiary there for sale. The financial institutions Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are to help eBay Korea sell to a foreign investor for an estimated value of up to 5 trillion won (about 3.7 billion euros). The usual purchase test is already being prepared. eBay Korea itself describes the reports as “unfounded rumors”.

That reports Korea News Plus . According to the newspaper The Korea Economic Daily , eBay has been looking for prospects for the Korean subsidiary for two years. So far it has not become concrete due to the requested purchase price.

Entry 2001 with takeover eBay is in 2001 with the takeover of the South Korean online Auction house Internet Auction entered the market there. The purchase price at the time was 120 million US dollars. 2009 eBay then joined South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform Gmarket. While Gmarket focuses on female customers aged 20 to 40 years, eBay focuses itself with digital products on male customers of around 30 to 50 years. As reported by Korea Economic Daily, eBay was the largest e-commerce platform in the country with 62 percent market share.

However, numerous newcomers have slowed eBay’s growth. Competitors such as Coupang, TMON and WeMakePrice have established their own logistics and send out sold products themselves, while eBay and Gmarket continue to pursue the classic auction concept. The company’s turnover comes from independent providers who pay fees for listing their offers and then send the goods themselves.

The only profitable operator eBay Korea increased its sales of 120, 8 billion won a year 2017 to 1.6 trillion won 2020. However, the operating profit stagnated at around 50 billion won. Some market watchers consider eBay Korea to be an attractive takeover candidate because it is the only well-known e-commerce platform in Korea that is making a profit. In terms of transaction volume, eBay and Gmarket are only the third largest e-commerce platform in Korea.

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