Internet Businesses Push Alibaba’s Online Subsidiary To Postpone Contract Signings

Tmall.com, the B2C section of Alibaba’s Taobao.com website, has published a report stating that its 2012 contract signings and renewals, which were planned to be launched on October 17, 2011, have been postponed.

The company said they will soon publish another report to inform clients about the new start date of the contract signing and renewal.

Tmall.com published a new fee schedule on October 10, 2011. Under the new rules, the annual technical service fee paid by vendors who entered Tmall.com was increased from CNY6,000 to CNY30,000 or CNY60,000. Meanwhile, the B2C platform set three new grades of earnings money, which are CNY50,000, CNY100,000, and CNY150,000. The figure previously paid was CNY10,000.

The new rules raised resentment among sellers on Tmall.com. In recent weeks, many small- and medium-sized vendors gathered on Chinese Internet forums and spread rumors to attack large vendors, which disrupted the normal operation of the large vendors.

A representative from the e-commerce and information department of Ministry of Commerce of China said on October 15, 2011, that the relevant parties should, with consideration of maintaining price stability and supporting small enterprises, “handle the issues properly and report the process timely”. The representative also said they hope Tmall.com can take opinions from various parties and respond to the reasonable demands of small- and medium-sized vendors.