Yahoo! x eBay = Sekaimon

eBay is giving a second try to the Japanese market. eBay and Yahoo teamed up and opened the site called "Sekaimon".

I wanted to see the site, but it seemed everyone was flocking to it -- the network was busy and I couldn't access the site. Poor me.

The word "sekai" means "the world" and "kaimono" means "shopping" in Japanese, so I assume by the service name, they are tryig to imply "shopping globally". Next to the logo, you see the word "powered by eBay", but I think the site design is rather "Yahooish".

According to the article "Yahoo and eBay Team Up in Online Auction [jp]",

This site facilitates the cross-border trading among the members of both services. By the online auction giants in Japan and the U.S teaming up, the number of items users can bid for will increase greatly.

I'm interested to see how this system works, but cannot say anything before seeing the site myself.

Actually, the site was not shown properly on the launch day either. I'm afraid they are missing some great opportunities.

Currently, Sekaimon lets Yahoo users in Japan to bid for the items sold on eBay using Japanese language. For eBay Users in the U.S., it is until 2008 that they can bit for the items sold on Yahoo! in Japan.