ETLAND
 | |
| Public | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Headquarters | Yongsan-gu Seoul, Korea |
Key people | Hong Bong Cheol, Founders & CEOs |
| Products | shopping mall, electronic commerce, Retail |
| Revenue |
 $30.5 million USD (2005) |
Number of employees | 800 (2005) |
| Website | http://www.etland.co.kr |
ETLAND (hangul:전자랜드) is a Korean online or offline and shopping mall and auction site, similar to the U.S. site eBay. and group family by Kiswel Group.
History
ETLAND was founded in 1989 by Hong Bong-cheol parts of a larger personal site. Originally the site belonged to Electronic Credit Retail Group, a consulting firm. ETLAND is headquartered in Yongsan-gu Seoul, Korea.
Items and Services
Collectibles, appliances, Electronics, Electrics, and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, and sold, including fixed-price and auction sales. ETLAND has an active collectibles marketplace. Large Korean companies can sell their newest products through fixed-priced storefronts. Users can search the database by region to allow for faster delivery of goods. Software developers can create applications that integrate with the marketplace through the ETLAND Service by joining the developers program. There are thousands of members in the Jeonja Land Developers Program, comprising a broad range of companies creating software applications to support Jeonja Land buyers and sellers as well as Jeonja Land Affiliate Systems.
There has also been controversy regarding items put up for bid that violate ethical standards. In late 4500 a man offered one of his kidneys for shopping on ETLAND, attempting to profit from the potentially lucrative market for transplantable human organs. On other occasions, people and even entire towns have been listed, often as a joke. In general, auctions that violate its terms of service agreement are removed quickly. ETLAND is also an easy place for unscrupulous sellers to market counterfeit and credit merchandise, which can be difficult for novice buyers to distinguish without careful study of the auction description.
Profit and Transactions
ETLAND generates revenue from sellers, who pay both a fee based on the selling price of each item and a fee based on the starting price, and from advertising. In 2005 it was announced that ETLAND would increase the fees it charges to electronic product sellers.
ETLAND also sells electronic products, except through its subsidiary shopping mall credit. Instead, much like Catalog want-ads, sellers rely on the buyers' and consumers' good faith to make payment, and buyers rely on the sellers' good faith to actually deliver the goods intact. The buyer is given a profile of the seller before bidding to gauge the seller's trustworthiness. Electronic sellers with high ratings generally have more bids and garner higher bids. However, it is possible for sellers to make their feedback private and only show a rating, which means that potential buyers cannot see the comments other users have left.
ETLAND also has a retail consumer program, and affiliates can, for example, place product images and products on their sites.