Alibaba IPO

[Max1478]

What do you think of the Alibaba IPO? I think Alibaba (taobao) is much better than Ebay, in terms of the functions it has, the way it is designed, and the apps it has. Right now it is only in China, but if it expands world wide (pretty easy to do) it will probably take over and replace Ebay and can compete with Amazon. What do you think?

Also, how to buy it from HK???

[Oldtimer]

ask your bank or broker to buy for you.

[Drunken Master]

Critics say usa manufacturers will sue Alibaba for the counterfeit goods listings.

To buy you need a stockbroker that do usa ipo's.

[flameproof]

I think Alibaba (taobao) is much better than Ebay, in terms of the functions it has, the way it is designed, and the apps it has.

What is the name of the stuff you are smoking, I am really interested!

Taobao works, but has plenty of bugs and is simply poorly designed. And Alibaba is way, way worse. Both sites are poorly managed and hence a heaven for Chinese scam artists. On top of that, eBay is totally different and absolutely not comparable.

[Creative83]

I don't think design/function has anything to do with whether one will win the race against the other.

But yes, all things equal, it's a lot more attractive for the world to purchase from Taobao than it is to purchase from Amazon/ebay. The logistical cost and language difference may act as a barrier.

Notice retails and distributors everywhere around the world resort to profiting from the difference between the manufacturer and the retail price.

It's a no brainer who will win the race.

However, I don't know enough about how stock behaves & its many unexpected factors to know whether it will be a good buy or not.

[Max1478]

The IPO will value Alibaba about 155 billion. I don't know if they are worth it, but Facebook is also valued about 155 billion, and I know which one can make more money, and that's Alibaba in my opinion

It's a company that basically only exists in China, which is 1/6 of the world population. If they expand world-wide, I can see unlimited potential.

flameproof, why do you say that Ebay is not comparable??

[flameproof]

why do you say that Ebay is not comparable??

eBay - C2C and B2C, some C2C, has auctions too, worldwide
Alibaba - B2B, worldwide
Taobao - C2C and B2C, greater China only
1688 - B2B, greater China only

Alibaba would and should get criticized for their non existing copyright policy. eBay/paypal offers also buyer protection, Alibaba & Co is basically a cheating platform for fraudulent sellers with zero buyers protection. Claims are simply not entertained. Their market models are very different.

[flameproof]

Original Post Deleted

Baidu offers total crap and has pretty much zero exposure outside China and they do very well on NASDAQ. Can't see why Alibaba is any different.

BIDU: Summary for Baidu, Inc.- Yahoo! Finance

[East_coast]

Original Post Deleted

Hong Kong & Singapore didn't want the dodgy preferential share nonsense. Rightly so. Leave these types of shenanigans to developing markets.

[jobin]

I believe Baidu is a search engine, just like Google. Both have expanded into other areas, but neither is a sales platform like Amazon or eBay.
I'll check Schwab USA and let you know about the IPO there. Maybe too late for that.