Local media reports that after eBay.com's (EBAY) successful acquisition of Chinese auction website Eachnet.com, the latter saw a drop in the number of users accessing its site.
Specifically, college users are using the Eachnet site less, and instead they are opting for competitors' auction sites like Taobao.com and 1pai.com.
The primary cause of this shift in college student traffic appears to be eBay's decision to move their Internet servers from China to the US. According to Chinese government policies, college students are often charged extra fees for accessing offshore Internet websites. Because websites like Taobao.com and 1pai.com reside within China's borders, it is often cheaper for students to access these sites.
A secondary reason is that Eachnet has stopped providing many free services to users. Because college students often lack credit cards, it is easier for them to use the free services at other websites.
Eachnet was not available for comment and did not provide exact figures on how many fewer users are using its services.
