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話說“只有想不到，沒有‘淘’不到”，說的正是亞洲最大的網(wǎng)上購物商城——淘寶。自2003年誕生以來，淘寶可謂盡收天下商品，盡攬各方眼球，笑看熙熙攘攘的買客，坐收豐厚的真金白銀。淘寶商家各顯神通，“親”長“親”短，噓寒問暖；淘寶買家足不出戶，“挑”來“選”去，好不便利。商家也好，買家也罷，淘寶帶給了人們從未有過的網(wǎng)上購物新體驗。然而，在淘寶上購物，買家仍需擦亮雪眼，因假貨實(shí)難避免。

In 2005， when the scrappy1) Chinese e-commerce company Taobao was locked in battle with eBay2) for control of the lucrative China market， Jack Ma， the former English teacher who founded Taobao parent company Alibaba， confidently predicted that victory would be his: “eBay may be a shark in the ocean， but I am a crocodile3) in the Yangtze River. If we fight in the ocean， we lose—but if we fight in the river， we win.”

He was not only right; he underestimated his company’s potential. Taobao (which means “searching for treasure” in Mandarin) isn’t a mere crocodile today， it’s a Tyrannosaurus Rex4). Or a mutant5) creature from another planet hell-bent6) on global domination. Point is， it’s big—very big. Just nine years after its launch， Taobao has 370 million registered users across its three main platforms—more than the entire population of the United States. Taobao Marketplace7) (the site most similar to eBay) virtually owns the country’s online C2C8) business， with a 90% market share， while Taobao Mall， a separate site where brands like Gap9) and Uniqlo10) sell directly to consumers， has captured close to 50% of the B2C11) market—nearly triple its nearest competitor. Taobao’s gross merchandise volume (total value of all goods sold) in 2010 reached an estimated $60 billion—double its 2009 volume and topping eBay’s $53 billion.

According to Alexa12)， a Web tracking firm， Taobao.com is the third-most visited site in China and the 15th-most visited site in the world—smack13) between Yahoo! Japan and Google India. (eBay is No. 22.) Goldman Sachs14) predicts the company will make $716 million in pre-tax earnings and be worth $14.3 billion in 2013， which is impressive considering it makes the majority of its revenue from advertising—unlike eBay， it doesn’t charge listing or transaction fees in its C2C business. One of the main reasons that eBay didn’t succeed in China was that Taobao offered a similar， or perhaps superior， service for free.

Though Taobao is tops15) in China， it’s hit something of a rough patch. It seems the bigger the firm gets， the more trouble it has trying to control what’s actually being sold on its sites. Given the ubiquity of counterfeits16) and illegally made goods in China， this is a serious problem.

Take the trade in illicit drugs and other medical supplies for instance. In Oct. 2011， the China Daily reported that vendors17) on Taobao were selling dried and ground human placenta18)， a popular ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. Months earlier， a scandal erupted when mothers were found selling excess breast milk for upwards of19) $16 per bag on the site. Fertility drugs have turned up on Taobao， as have diet pills containing tapeworm20) eggs. In each case， Taobao said it didn’t condone21) such sales and it shut down the vendors as soon as they were discovered.

Counterfeit goods， though， are an even bigger problem—and not just for Taobao. According to a survey conducted by the website tech.qq.com in 2010， nearly 95% of Chinese Internet users believe that counterfeit goods are “running wild” online. And on Taobao， foreign brands are beginning to take notice now that they’ve started setting up shops in the Taobao Mall. In July 2011， three Swiss watchmakers resorted to litigation22): Omega， Longines and Rado sued Taobao in Beijing for failing to stop the sale of knockoff23) watches in Taobao Marketplace. The companies said Taobao should ban listings of their watches priced at under RMB 7，500; a search a few days later turned up a number of Omega watches priced at about half that amount.

Taobao Marketplace maintains it is serious about stamping out24) counterfeits， but with 800 million products listed on the site at any given time， the task is difficult， says Florence Shih， an Alibaba spokeswoman. The site has keyword filters that prevent sellers from posting banned items and price filters meant to weed out25) luxury goods offered at incredibly low prices. The company also has teams who scan the site and manually take down listings in violation of Taobao policies. Earlier in 2011， it launched an online reporting system that allows brands to submit product listings they believe to be fakes. In 2010， the company removed 14 million listings for intellectual property infringement26)， and in the first half of 2011， it deleted 47 million listings， Shih says. Alibaba has also established funds totaling more than RMB 1.2 billion to pay compensation if consumers receive counterfeit goods—buyers may be eligible to receive three times the price of the item in the Marketplace and five times the price in the Mall. And the company shuts down the stores of those who repeatedly violate the rules. “We do the best that we can，” she says. “This is a bigger societal problem. Counterfeit goods don’t simply exist on Taobao Marketplace.”

Wang Hai， a well-known Chinese consumer rights advocate， isn’t sold. Three years ago， he submitted a report to the government accusing the company of allowing some online stores to operate illegally and infringing on buyers’ rights by concealing the real identities of its sellers. Nothing has changed since then， he tells TIME. “There is no guarantee of the quality and authenticity of products. Neither Taobao nor consumers are certain of sellers’ locations. Nor do regulatory authorities know where sellers are. So Taobao sellers escape from any form of supervision，” he says. “Consumers rely on luck or the sellers’ sense of morality.”

The fact that Taobao continues to grow suggests that many consumers are willing to take a chance—especially if the price is right. Christina Wang， a 26-year-old in Shanghai who spends about $150 per month on Taobao， says the key is to search for sellers with good customer feedback and be prepared to deal with small quality issues. “I might be tricked (with a fake)， but the possibility is quite low if you know what you’re doing，” she says.

2005年，敢打敢拼的中國電子商務(wù)公司淘寶與eBay公司陷入一場激戰(zhàn)，為的是控制利潤豐厚的中國市場。當(dāng)時，馬云自信滿滿地預(yù)言，勝利必將屬于淘寶。馬云曾經(jīng)是一名英語教師，后來創(chuàng)建了淘寶的母公司——阿里巴巴。他這樣說道：“eBay也許是大海中的鯊魚，但我卻是長江中的大鱷。如果在大海里對抗，我們會輸；但如果在江河里較量，我們穩(wěn)贏?！?/p>

他說得一點(diǎn)沒錯，甚至可以說低估了自己公司的潛力。如今的淘寶(這個詞在普通話里就是“尋覓珍寶”的意思)可不只是一條鱷魚，而是一只霸王龍，或者說是來自另一星球的異形生物，一心想成為世界主導(dǎo)。關(guān)鍵是它很龐大——非常龐大。淘寶創(chuàng)建不過才九年，就已經(jīng)通過三大主要平臺，坐擁3.7億注冊用戶——比美國的人口總數(shù)還要多。淘寶集市(與eBay最為相似的網(wǎng)站)幾乎包攬了中國國內(nèi)的網(wǎng)上C2C業(yè)務(wù)，獨(dú)占市場份額的90%；而天貓(即之前的淘寶商城)—— 一個供蓋普、優(yōu)衣庫等品牌面對消費(fèi)者進(jìn)行直銷的獨(dú)立網(wǎng)站——占據(jù)了近50%的B2C市場，差不多是其最強(qiáng)競爭對手的三倍。據(jù)估計，淘寶2010年的銷售總額(所售全部商品的總價值)達(dá)到了600億美元——是2009年總額的兩倍，超越了銷售總額達(dá)530億美元的eBay公司。

據(jù)網(wǎng)絡(luò)流量統(tǒng)計公司Alexa統(tǒng)計，淘寶網(wǎng)的訪問量在中國排名第三位，在世界排名第15位，正好夾在雅虎日本和谷歌印度之間。(eBay排在第22位。)高盛集團(tuán)預(yù)言，到2013年，淘寶的稅前收益可達(dá)7.16億美元，而市值將達(dá)到143億美元。這樣的數(shù)字著實(shí)令人驚嘆，因為淘寶不像eBay，它在C2C業(yè)務(wù)中并不收取上架費(fèi)或手續(xù)費(fèi)，其收益主要來自廣告費(fèi)。eBay在中國不成功的原因眾多，其中主要原因之一就是淘寶能提供和eBay相似甚至更優(yōu)質(zhì)的服務(wù)，卻分文不收。

盡管淘寶在中國首屈一指，但它也遇上了一些難題。似乎公司越大，要想管理網(wǎng)站實(shí)際出售的商品就越麻煩?？紤]到中國的假冒產(chǎn)品和非法制造商品無處不在，這個問題還真不容小覷。

就拿違禁藥品和其他醫(yī)藥產(chǎn)品的交易來說吧。據(jù)《中國日報》2011年10月的報道，淘寶網(wǎng)上有商家出售胎盤研磨粉——一種頗受歡迎的傳統(tǒng)中藥成分。此前的幾個月，淘寶網(wǎng)還曾曝出一樁丑聞：有些母親在網(wǎng)站上以每袋高于16美元的價格出售多余的母乳。此外，淘寶上也有人賣催孕藥，還有人賣含絳蟲卵的減肥藥。每每發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣的情況，淘寶都聲明無法容忍此類行為。只要一發(fā)現(xiàn)有商家從事這類行為，淘寶就立即關(guān)閉其店鋪。

然而，假冒產(chǎn)品不只是存在于淘寶網(wǎng)上，而是一個更具有普遍性的問題。據(jù)騰訊網(wǎng)科技頻道2010年的調(diào)查顯示，中國近95%的網(wǎng)絡(luò)用戶認(rèn)為網(wǎng)上的假冒產(chǎn)品“泛濫成災(zāi)”。在淘寶網(wǎng)上，外國品牌也開始注意這一情況，因為它們已經(jīng)開始在天貓開設(shè)商鋪。2011年7月，歐米茄、浪琴和雷達(dá)這三家瑞士手表制造商訴諸法律手段，在北京將淘寶告上法庭，控告其未能阻止冒牌手表在淘寶集市上出售。這些公司聲稱，淘寶理應(yīng)禁止這些品牌的手表以低于7500元的價格上架。而幾天后的搜索結(jié)果卻顯示，仍有為數(shù)不少的歐米茄手表標(biāo)價為此價格的一半左右。

淘寶集市堅稱，根除假貨是個重大問題。阿里巴巴女發(fā)言人弗洛倫斯·詩和說，鑒于在任一指定時刻都有八億件之多的產(chǎn)品在淘寶網(wǎng)上架，要根除這些商品中的假貨可謂困難重重。淘寶網(wǎng)設(shè)有關(guān)鍵字過濾功能，用于防止商家出售違禁商品；還有價格過濾功能，用于剔除那些以驚人的低價出售的奢侈品。淘寶公司還有團(tuán)隊專門負(fù)責(zé)瀏覽網(wǎng)站，將那些違反淘寶相關(guān)規(guī)定的產(chǎn)品手動下架。2011年年初，淘寶公司推出在線舉報系統(tǒng)，各品牌公司可以在此提交他們認(rèn)為是假貨的商品清單。弗洛倫斯·詩和稱，2010年，淘寶公司將1400萬種侵害知識產(chǎn)權(quán)的商品“掃地出門”；2011年上半年，淘寶公司又刪除了4700萬種上架商品。阿里巴巴集團(tuán)還建立了超過12億人民幣的基金，用于賠償買到假貨的顧客：在淘寶集市買到假貨的買家有可能獲得三倍于商品價值的賠償，而在天貓買到假貨的買家則可能獲得五倍于商品價值的賠償。此外，淘寶公司還關(guān)閉了那些反復(fù)違規(guī)的店鋪?！拔覀冊诒M力而為。這是一個更廣泛的社會問題，假冒產(chǎn)品并不只出現(xiàn)在淘寶集市上?！?弗洛倫斯·詩和如是說道。

中國著名的“打假斗士”王海卻不買賬。三年前，他向政府提交了一份報告，指責(zé)淘寶公司允許部分網(wǎng)店不法經(jīng)營，并且隱瞞賣家真實(shí)身份，侵害買家權(quán)利。他在接受《時代周刊》采訪時說，在他提交報告后，他所指責(zé)的情況并沒有得到改善?！吧唐返馁|(zhì)量和真?zhèn)螣o法得到保證。無論是淘寶網(wǎng)還是買家都不確定賣家的所在地，監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)對此也一無所知。淘寶商家因此可以逃過任何形式的監(jiān)管，”他說道，“消費(fèi)者只能靠運(yùn)氣或者賣家的道德感?！?/p>

淘寶業(yè)務(wù)持續(xù)攀升，這說明眾多消費(fèi)者還是愿意碰碰運(yùn)氣——特別是價格合適的話。26歲的王小姐來自上海，她每月都會在淘寶網(wǎng)花大約150美元進(jìn)行購物，在她看來，網(wǎng)購的關(guān)鍵是搜索到廣受好評的賣家，而且還得準(zhǔn)備好處理一些細(xì)小的質(zhì)量問題。“我可能會被(假貨)坑，不過如果知道自己在做什么，被坑的可能性還是相當(dāng)小的?！蓖跣〗氵@樣說道。

1.scrappy [#712;skraelig;pi] adj.〈美〉斗志旺盛的，敢作敢為的

2.eBay：全球最大的電子商務(wù)公司，總部位于美國加州。

3.crocodile [#712;kr#594;k#601;da#618;l] n. 鱷魚

4.Tyrannosaurus Rex：雷克斯暴龍，又稱霸王龍，一種大型肉食性恐龍

5.mutant [#712;mjut(#601;)nt] adj.〈俚〉突變的，顯示出遺傳突變體特征的

6.hell-bent：破釜沉舟的，決意的

7.Taobao Marketplace：淘寶集市，相對于下文中出現(xiàn)的天貓而言。天貓的用戶屬于官方認(rèn)證的商家，而集市就是原來全免費(fèi)的淘寶網(wǎng)站的統(tǒng)稱。一般來說，淘寶集市上的個人賣家較多，它沒有天貓那樣繁雜的認(rèn)證過程，出售的商品也不像天貓那樣專業(yè)、統(tǒng)一；但集市店鋪的商品種類眾多，是目前淘寶主要的消費(fèi)門戶。

8.C2C：電子商務(wù)專業(yè)用語，指個人與個人之間的電子商務(wù)，即Consumer to Consumer。因為英文中“to”的發(fā)音同“2”，所以Consumer to Consumer簡寫為C2C。

9.Gap：美國蓋普公司，全球著名的服裝零售商之一

10.Uniqlo：優(yōu)衣庫，日本著名休閑品牌，排名全球服飾零售業(yè)前列的日本迅銷(Fast Retailing)集團(tuán)旗下的核心品牌

11.B2C：電子商務(wù)專業(yè)用語，中文簡稱為“商對客”，即Business to Customer?！吧虒汀币簿褪峭ǔＵf的商業(yè)零售，直接面向消費(fèi)者銷售產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)。

12.Alexa：一家網(wǎng)絡(luò)流量統(tǒng)計公司，于1996年在美國創(chuàng)立。

13.smack [smaelig;k] adv. 恰好，不偏不倚地

14.Goldman Sachs：高盛集團(tuán)，集投資銀行、證券交易和投資管理等業(yè)務(wù)為一體的國際著名投資銀行。該集團(tuán)于1869年創(chuàng)立于紐約曼哈頓，是華爾街歷史悠久、經(jīng)驗豐富、實(shí)力雄厚的投資銀行之一。

15.tops [t#594;ps] adj. 最上等的，第一流的

16.counterfeit [#712;ka#650;nt#601;r#716;f#618;t] n. 仿制品，偽造物

17.vendor [#712;vend#601;r] n. 賣主

18.placenta [pl#601;#712;sent#601;] n. 胎盤

19.upwards of：……以上，多于……

20.tapeworm [#712;te#618;p#716;w#604;rm] n. [動]絳蟲

21.condone [k#601;n#712;do#650;n] vt. 容忍，寬恕

22.litigation [#716;l#618;t#618;#712;ɡe#618;#643;(#601;)n] n. 訴訟

23.knockoff [#712;nɑk#716;#596;f] n. 冒牌貨

24.stamp out：消滅，毀掉

25.weed out：清除，除去

26.infringement [#618;n#712;fr#618;nd#658;m#601;nt] n. 侵犯，違反