Web malls adopt flea market idea

Online shopping mall Interpark is following the trend toward Internet flea markets: The company announced yesterday that it has opened an “Open Market” where users can sell personal belongings. Anyone can open a mini shop on Interpark’s Open Market with no separate fee or particular registration procedure. Users can set a price for their product ― when it is sold, Interpark will take a certain percentage as commission. This differs from many other sites that charge users a small fee when they register their product or when they open a mini mall. “We anticipate that the existing shopping mall and Open Market will complement each other,” a company official said. “We expect fashion-related items or handicrafts to be the main sellers in Open Market,” Other Web-based shopping malls are expected to adopt flea market features. These malls were influenced by Web sites such as Auction and G Market, where sales have grown in the past year despite an overall stagnation in the economy. Auction’s recent third quarter reports showed that its sales went up 73 percent over last year; G Market’s third quarter sales more than tripled, year on year. by Lee Chul-jae, Wohn Dong-hee