Logistics and grievances: The world's largest online marketplace is struggling to cope with the sudden Internet surge in India
There’s a very tangible, melodramatic air that hovers around Amar Mudliar. A 35-year-old trader on the Indian edition of eBay, an online marketplace, he started out as a computer dealer. But wafer thin margins, his bankers and life in general dealt him a rough hand. He found solace among lawyers and a couple of whiskies every night.
Through the accompanying haze though, he had figured the cheapest places in the world to source electronic gadgets, automobile spares and other such assorted paraphernalia that he was convinced people would buy, if only he could show it to them.
Inscrutable Indians
Amit (full name withheld on request), a New Delhi-based vendor, received an order from Rajasthan for a television stand. After the buyer confirmed the product was delivered, he got a call. The buyer claimed the stand was delivered broken in four pieces and that he wasn’t going to pay for it. “How a stand made of iron can be broken into four pieces by the sloppiest of couriers is beyond me,” says an exasperated Amit. “I asked him to return the damaged goods and that I’d pay for the courier charges. He said he didn’t have the time. I didn’t see my money either,” he trails off.
(This story appears in the 19 June, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)