Move to boost online second-hand watch sales

Taobao.com, part of the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, is cashing in on the boom in second-hand watch sales by giving customers more information on the products they are buying.

The online site's auction platform Paimai has linked up with the Horologe and Glasses Supervision and Testing Center, under China's General Chamber of Commerce, to test and inspect second-hand watches that are being put up for sales.

Each watch will be identified and the information will be made available to potential online customers. Taobao said the new measure will help protect Internet buyers.

Paimai is China's largest auction platform with sales of more than 50 billion yuan ($8.05 billion）last year, according the company.

Lu Weixin, who is in charge of Paimai, said that the reason that they choose to standardize the online auction of second-hand watches was to help increase the sector's market potential.

About half of the sales of Paimai's luxury items come from the online auction of watches. More than 10,000 were sold on Paimai last year.

Taobao estimated that the total transactions of the sales of second-hand watches in China were worth about 12 billion yuan last year.