MercadoLibre = Making a profit off of eBay's name?

[Kitsune Sniper]

I'm caught in a weird situation. I know there's a few Mexicans here, but I'm hoping eBay vets will help out. The site in question is MercadoLibre ( http://www.mercadolibre.com.mx/ ), which could possibly be considered the equivalent of eBay in Mexico and LatinAmerica. The site is HUGE. However, there are several security and quality concerns that plague the site, which make me wonder if they're really affiliated with eBay or if they're just scamming people by using their name.

I ask because the site is nothing but a huge scam ... many people here think eBay's the devil, but at least they have customer support, and try to keep things legal. I see people trying to sell stuff on their message forums (which are totally unmoderated) and get away with it!

I'm curious... I've found no reference at ALL regarding MercadoLibre on eBay itself. I've only been a seller for less than a year there, so maybe someone else has seen them mentioned there before.

Does anyone know if there are any plans for eBay to open up a Mexican version of the site? Or where can I contact eBay itself so I can make sure they know of all this mess? Their so-called contact form (well, the one I found at least) only works for reporting problems with the site, not external sites...

[crisssybwoy]

If you open ebay home page, scroll to the bottom, click on Argentina it sends you to http://www.mercadolibre.com.ar/home_visitor.html

My guess it is run by ebay or on behalf of ebay scam or no scam!

[anagrama]

It's a seperate company, but is affiliated with eBay. They were established in Latin America before eBay could take hold, so they're partnered rather than compete.
As crissybwoy said, ML's Latin American sites are linked from the eBay home page.

[Kitsune Sniper]

What a crock.

I'd expect them to at least try to keep some semblance of quality with their affiliates...

[smork]

If it makes you feel any better, eBay Malaysia is a useless pile of shit as well. eBay "quality" is non-existant outside of the major markets...