EBay to start Japanese language services: report

NEW YORK Online auctioneer eBay Inc will introduce Japanese language services for sellers on Wednesday as it tries to lure Japanese products, the financial daily Nikkei said in its Tuesday edition.

The paper said a translation service will provide Japanese sellers with English versions of their product descriptions within a day at rates of 700 yen ($7.20) for up to 100 Japanese characters and 1,200 yen for up to 200. "The cost will be less than half that of conventional services," Nikkei said.

The service will also provide translations to Japanese from English to allow sellers to handle questions from buyers, Nikkei said.

It said explanations on how to list a product will be available in Japanese on a new web site.

The paper said: "By screening delivery options, eBay expects to keep shipping charges to roughly half of regular rates."

($1=97.2544 yen)

(Reporting by Gerald E. McCormick; editing by Gunna Dickson)