?
在中国，阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group)旗下的淘宝网(Taobao.com)已成为网络购物者的首选目的地，他们常常声称在淘宝可以买到任何东西。
In China, Alibaba Group's Taobao.com has become the primary destination for online shoppers who often claim they can get 'anything' on the Web site.
在淘宝的待售品中，本月早些时候出现的一桩或许是最出格的：有人以人民币1元的价格卖孩子。中国主要的网络购物网站淘宝说，这明显是个玩笑，淘宝得知此事后马上就把这个网页撤下去了。
Perhaps the most outrageous example of a listing turned up earlier this month when someone put a baby for sale for 1 yuan. Taobao, the leading online shopping site in China, said the listing, apparently a joke, was taken down immediately after they were notified.
然而今天又有一件新的待售商品吸引了我们的目光：Barnes & Noble售价259美元的Nook电子阅读器。这款阅读器要到11月30日才正式发售，但淘宝网上已经有售了。凭借Wi-Fi连接和让用户与其他人共享电子图书等诱人功能，Nook早已是人们谈论的热点。但科技评论人士尚未对该装置进行评测。B&N.com的总裁林奇(William Lynch, Jr.)在这款电子阅读器10月20日的发布会上展示了一件样品，在人满为患的现场引起哄动，许多人希望这款阅读器会是对亚马逊(Amazon)的Kindle电子阅读器的回应。
Yet another new listing caught our eye today: Barnes & Noble's (BKS) $259 Nook e-reader, which isn't set to ship officially until Nov. 30, is already being offered for sale on Taobao.com. The Nook has been much-talked about because of promising features like a Wi-Fi connection and the ability for users to share e-books with others. But tech critics have yet to review the device, one sample of which B&N.com President William Lynch, Jr. apparently held up at the e-reader's launch event on Oct. 20, teasing the crowded room with what many hope will be an answer to Amazon's Kindle.
我们知道许多人都对Nook垂涎不已，因此联系了那位淘宝卖家，他的标价为人民币2,888元（合422美元），库存10件。结果发现卖家只是提出等该阅读器在美国上市后代购，然后再带回给定货的买家（加价超过100美元）。Nook在美国以外能否使用还不知道，因此那些客户可能会觉得失望。
Knowing many have been salivating over the Nook's specs, we checked with the Taobao seller (the usual protocol when making purchases on the site), who listed the device for 2,888 yuan ($422) with 10 in stock. It turns out the seller is just offering to purchase the Nook when it is available in the U.S., and bring it back for anyone who orders it (for a more than $100 markup). It's unclear whether the Nook will be usable outside the U.S., so those customers may be disappointed.
在淘宝，用户可以购买其他消费者列出的产品，或是从品牌商家在淘宝开设的网店购买，然后根据他们对商品和服务的满意程度对卖家进行评价。买家可以按标出的价格和运费付款，许多人也会跟卖家砍价。
On Taobao, users can buy products listed by other consumers or from brands with online Taobao stores, then rate the sellers based on their satisfaction with their purchases and the seller's service. They can pay the price and shipping fee listed and many will also negotiate the price with the seller.
随着淘宝发展壮大（该公司称今年上半年交易额逾人民币800亿元），这家公司试图向品牌所有者和用户保证，会尽力确保网站上所有待售品都是合法的，但正如Ebay等大多数其他C2C平台所经历的那样，这项任务很难实现。
As Alibaba Group's Taobao gets bigger and bigger (the company said it handled more than 80 billion yuan in transactions in the first half of this year), it tries to reassure brand owners and users that it does what it can to make sure all the listings on its site are legal, but as with most other C2C platforms including Ebay, the task is proving hard to manage.
举例来说，虽然淘宝大力清除网站上的假冒品或未经授权的转售行为，但只要搜索一下许多知名品牌，就会找到长达许多页的待售商品列表，其价格只及正品零售价的零头。
Despite efforts to keep fakes or unauthorized reselling off the Web site, for example, a search of many prominent brands will turn up many pages of listings for items selling for a tiny fraction of their retail price.