There are more than 5m online sellers in China

"Zhang Qiaoli uses her spare bedroom for storing her stock of ladies' fashion-wear and photo shoots.
She is one of more than five million small online stores operating across China, some from small apartments or even college dormitories.
She buys dresses and accessories wholesale; using the website Taobao, she sells them on as the Kitty Lover range, at prices under $10.
Taobao is owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and the brainchild of founder Jack Ma. It is a free-to-use online marketplace with some 800 million product lines - from food to clothes to technology.
It boasts 50 million unique visitors a day and is the top destination for three quarters of the country's online shoppers.
Running Kitty Lover allows Ms Zhang to work from home and take care of her baby son - though it's more than a hobby.
"Of course it's quite competitive, because there are hundreds of new stores opening every day on Taobao," says Ms Zhang."

Source:  BBC News, 30th August 2011