Here is the cold hard truth: Taobao and Alibaba do not need Ezbuy.

For all intents and purposes, Taobao/ Alibaba wants to make the money Ezbuy has been making all these years since it was established in 2010.

If Alibaba CEO Jack Ma can dance like Michael Jackson and star in his own kung fu movie, there is no stopping Taobao -- which is owned by Alibaba -- from reaching customers, by any means necessary.

So, is this the end of the Ezbuy Buy-For-Me China Taobao service?

The following Q&A will let you decide for yourself.

1. What are the other agents in Singapore that purchase from Taobao?

SGshop, Peeka, and Oops.

These are all agents operating in Singapore that also purchase from e-marketplace Taobao, and have all been seeing a huge wave of customers joining them following the Ezbuy Buy-For-Me services going down.

Essentially, these Taobao agents work as middlemen to communicate with the merchant on behalf of customers, as well as make payment and ship products to the customers.

2. How big are the other Ezbuy competitors?

SGshop has 200,000 customers here.

Peeka has 30,000 customers.

The same fate awaits them. It is perhaps a matter of time before Taobao/ Alibaba decides to act against them as well.

3. What is Alibaba's stance?

In its statement on Dec. 8, 2017, in response to Ezbuy's accusations of bullying, an Alibaba Group spokesman said the company does not tolerate and will penalise scalping behaviour, adding that “such acts severely damage both consumers’ and sellers’ rights, disrupts normal business transactions”.

4. Why is Alibaba and Taobao targeting Ezbuy and not the other third-party agents in Singapore?

One plausible reason could be because Ezbuy is the biggest third-party agent in Singapore.

Ezbuy has more than 1 million registered users in Singapore.

It is the one that is making the most money.

This also makes its purchases more easily traceable.

Taobao can identify the accounts owned by Ezbuy and shut them down more efficiently.

5. What does Ezbuy think of this clampdown by Taobao/ Alibaba?

In response to Mothership.sg queries as to whether Ezbuy sees the account freezing as part of Taobao's clean-up act overall, Ezbuy declined to comment as it is "not in the position to comment on this".

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6. Are there any indications online that Taobao/ Alibaba is getting rid of the third-party agents for good?

Online forums and blogs have discussed Taobao reportedly putting up a notice disallowing third-person proxy shopping. This is part of Taobao's effort to better manage customer growth and an orderly, structured online shopping environment.

7. Is Ezbuy hopeful that things will end well and resume as per normal after this harrowing experience?

Ezbuy is hoping for the best, that's for sure.

It wants to resume its Buy-For-Me service and for frozen accounts to be back to normal.

After operating for seven years since 2010 and fulfilling millions of orders, there is no doubt Ezbuy is hoping for the best. The market is huge. And growing bigger.

8. How does Taobao ship to Singapore then?

Taobao does international shipping.

It is in all likelihood more expensive than Ezbuy's service, as well as compared to the other agents in Singapore, but that is the point, isn't it?

By shutting down third-party agents, Taobao makes more money because there are no other alternatives.

9. Can Ezbuy's service really be considered as scalping then?

One man's meat is another man's poison.

Any form of arbitrage is definitely frowned upon by Taobao/ Alibaba because that is the money Taobao/ Alibaba could have made for themselves without having to split it with these third-party agents.

Third-party agents effectively extend the chain between the suppliers and the paying customers. Any addition to the chain is an addition of an extra middleman.

Merchants that act as middlemen have historically been frowned upon and resented.

Ezbuy's goods have a slight markup.

10. How will Ezbuy continue in Singapore from now on then?

From what seems to be a stop-gap measure while they work to resolve their issues with Taobao, Ezbuy has now included other China e-commerce sites, such as JD.com (Jing Dong), Mogujie, as well as their very own sellers as alternatives.

They would also like potential customers to try shopping from their other sources from USA, Taiwan and Singapore.

11. Does Taobao come in English version?

You can try Taobao.Lazada.

No promises that the merchandise is as extensive though.

But the day will come when the China Taobao site with its full range of products gets translated into comprehensible English with international shipping established.

Proxy shopping will then really be a thing of the past.

Top image via Ezbuy's Facebook page