WeMakePrice, a South Korean ecommerce platform, is facing possible liquidation after a Seoul court moved to end its rehabilitation proceedings.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court said WeMakePrice missed the deadline last week to submit a rehabilitation plan, leaving the company with 14 days to appeal the decision.

WeMakePrice entered court-led rehabilitation in September 2024, along with its then sister company TMON, after both struggled to pay vendors due to liquidity problems.

If WeMakePrice does not appeal, the termination of proceedings would likely lead to insolvency.

The company had tried to find a buyer to settle its debts but has struggled to do so.

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🔗 Source: Yonhap

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Court rehabilitation success depends heavily on finding viable acquisition partners

The contrasting fates of WeMakePrice and TMON demonstrate how similar companies can have dramatically different outcomes in court-supervised rehabilitation. Both e-commerce platforms entered rehabilitation proceedings in September 2024 due to identical liquidity issues and vendor payment problems1. TMON successfully exited rehabilitation after being acquired by grocery delivery platform Oasis Corp. in June, with the court approving its rehabilitation plan1. WeMakePrice, however, failed to submit any rehabilitation plan by the court deadline and struggled to find any buyer despite actively seeking acquisition1.

Competitive pressure from dominant players makes survival difficult for smaller e-commerce platforms

WeMakePrice’s failure occurred in a market dominated by Coupang, which controls 20-25% of South Korea’s e-commerce market and reported Q1 2025 revenue of $7.9 billion2. The competitive intensity is further heightened by Chinese rivals like Alibaba and JD.com gaining ground against established Korean players3. Smaller platforms face significant disadvantages in logistics capabilities, as Coupang operates over 100 fulfillment centers supporting same-day and overnight delivery services2. The market consolidation pressure is evident in how even well-funded platforms struggle—WeMakePrice’s liquidation represents a broader trend where smaller e-commerce players find it increasingly difficult to compete on delivery speed, pricing, and customer acquisition costs. ……