Gender-pairing differences in online second-hand transactions: evidence from a Chinese C2C platform

We examine how buyer – seller gender pairings are associated with transaction success in a major Chinese online second-hand marketplace. Using 24 million buyer – listing interactions, we find that female sellers are more likely than male sellers to convert observed listing visits into completed sales, whereas female buyer – female seller interactions are less likely to close than mixed-gender pairs after adjusting for product, user, and geographic characteristics. Mechanism analyses point to three observable margins: product sorting, communication intensity, and reputation signals. The evidence suggests that gender matters in online search-and-matching through transaction frictions rather than through a simple ranking of counterparty trustworthiness.