Abstract: Factors influencing the performance of online sellers (e-tailerss) have attracted extensive interest from both academics and practitioners. This research aims to examine the implications of e-tailers' Guanxi in online marketplaces. Drawing on social network and social capital theories, a typology of e-tailers' Guanxi on e-commerce platforms is developed and different types of Guanxi are linked to the performance of e-tailers. In contrast to the previous studies that have mostly focused on Guanxi with peer sellers and paid little attention to Guanxi with buyers, the research gap is to be filled by proposing a theoretical framework that integrates the two sides. The model is validated through an empirical investigation using data collected from a real-world e-commerce platform. Results from regression analyses signicantly support the proposed hypotheses. The work contributes to related literature by providing a more coherent account of e-tailers' performance and offers useful managerial suggestions for e-tailers.

Key words: Guanxi, small and medium e-tailers, performance, social capital, two-sided market