What does ‘has learned to their cost’ mean as in:?
Posted Tuesday, February 23, 2010 by admin
“The more people use it, the more powerful the market place is. The more powerful the market place becomes, the more people will use it.”
But size is not everything, as eBay and Yahoo! have learned to their cost. Alibaba claims more than a 70% share of the business-to-business, consumer-to-consumer online payment and auction businesses. Despite its deep pockets and an aggressive marketing campaign, eBay has yet to make a dent.
it means here “by their own experience” (also evident in this line … Despite its deep pockets and an aggressive marketing campaign, eBay has yet to make a dent.)