Hand-carried goods and export surplus are flooding the market. Photo: M. Phuong
"Congestion" at ports still rampant inland
On May 12, at Tan Son Nhat airport, Mr. Doan Tien, who was completing procedures to receive imported goods, said that agents who receive orders and transport goods in the form of hand-carried goods from the US in large quantities are having difficulty getting the goods out at this time. Customs authorities are tightening management, and shipments exceeding the tax-free quota will be "stuck". The owner of Ngoc Beauty (District 10), who specializes in receiving orders and transporting hand-carried goods from the US to Vietnam, complained that goods ordered by customers since the end of March and sent by plane have not yet cleared customs.
The goods are "stuck" outside the port but are rampant in the domestic market and are all advertised as "just arrived goods" at some fashion stores of clothes, glasses, watches, cosmetics, and functional foods in Ho Chi Minh City. At the TO fashion store on Ba Huyen Thanh Quan Street (District 3), Chanel and Dior eyeglasses frames are confirmed to be genuine hand-carried goods and are sold at the same price of 2.5 million VND/piece. When the buyer is still hesitant, the price is immediately reduced to 2.2 million VND and finally "let me take 2 million VND each and give you a genuine box", the seller entices. The same Dior eyeglasses frames, the selling price at the Singapore airport duty-free shop, converted into Vietnamese currency, is about 4.2 million VND.
Nguyen Trai Street (District 5) can be considered the "capital" with many stores displaying signs of imported goods of famous brands. It is worth mentioning that in these stores, the difference between the original price in foreign currency and the price in Vietnamese Dong is huge. Visiting the TH store, a Coach handbag has a printed price of 499 USD, but the Vietnamese price posted below is 5.6 million VND; a bottle of La Vie est Belle perfume (France) costs 126 USD, but the Vietnamese price is only 1.6 million VND...
In addition to hand-carried goods, the refrain of "export surplus goods" is greeted by many large fashion stores and shopping centers. At the T. store specializing in selling export clothing on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street (District 1), famous fashion brands such as Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Espirit... are all present. The seller confirms that the goods are "authentic" (genuine goods - PV). Because of the relationship, when there is surplus exported, the store will "hold" it to sell to retail customers. A Warehouse (UK) dress has a price tag inside the product of 59 USD, the price tag below is only 360,000 VND; a pink Talbots dress from the US has an original price tag of 59.5 USD, the Vietnamese price tag below is only 180,000 VND...
Branded goods, market prices
According to some agents specializing in receiving orders from abroad, the price of fashion and cosmetics imported to Vietnam plus 5% of the purchase price, 5-9% of the tax (depending on the product), and a shipping fee of 11-12 USD/kg... is usually about 20-25% higher than the original price. With this calculation, the price of a bottle of perfume worth 126 USD imported to Vietnam must be sold for 3.5-4 million VND, not 1.6 million VND. Ms. Nguyen Thu Trang (Nha Trang City), owner of an agent specializing in receiving orders from abroad, analyzed that if you wait to buy goods when the price is 50% off, the price of an American Talbots dress will be nearly 30 USD, equivalent to 670,000 VND. “Even if the above dress is discounted by 70% to 18 USD, it is still equivalent to 420,000 VND. That does not include other costs, the price is even higher. There is no way to get such cheap hand-carried goods,” Ms. Trang affirmed.
Regarding "surplus" goods, Ms. Bui T. Thuong, owner of an export garment factory in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City, also affirmed that when placing orders, corporations have regulations on the rate of errors and defective goods that are very low. They have very strict regulations on destruction, removing brand names from defective products and businesses are forced to comply. If they are discovered to have released defective goods to the market, the business will have its contract suspended and be fined heavily. Therefore, it is impossible for surplus goods to be sold so widely. Ms. Thuy Hoang, head of the product quality control department of a factory specializing in producing export shoes in Binh Duong, said frankly that it is very difficult to "slip" out a pair of shoes, even if they are defective. "Defective products often go through the entire council to be destroyed in front of many departments. Anyone who intentionally brings a pair of defective shoes out if discovered will lose their job," Ms. Hoang said.
