Selling "old things for others, new things for me"

(Baonghean) - It seems that "container goods" or "sida goods", "second hand goods"... will no longer attract customers when new clothes are getting cheaper and more diverse in designs. However, currently, the need to buy "container goods" has become a trend of a large number of consumers. Accordingly, the business of selling used goods is becoming a profession, as many people call it, a profession that caters to the hobby of "old for others, new for us".

Following a “follower”, we went to the second-hand goods shop at address 3, 4, adjacent area, behind A Tecco building, located on Quang Trung street (Vinh city). Completely different from our thoughts about the shabby display of second-hand goods on the roadside like before, second-hand goods shops are now decorated like fashion stores. With an area of ​​over 10m2, the shop has many items displayed quite neatly and eye-catchingly on cabinets and shelves, but also does not lack the typical “taste” of second-hand goods which is… piled up for customers to find easily.

A second-hand shop in Tecco apartment building, Quang Trung (Vinh city).

Ms. Mac Thi Nguyet, the shop owner, said that she has been selling this product for more than 5 years and has a fairly stable number of regular customers. Her shop's container goods are mainly imported from Cambodia, Thailand... But the characteristics of container goods are that the designs, origins, and old and new conditions are not stable, so to have a beautiful, fashionable and quality package, she has to travel to other countries, find a wholesale source to choose by herself. Ms. Nguyet "revealed", there are 2 ways to import container goods: one is to import the whole package, accepting the "lucky, unlucky" factor because there will be bad goods mixed with good goods, but the advantage is that the import price is cheaper; two is to take the time to choose each product to import satisfactory goods (people in the profession call it "water-only goods"), of course, the price will be much higher. Accordingly, on average, a package of goods from 80 - 100 kg that is "original, original" has a price ranging from 6 - 10 million VND. Each such package has from several hundred to 1,000 products. As for hand-selected goods, the price can be 3-4 times higher. Due to the difference in the origin of the goods, the owners of the second-hand shops will have different ways of pricing their products.

Ms. Nguyet said: “If you spend time choosing beautiful, unique products, you can sell them for several hundred thousand, even several million VND/product. However, that is luck, but most of the people who sell used goods have to face the amount of “tail goods”, which means damaged goods, torn goods or big size goods.” Usually, when a bale of goods arrives, if you are lucky, there will be about 10-20% “tail goods”, otherwise, 60-70% is also normal. Therefore, if you decide to buy by the bale, you must have a strong capital and accept the risk. In addition, you must determine that you can only sell 1/3 of the bale.

Although facing a high probability of risk, when contacting the owners of container goods, they all shared that if they are in this profession, they have to accept it. Accept the probability of "tail goods", at the same time, accept the hardships of "going alone" in the process of "single-handedly" searching for sources of goods in Cambodia, Thailand... The owners of container goods are mostly women, going to import goods once or twice a month, rummaging through hot, dusty warehouses, then looking for reputable transport vehicles, reasonable prices and doing customs clearance procedures to Vietnam has become a common thing! But fortunately, although the profession is hard, it brings a fairly stable income.

If in the past, selling and buying used goods was not popular, accepted and faced many prejudices, now, used goods with the criteria of "unique - beautiful - cheap" are increasingly sought after by many customers. The customer base is diverse, not only ordinary workers with tight budgets, but also civil servants, fashionable women and even men.

Mr. Thanh Luong, owner of a second-hand shop for men, shared: “Second-hand goods for men are as diverse as women's goods. Shirts, pants according to season, according to trends, then eyewear accessories, handbags, backpacks, belts, wallets... Even though they are used goods, we still pay close attention to fashion trends and high applicability, so more and more male customers trust us.” In second-hand shops, people can find shoes, clothes and accessories such as belts, eyewear... of many world-famous brands such as D&G, Converse All Star, Nike, Just Cavalli, Adidas... with prices of only a few tens to a few hundred thousand dong!

Always choosing clothes, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc, a Techcombank employee, excitedly said: "Many people admire me every time I wear clothes labeled "made in Korea", "made in Japan"... Everyone thinks I have to spend a lot of money to buy so many branded items, but in fact I only buy them for 70,000 - 100,000 VND/item." Sharing the same passion, Ms. Duong Thanh Thuy, a teacher at a primary school in Vinh City, said: "Cheap things are not necessarily bad things, sometimes when you buy new, you cannot get such an item. If you are sharp-eyed and quick, you can choose branded items that are no longer sold on the market, and you won't have to worry about bumping into anyone else."

However, many "fans" of used clothes also warn that when buying clothes, you should have a plan to bleach, dry, and steam clothes to clean them, kill pathogens, and avoid washing old clothes carelessly. That is a way to protect your health and also a way to maintain long-term beauty.

Quang An