Popular votive offerings for the Kitchen Gods attract customers

This year, the market for votive offerings for the day of seeing the Kitchen Gods off to heaven has been bustling since the beginning of December. However, according to those selling these items on Hang Ma, Hang Luoc and Luong Van Can streets, this year the number of buyers is lower and they mainly focus on buying affordable goods.

Since the beginning of the 12th lunar month, people have been selling Ong Cong Ong Tao items on the streets of the capital. These days, the number of street vendors has increased significantly, along with that, shops selling offerings for the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month also display a variety of items for the gods and kitchen gods.

According to a reporter's survey, this year's offerings are nothing new, still consisting of clothes, shoes, hats, carp, gold coins, paper horses... to send the Kitchen Gods to heaven.

The price of this type of goods also depends on the model, size, and material and can range from a few tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand Dong.

Each pair of offerings includes 1 set of gods and 3 sets of kitchen gods. A set of “Mr. Cong, Mr. Tao” includes 3 hats and 3 sets of clothes made in small, medium and large sizes.

The affordable Ong Cong and Ong Tao sets are chosen more by buyers.

The cheapest set is made of colored paper, only from 40,000 - 60,000 VND/set. The average set costs from 90,000 - 110,000 VND/set and the large one costs from 140,000 - 160,000 VND/set. The most expensive is the type of votive paper made of glossy colored paper, scented with embossed patterns, priced at no less than 300,000 VND/set.

However, according to the assessment of the sellers of votive offerings, this year, people mainly choose to buy mid-priced sets, priced at 40,000 - 60,000 VND/set, the sets priced at a few hundred thousand are bought by very few people, or only by those who have pre-ordered.

Ms. Bao, a seller of paper offerings on Hang Ma Street, said that since the beginning of the month, her best seller has been the Ong Cong Ong Tao set, which costs a few tens of thousands of dong. Few people buy more expensive items. Some people buy paper horses or carp, but other items such as houses, cars, and televisions are almost unsold.

Ms. Loan, who sells votive offerings on Hang Luoc Street, shared: “Sales are slow, some people even say that buying carp for offerings is fine, but if they buy a set of paper to burn, they don’t know if the ancestors will receive it, so they don’t buy it.”

Currently, purchasing power is still quite weak, but from the 20th onwards, sellers of votive offerings hope that purchasing power will gradually increase, because according to the beliefs of the majority of people, many things can be avoided, but offerings are difficult to save.

According to Labor