Chinese goods "magically" transformed into Vietnamese goods!
Because consumers have turned their backs on poor quality Chinese products, many Chinese products have been "magically" disguised as Vietnamese products to deceive consumers.
With the advantage of cheap prices and Vietnamese labels, these low-quality products are infiltrating everywhere.
PV infiltrated a warehouse specializing in importing goods from China, then converted the origin of the goods and distributed them everywhere in Ho Chi Minh City.
"Magic" labels!
Posing as a bulk buyer to sell at fairs and traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City and the Western provinces, we were introduced to Mrs. Mai's warehouse on Nguyen Xi Street (Binh Thanh District) to place orders. With an area of about 300m2, the goods are neatly packed into large boxes stacked high. There are about 20 types of products gathered here in original packaging shipped from China. Mainly household products such as: mops, rechargeable lamps, kitchen utensils (knives, whetstones, blenders...).
Van Gia brand mops are sold in pre-packaged boxes at the warehouse on Nguyen Xi Street, Binh Thanh District.
Over 30 years old, but with nearly 5 years of experience specializing in wholesale distribution of Chinese goods, Ms. Mai and her husband (Chinese) are considered the largest supplier of Chinese goods "disguised" as Vietnamese goods today. The goods are widely distributed from the Central provinces to the South.
However, even if you stick your brand on, it still cannot compete with the brand we are making. Van Gia mop, Dat Vang VN massage machine, Dai Bao gas-saving trivet, Thai Nguyen steel knife have had "reputation" for nearly two years!" - Ms. Mai confidently promoted.
At Ms. Mai’s warehouse, after viewing the sample products, if the buyer agrees, they will have to buy the whole box in large quantities because she only sells wholesale. To convert to Vietnamese goods, normally when a customer buys a certain amount, Ms. Mai will provide the corresponding amount of labels for the customer to actively stick. In particular, there are products such as Dai Bao gas-saving brackets and Thai Nguyen steel knives that have pre-printed information in Vietnamese on the product or product packaging in China. Other products such as mops and rechargeable lamps are imported in an “unbranded” form, so that when converting to Vietnamese goods, they only need to stick the labels that Ms. Mai printed in Vietnam.
The product labels and boxes are all written in Vietnamese with very rudimentary information, violating label information regulations such as: Product origin, address of manufacturing and importing units... Brands with very "catchy" names such as Van Gia, Dai Bao, and steel knives do not fully state company information, and their origin is unclear.
Sells like hotcakes
On November 21, following Mr. T - a person who specializes in buying Chinese goods disguised as Vietnamese goods to retail at markets in Bien Hoa City (Dong Nai), we continued to approach Mrs. Mai's warehouse. However, unlike previous times, the buying and selling atmosphere at the warehouse was quite bustling. Mrs. Mai's phone rang nonstop from all over the provinces calling to place orders. Meanwhile, two employees at the warehouse were running out of breath to transport the goods to the bus station to deliver to customers.
In less than an hour, we witnessed more than 20 boxes of various types of mops and gas-saving trivets (30-50 products/box) being hurriedly delivered to the provinces. Most of the sales agreements were “pay and receive goods” without any related invoices or documents.
“This is the peak season for business, in the next few days I will have to bring some of my younger brothers from the countryside to help. I have two trucks but only prioritize serving customers who buy large quantities of goods to distant provinces such as the Central, Central Highlands, and the West. For nearby provinces such as Binh Duong, Dong Nai... I will have my guys take them to the Eastern bus station (Binh Thanh District), Nga Tu Ga bus station (District 12) and then the customers will have to provide their own means of transportation” - Ms. Mai said. On average, about once a month, there will be a shipment “taken” from China to the warehouse.
However, according to Ms. Mai, during this "seasonal" time, to meet the ordering needs of customers during Tet, especially for a series of fairs blooming across the provinces at the end of the year, Ms. Mai regularly imports goods 2-3 times/month depending on the item.
According to our observations, in the warehouse there are thousands of Van Gia brand mop labels stacked on the floor, divided equally and sold with each box of goods. In addition, there are nearly a hundred rechargeable lamps that are being assembled and prepared to be packaged with Vietnamese labels. On the cardboard box of this type of lamp, there is a pretty eye-catching picture. However, there is absolutely no information about the manufacturer or importer of the product.
Labels to stick on products.
Inflate quality, increase price
In fact, in the past two years, many household products imported from China have begun to invest in Vietnamese labels and brands to deceive consumers.
Khang, a person who specializes in buying goods from wholesalers to sell at fairs, said that when the products have Vietnamese names, selling becomes very easy and the price is inflated. There are fairs that last 5-6 days, and Chinese steel knives disguised as Thai Nguyen products alone sell for 120 million VND, with a profit of more than half of that. Because currently, a set of steel knives of this type costs only 28,000 VND to buy (including three types of large and small knives), but the selling price at markets and fairs is pushed up nearly four times to 100,000-110,000 VND.
However, in reality, the cleaver advertised as "made from Thai Nguyen steel taken from thousands of meters underground" was rusted after less than three days of use.
Similarly, mop products purchased from the wholesaler's warehouse cost about 150,000 VND, but when labeled with the Vietnamese name Van Gia, they are sold for 280,000-300,000 VND/piece. Gas-saving brackets priced at 22,000 VND are also doubled: 40,000-50,000 VND/piece thanks to the Dai Bao brand and the exaggerated 40% gas-saving effect when used (in fact, these are just brackets to block the wind). Massage machines, rechargeable lamps... are also sold at double or triple the price when labeled with the Vietnamese brand.
According to Tuoi Tre-M
