Nghe An: Many services are in high demand during the days before Tet

House Cleaning: Increasing Demand and Prices

At the end of the year, the demand for house cleaning to welcome Tet increases, especially in urban areas. The increased demand has caused companies and units providing this service to raise prices by one and a half times, even double or triple compared to normal days.

The family of Ms. Le Thuy An (Le Mao ward, Vinh city), both husband and wife work for a state agency, and only get a day off on the 29th of Tet, so they don't have time to clean. In recent years, on the occasion of Tet, she has had to find a house cleaning service company. She has been a regular customer for many years, but from the beginning of December, she had to schedule a house cleaning appointment to arrive before the day of worshiping Ong Cong and Ong Tao.

Demand for house cleaning services increases as Tet approaches. Photo: Thanh Phuc

At the same time, many families, even though they have daily housekeepers, still have to find cleaning companies to clean their houses during Tet to have a clean space to welcome Tet. “Usually, at the end of the year, we will hire a general cleaning service for all rooms, furniture and appliances in the house. If we do it ourselves, it will save money but we cannot afford it because there are many things, especially balconies, windows and glass doors. Without professional machinery and tools, it will be very laborious. Therefore, we have to spend money to hire someone to do a general cleaning and renovate the house...”, said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, Nghi Phu commune (Vinh city).

During peak season, cleaning service providers cannot meet customer demand. Photo: Thanh Phuc

According to a survey, the price of house cleaning services on many websites and social networks for hourly house cleaning services during Tet is up to 150,000 VND - 200,000 VND/hour; the price of a full house cleaning package ranges from 1.5 - 2 million VND (the price may change depending on the area, number of glass panels, interior and structure of the house). This price is two to three times higher than normal days, but people's demand still increases very strongly.

For the past two months, the flower and ornamental plant care team of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tuan (Nghi Lien, Vinh City) has been working overtime because of the sharp increase in demand. “In addition to regular customers who have monthly and quarterly flower and ornamental plant care contracts, many people hire our team to take care of their plants during Tet.

This is the “golden” time for groups of workers providing this service. In addition, this is also the time when many new houses are completed, families have the need to decorate with trees, flowers, and grass before moving in, so garden planting and design services are also high at this time,” Mr. Tuan shared.

Most of the flower and ornamental plant care workers are skilled workers from flower and ornamental plant villages in Vinh City. This is not a very hard job but requires understanding of the characteristics of each type of flower and plant; meticulousness, elaborateness and a “knack for hands”.

Planting and caring for ornamental plants makes a lot of money during Tet. Photo: Thanh Phuc

The cost of this service is quite diverse, depending on the characteristics and value of each type of tree and flower. For normal flowers, the price is about 30,000 - 50,000 VND/pot; apricot blossoms, peach blossoms, old roses cost about 300,000 VND/time of care, bonsai trees cost from 200,000 - 400,000 VND/time of care; and for ancient bonsai trees, the care and trimming takes a whole week, the cost is up to several million VND.

At the end of the year, shopping demand increases, due to lack of time and convenience, online shopping is booming, and "follow-up" delivery services are quite popular. Normally, delivery staff (shippers) only receive orders from fashion shops, fresh flowers and fast food. However, at the end of the year, especially near Tet, shopping demand is diverse, so in addition to the above orders, confectionery, soft drinks, food, flowers, ornamental plants, electronics... also need shippers.

Mr. Tran Vo Quyen, owner of a mini supermarket in Hung Loc (Vinh City) said: “For a week now, the supermarket has been selling Tet products such as candies, jams, nuts, soft drinks... Usually, customers buy in large quantities, so for the convenience of customers, we offer an additional home delivery service. Our supermarket has to hire 2 delivery staff with a salary of 300,000 VND - 500,000 VND/person (depending on the number of orders per day).

At the end of the year, shopping demand increases so delivery staff are still working overtime. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In addition, establishments making banh chung, gio cha, bo kho, etc. also have to hire delivery people to meet customers' needs during this time. Especially flower and ornamental plant shops in Nghi Phu and Nghi An also have to hire cyclos and motorbike taxis to transport goods, the salary depends on the number of plants, the value of the plants and the distance.

In addition, during Tet, orders of local specialties: black chicken, taro, Ky Son sticky rice, Na Hy black pig (Tuong Duong), incense (Quy Chau)... sent by bus to Vinh must hire shipping staff to deliver to customers.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Vinh, head of a shipping group in Vinh city, said: Working hard, some people earn up to 400,000 - 500,000 VND/day.