Ornamental plant traders in Vinh simultaneously 'cleared their goods' on the 28th of Tet
(Baonghean.vn) - Today is only December 28, but due to low purchasing power, many traders selling peach and kumquat trees for Tet have simultaneously sold them at the same price in the hope of selling all the trees so they can return home to buy Tet. However, the number of customers asking to buy is still low.
This year's Tet holiday, the professionflower and ornamental plant businessencountered many difficulties and disadvantages. The cold weather and drizzle at the beginning made it difficult to transport the plants, and it was a leap year so the flowers all bloomed early. Meanwhile, purchasing power dropped to a record low, many gardens only sold 10-20% of the number of plants. The remaining ornamental plants are still abundant even though it is now the 28th of Tet, meaning only 2 days left until New Year's Eve.
Mr. Nguyen Van Dong, a Tet kumquat trader, sighed: In 5 years of selling Tet ornamental plants, business has never been as slow as this year. I have over 500 kumquat trees of all shapes and sizes, but I have not sold even 100 of them. Even the ones that are sold are mainly small kumquat trees for the table, bonsai kumquat trees... the big kumquat trees, which have a high import price, have very few customers asking to buy. Now I just hope to have enough capital to go home.
That is also the common mood of thousands of traders selling Tet ornamental plants in Vinh City at the present time. Walking around the streets, it can be seen that the number of people buying plants is not as crowded as in previous years. In many gardens, there are only traders sitting together chatting and waiting for customers. In particular, high-end plants, worth tens of millions of dong, are still lying around in large quantities.
The owner of a peach and kumquat tree shop on Lenin Avenue said: This year the economy is difficult, people have low incomes so customers only buy small, cheap trees, ranging from 200,000 to 500,000 VND. We have only sold a handful of million-dollar trees since the beginning of the season. This year we are determined to lose money...
Faced with the sluggish situation, many retailers have started to put up signs to clear out their inventory and set the same price for Tet ornamental plants, although this usually only happens on the 30th of Tet. Small peach and kumquat branches are being cleared for the same price of 100,000 - 300,000 VND. Larger trees are being cleared for the same price of 500,000 - 1 million VND/tree. For giant trees that cost tens of millions of VND, prices have now been reduced by 50 - 70%.
However, according to records, the price reduction has not made the orchards more bustling. At the tree clearance points, buyers are also sparse.
Not only doing business directly, currently, on social networks, many garden owners have also posted articles on groups and forums hoping that the community will "rescue" bonsai trees with specific pictures of each tree. If customers choose to buy, they will ship to their homes and ensure that the tree they receive is the same as the one in the picture. This is a business method that has also brought certain effectiveness compared to waiting for customers to buy directly at flower shops on the street.
