VietNamNet Bridge - Many Vietnamese students studying overseas spend their free time collecting discounted goods and shipping the goods to clients in Vietnam.

Nguyen Hong, a student at Tianjin Foreign Language University in China, said she began doing her trade one month after she came to China. 

“The schedule is not too heavy. As I love doing business, I decided to try selling goods via Facebook,” Hong said. “The job is simple and can bring considerable profits.”

The 25-year-old girl said she sells many kinds of products, discounted for domestic consumption only.

“As I don’t have much money, I only buy authentic products after receiving orders. As for discounted goods, I will try to collect them during sale promotion campaigns,” she said.

After collecting goods in large quantities, Hong sends the goods to her relatives in Vietnam via transport firms, and then the relatives deliver to clients. Sometimes, when Hong visits Vietnam, she brings the goods herself. 

“The money made from the trade is sent to parents in Vietnam,” Hong said. 

When asked if the job affects her study, the girl said the influence is inconsiderable. 

Le Yen, a student in Shanghai, has been trading in necklaces, earrings and tattoo stickers.

“I like these products because they are cheap, cute and diverse, and are favored by Vietnamese youth,” Yen said.

Yen said that online sales are not considered an extra job. Under current regulations, foreign students in China cannot take jobs and they will be fined if they are discovered taking extra jobs.

Linh, 26, a student in Nagoya, Japan, said she decided to fly to Vietnam, but the air ticket was too expensive. So she decided to buy something in Japan to bring to Vietnam for sale for money to afford the tickets.

“Vietnamese like Japanese goods very much. The products I bring to Vietnam can sell like hotcakes,” she said, adding that she mostly trades in cosmetics.

Vietnamese spend $3 billion every year to pay for their children’s study overseas. Studying abroad is the dream of Vietnamese students, but for many of them, life overseas is not as wonderful as they had imagined. 

A report released in 2016 by the Ministry of Education and Training  (MOET) showed that 5,519 students were studying in 44 countries with funding from the State. These include 2,501 PhDs, 580 Mas, 63 trainees and 2,375 university students.

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Thanh Mai