VietNamNet Bridge - Lovers of fashion and high- quality goods are willing to pay more for high-end secondhand goods, priced at tens of millions of dong or several thousand dollars.

Dang Thi Thuy Dung, a mid-tier management officer of a bank on Ba Trieu street in Hanoi, went out last weekend in a Chanel coat with fox fur collar valued at VND25 million, a slim tweed dress she bought at VND7 million and Louis Vuitton handbag priced at 12 million. The clothes and bag went well her blue Vespa.

Dung, wriggling through many streets, drove the Vespa to Goc De alley. She came to pay a deposit for a Prada handbag she had dreamed of for a long time.

Dung said she began hunting secondhand branded goods three years ago. At that time, it was difficult to find beautiful items. Now as Dung has become VIP client, it is easier to find luxury items she wants. 

“The owners of secondhand shops have their ‘rings’ which find original products bearing the world’s luxury brands such as Chanel, Gucci, LV or Versace,” she explained.

Dung, like many other Vietnamese women, like wearing branded clothes and handbags. However, they cannot afford new luxury products, priced at thousands of dollars at big shopping malls.

The choice for Dung and other women like her is secondhand goods. “I have about 10 coats, 20 dresses and 5-6 handbags. All of them are branded goods. The total amount of money I spent on them was just enough to buy 3-4 brand new coats, about hundreds of millions of dong,” she said.

Hai Yen, a secondhand goods trader on Dong Tac street, has a shop which specializes in providing clothes to consumers with average incomes, and another shop with original products only reserved for high-income earners.

Yen said the HCM City secondhand clothes market is busier than in Hanoi. She usually flies to Saigon and travels to Cambodia from there to hunt for goods.

“The demand is always very high,” she said. “Clients are willing to pay tens of millions of dong for the items they like.”

According to Yen, there are ‘secondhand goods rings’ with members overseas and in Vietnam. Clothes are collected from many different sources around the world, including flea markets in Waterlooplein (the Netherlands) and Notting Hill and Camden in London.

Phuong Anh, a Viet Kieu in the Netherlands, said joins a group of Vietnamese students to hunt for secondhand goods. “If I find something good, I will call my partners in Vietnam and inform about the products and prices. If my partners say ‘okay’, I will buy the goods and ship to Vietnam after money is remitted to my bank account,” she said.

Ha Thu