Tet flowers flood sidewalks, vendors risk losing hundreds of millions of dong.

Dak Lak : Selling chrysanthemums results in losses.

According to observations by reporters in recent days, despite the approaching Lunar New Year, chrysanthemum flower stalls are still overflowing throughout Buon Ma Thuot city, but very few people are stopping by to buy them.

On main streets in the city center such as Tran Hung Dao, Truong Chinh, and Le Thanh Tong, many flower vendors still have hundreds of unsold chrysanthemum pots. Traders are having a headache because customers only come to look, ask for prices, take pictures, and then... leave.

With a somber expression, Mr. Luong Van Duc (from Phu Yen province) said he invested about 200 million VND to bring three truckloads of chrysanthemums and kumquat trees from Phu Yen province to Buon Ma Thuot city (Dak Lak province) to sell for profit. Due to the low number of buyers, Mr. Duc has only managed to sell about 10% of the goods.

Anh Đức was saddened that he had only sold about 10% of his goods.

According to Mr. Duc, this year, the number of buyers is very small, and customers don't even bother to ask about them. Only young people come to look and take pictures; buying is almost nonexistent.

"I'm selling each pot for around 1.5 million VND, which is appropriate for the size of the pot and the flowers. So far, I've only sold about 10%. The risk of losing money is very high because this type of product cannot be returned," Mr. Duc said.

Sharing a similar experience, Mr. Le Tuan Anh (residing in Buon Ma Thuot City) said that he has been selling chrysanthemums on Tran Hung Dao Street for 6 years. He has never experienced such slow sales as this year. Currently, Mr. Tuan Anh has only sold about 30% of his stock.

Things are slightly better, but Tuan Anh has only managed to sell 30% of the flowers he imported.

Explaining the sluggish sales, Mr. Tuan Anh shared that due to the difficult economic situation this year, fewer people are buying chrysanthemums. Most of the buyers are from the districts, while the number of people buying chrysanthemums in Buon Ma Thuot city is negligible.

"Currently, I'm selling each pot of chrysanthemums for an average of 700,000 VND, but I'll sell it for 600,000 VND if a customer offers. Hopefully, I'll sell everything in the next few days," said Tuan Anh.

According to VietNamNet reporters, there are still many chrysanthemums in Buon Ma Thuot City, concentrated in both the city center and suburban areas. People are mostly walking and strolling around the central streets before heading home, with little shopping activity.

Nghe An: Small traders huddle together waiting for customers.

On the morning of February 5th (the 26th day of the 12th lunar month), along streets such as Le Mao, Dao Tan, and Le Loi in Vinh City, Nghe An province, the buying and selling activity was not very lively, with only a handful of customers coming to view Tet flowers.

Le Manh Hung imported 500 peach blossom branches from Son La to sell starting from December 20th of the lunar calendar, but after four days, he has only sold a few branches each day. In previous years, he sold about half that number.

Mr. Hung imported the peach blossom trees from Son La. Adding transportation costs and storage fees, the total cost was approximately 250 million VND. "I invested all my capital in importing these peach blossom trees to sell, hoping for a more prosperous Tet holiday. Sales have been very slow. Hopefully, things will improve in the coming days," Mr. Hung confided.

With a sharp drop in purchasing power, many small business owners are worried as Tet (Lunar New Year) approaches. Photo: Kim Chi

Similarly to Mr. Hung, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam (from Hanoi), a small trader selling peach blossoms and kumquats in Vinh City, shared: “We have four stalls selling kumquats and peach blossoms in the city. The number of customers is very small. Companies, agencies, and businesses don't place many orders either.”

Noticing the rather sluggish market, Mr. Hung only dared to import half the amount of goods as last year. At this sales point, while he sold 1,300 peach and kumquat trees at the same time last year, this year he only managed to sell 300.

"Hopefully, we'll sell everything in the next few days, because closer to Tet, around the 29th or 30th of the 12th lunar month, we'll have to lower the price and practically give them away," Nam worried.

According to flower and ornamental plant vendors, the main reason for slow sales is the difficult economic situation last year, which made people and businesses hesitant to spend heavily on flowers and ornamental plants for Tet (Lunar New Year).

The sluggish business has left small traders in Nghe An feeling like they're "sitting on a powder keg," especially those who invested heavily in high-priced flowers and ornamental plants, such as ancient peach trees, Van Giang pomelos, single-branch apricot blossoms, or Binh Dinh yellow apricot blossoms. (Kim Chi)

Thanh Hoa: Flower sales are sluggish.

Similarly, on many streets in Thanh Hoa City, Tet ornamental plants are still scattered everywhere, but the number of buyers is sparse.

Nguyen Van Tuan, a kumquat seller, shared that although ornamental kumquats are abundant this year, with every tree laden with fruit and very beautiful, the number of buyers has decreased significantly.

This year, he imported over 100 kumquat trees, investing nearly 200 million VND, but by the end of the 26th day of the Lunar New Year, he had only sold 90 million VND worth. With the current purchasing power, Mr. Tuan estimates that this year's kumquat harvest will result in a loss of hundreds of millions of VND.

"Normally, like every year, buyers flock in after the 23rd of the lunar month, and by now only about a third of the trees are left. Now it's the 26th, and we haven't even sold half of them; the large, beautiful trees are still unsold," said Mr. Tuan.

No better off than Mr. Tuan, another trader, Mr. Cuong, invested about 250 million VND to buy Lang Son stone peaches to sell, but after sitting there for a whole week, only a few people came to inquire.

"Only the past two weekends have had customers; the rest of the weekdays are just sitting around doing nothing. Is it because people don't have money this year? I haven't seen anyone buying anything! I sold over 70 million dong in the last two weekends. Now that Tet is approaching, nobody's buying anymore," Cường said.

According to traders selling ornamental plants for Tet (Lunar New Year) here, not only peach blossoms and kumquats, but almost all types of ornamental plants are "selling poorly".

Some images of peach blossoms and kumquats still fill the streets of Thanh Hoa City.

Although the 26th day of the 12th lunar month has passed, there are still many peach blossom trees and branches left.

The peach blossom branches were covered in buds, but there were few customers inquiring about buying them.

Around this time last year, traders had already sold off most of their ornamental plants.

The low number of buyers has put traders in a very difficult position.

A peach seller has to carry their goods around to sell them door-to-door.

Beautiful peach blossom trees still stand throughout the streets.

The number of visitors coming to admire and buy peach blossoms is also small.

Not only are peach blossom trees unsold, but kumquat trees are facing a similar situation.

The roads are still lined with kumquat trees.

Despite the beautiful weather, there were few customers.

Many traders have started putting up signs advertising clearance sales.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/hoa-tet-tran-ngap-via-he-nguoi-ban-nguy-co-lo-tram-trieu-2247113.html