TAGS: Reproductions, Taxes, VAT, Economic, An Dong Market, Irene Hoff, A People's History of the Vietnam War
A Growing Economy?
November 2012
"You can find anything in Viet Nam," my driver explains, "I just don't know where to find it."
I was describing to him those magnetic hidden key locks that can be stashed under car bumpers or hidden away in flower pots. Theft is rampant here, to the degree that the stores will staple plastic bags around purses to prevent anyone from reaching past the zipper, even to retrieve a wallet to pay the bill. Yet, I was toying with the idea of hiding a key in our gated yard, and one of those lock boxes would be very handy.
You can find anything here...you just have to know where to look.
This turns out to be a hopeful perspective.
It is hopeful because often times you won't find exactly what you are looking for. You can find an approximation or a copy. People can be remarkable at copying things with what limited supplies they have on hand. The numerous street galleries sell reproductions of artists by printing outlines on canvases and then employing untrained people to fill in the colors, selling paint by numbers as wall coverings. Accomplished artists do commissioned reproductions as well since the remuneration is steady and good. Artists and genuine galleries now have to provide a certificate of authenticity for their work.
I was describing to him those magnetic hidden key locks that can be stashed under car bumpers or hidden away in flower pots. Theft is rampant here, to the degree that the stores will staple plastic bags around purses to prevent anyone from reaching past the zipper, even to retrieve a wallet to pay the bill. Yet, I was toying with the idea of hiding a key in our gated yard, and one of those lock boxes would be very handy.
You can find anything here...you just have to know where to look.
This turns out to be a hopeful perspective.
It is hopeful because often times you won't find exactly what you are looking for. You can find an approximation or a copy. People can be remarkable at copying things with what limited supplies they have on hand. The numerous street galleries sell reproductions of artists by printing outlines on canvases and then employing untrained people to fill in the colors, selling paint by numbers as wall coverings. Accomplished artists do commissioned reproductions as well since the remuneration is steady and good. Artists and genuine galleries now have to provide a certificate of authenticity for their work.
It can be hard to judge what is authentic, as the fake product is often as well crafted as the item produced here for export to the global economy. Only the developers and manufacturers can know the difference, and expats complain that they have to buy the knock-off or the item that "fell of the back of a truck." This is because manufacturers cannot always sell locally the products that will be sold to the larger world market. The government restricts licenses of expats doing export business here as well so they can only sell outside the country.
While China is frequently lambasted in the Western press for intellectual property infringement, one can see how this form of "theft" blossoms in a closed economy. With astronomical import duties, pirating becomes a necessity. The import duty can be 200%. As one person explained to me, it just isn't worth importing the item I was requesting because the potential loss through damage in route and the duty wouldn't be worth it to the seller. Or to the prospective buyer once the price reflected the true cost of bringing it in. Furthermore, no local manufacturing facility existed for the product. In part, because while the original machinery can be imported without duty, the tools and replacement parts can be taxed at 30-40% when they are brought into the country (Bang, Hai, 2012). So what can be done? Well, if a copy can be made and the customer is willing to pay...
Take, for example, books. Street vendors sell books to passing tourists, wrapped in cellophane as if they are new. Prospective buyers are offered dictionaries, Lonely Planet guides, and Eat, Pray, Love, even though Viet Nam wasn't on Gilbert's itinerary.
While China is frequently lambasted in the Western press for intellectual property infringement, one can see how this form of "theft" blossoms in a closed economy. With astronomical import duties, pirating becomes a necessity. The import duty can be 200%. As one person explained to me, it just isn't worth importing the item I was requesting because the potential loss through damage in route and the duty wouldn't be worth it to the seller. Or to the prospective buyer once the price reflected the true cost of bringing it in. Furthermore, no local manufacturing facility existed for the product. In part, because while the original machinery can be imported without duty, the tools and replacement parts can be taxed at 30-40% when they are brought into the country (Bang, Hai, 2012). So what can be done? Well, if a copy can be made and the customer is willing to pay...
Take, for example, books. Street vendors sell books to passing tourists, wrapped in cellophane as if they are new. Prospective buyers are offered dictionaries, Lonely Planet guides, and Eat, Pray, Love, even though Viet Nam wasn't on Gilbert's itinerary.
A People's History of the Vietnam War cost 70,000 Dong, (about $3.50) in the tourist store, and the Level 1 Vietnamese textbook I had copied cost 30,000 Dong, which originally sold for 200,000 Dong. Necessity is the mother of invention. Or if not true originality, it can become the means to find tools to navigate an economy and culture.
Yet sometimes, people with money, aka expats, are just lazy. Why would an expat buy from iTunes? We can purchase the latest Pink!, BoB, or Adele album for 14,000 Dong in an orderly store that allows patrons to preview the forged CD with circumaural headphones. They also sell films for the same price, but the real deal is at the Halo Store, where the movies can be ordered remotely on their website and downloaded onto a portable hard drive. Clearly, a growing middle class and people, such as myself, who have a stable currency to spend foster the growth of such businesses. However, more than simple supply and demand, especially of "reading" the expat market, pirating becomes a necessity for the nationals. When the minimum wage for a day laborer is 60,000 Dong, then a 10,000 Dong CD proffered on the back of a bicycle, blasting the latest love song from a crate, doesn't seem a luxury.
When the economy is closed and reliant on affordable, copied work and products, then there is little for the small business to offer that differs from the market stall next door. The conformity of the business model is well encapsulated by this fact: According to the Vietnam Economic Times, (issue 219, May 2012), until January 2011 companies were not allowed to print their own tax invoices, and were restricted by how many they could print in a day. These invoices are required by the government because each transaction is taxed at 5-10%. (Value Added Tax, otherwise known as VAT or the little red form.) So, companies had to purchase invoices from the government in order to report how much in taxes they were collecting for the government on a form that didn't distinguish their business from any other business on the street, except for the stamp they had to add on the carbon copy form. Yes, in some shops we are still stuck in carbon copy technology. (For those of you too young to remember carbon copies, click on this link to wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_copy ) It is no wonder, Vietnam is a cash economy. It is better to avoid paying for the tax and for the receipt ledger, because it means more money for new inventory or a better home life.
Besides the moving vendors, on the corner, on bike, on motorcycle, or following foreigners with racks of $5 sunglasses, the best place to experience the cash economy is in the marketplace.
Yet sometimes, people with money, aka expats, are just lazy. Why would an expat buy from iTunes? We can purchase the latest Pink!, BoB, or Adele album for 14,000 Dong in an orderly store that allows patrons to preview the forged CD with circumaural headphones. They also sell films for the same price, but the real deal is at the Halo Store, where the movies can be ordered remotely on their website and downloaded onto a portable hard drive. Clearly, a growing middle class and people, such as myself, who have a stable currency to spend foster the growth of such businesses. However, more than simple supply and demand, especially of "reading" the expat market, pirating becomes a necessity for the nationals. When the minimum wage for a day laborer is 60,000 Dong, then a 10,000 Dong CD proffered on the back of a bicycle, blasting the latest love song from a crate, doesn't seem a luxury.
When the economy is closed and reliant on affordable, copied work and products, then there is little for the small business to offer that differs from the market stall next door. The conformity of the business model is well encapsulated by this fact: According to the Vietnam Economic Times, (issue 219, May 2012), until January 2011 companies were not allowed to print their own tax invoices, and were restricted by how many they could print in a day. These invoices are required by the government because each transaction is taxed at 5-10%. (Value Added Tax, otherwise known as VAT or the little red form.) So, companies had to purchase invoices from the government in order to report how much in taxes they were collecting for the government on a form that didn't distinguish their business from any other business on the street, except for the stamp they had to add on the carbon copy form. Yes, in some shops we are still stuck in carbon copy technology. (For those of you too young to remember carbon copies, click on this link to wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_copy ) It is no wonder, Vietnam is a cash economy. It is better to avoid paying for the tax and for the receipt ledger, because it means more money for new inventory or a better home life.
Besides the moving vendors, on the corner, on bike, on motorcycle, or following foreigners with racks of $5 sunglasses, the best place to experience the cash economy is in the marketplace.
An Dong Market
There are three major markets and numerous small ones dotted throughout the Districts. Ben Thanh is the large tourist market right downtown, within walking distance of the five star hotels and the empty Parkson malls offering Burberry, Chanel, and Hermes. The merchants in Ben Thanh are more brusque and used to getting the prices they want from tourists. As well, Ben Thanh is known for pick pockets and thieves, and in fact I've seen a young Vietnamese woman have her purse snatched right outside the market. While some markets require a certain murine wariness, others are worth a venture.
An Dong is located in District 5, and had a bustling, local energy. It is best to go early in the morning, when markets first are being set up. For one, it can become really hot and stuffy in these places. Secondly, merchants want their first sale to go smoothly to set the tone for the rest of the day. This market is maybe five levels, but we stayed on the floor that was dedicated mostly to fabric.
An Dong is located in District 5, and had a bustling, local energy. It is best to go early in the morning, when markets first are being set up. For one, it can become really hot and stuffy in these places. Secondly, merchants want their first sale to go smoothly to set the tone for the rest of the day. This market is maybe five levels, but we stayed on the floor that was dedicated mostly to fabric.
Rather than buy off the rack, many women take fabric to the tailor for custom fits. This is especially necessary for foreign women who are too large for the sizing here, so they bring a favorite outfit or their best fitting pants to be copied by the tailor. That said, the stalls are geared to the Vietnamese taste in print and fabric, and not to Western fashion sensibilities. And why should they? Their client base is the stable local population. A few stalls offered nice linen blends, and almost all of the stalls settled into stacks polyester prints or the fabrics required for formal dresses and Ao Dai.
Besides the brilliance of color and pattern, the market is lively with the stall attendants. Look over your shoulder, and you will see a sixty year old woman, climbing up on a table, in order to bring more fabrics down to your eye level, saying, "Jean, madame," which sounds like, "Sheen, madame." If the prospective buyer doesn't show interest, then the neighbor will chime a happy "Helooo" as she tries to bring the client to her merchandise. If you approach that stall, you will likely find that this is the only word the woman speaks in English, and the discussion quickly becomes communicated on a battery powered calculator, which is a very efficient transaction if a price can be agreed upon.
When purchasing from market vendors, it is expected the buyer will bargain the price down, starting at 50% less than quoted, so I am told. I am rarely comfortable doing this myself and shouldn't be trusted to do any major purchases as I am quick to concede over the price. If person wants to negotiate the price on fabric, it usually means a dollar or two on the over-all order, depending on how much time you want to spend dickering over the cost. It may mean you purchase the entire amount of fabric that stall has on hand, or that the seller calls down to someone three stalls down demanding that they cut approximately the size you ordered from their inventory. Because like everywhere in the country, there may be a business selling exactly the same thing not too far from the last vendor.
When purchasing from market vendors, it is expected the buyer will bargain the price down, starting at 50% less than quoted, so I am told. I am rarely comfortable doing this myself and shouldn't be trusted to do any major purchases as I am quick to concede over the price. If person wants to negotiate the price on fabric, it usually means a dollar or two on the over-all order, depending on how much time you want to spend dickering over the cost. It may mean you purchase the entire amount of fabric that stall has on hand, or that the seller calls down to someone three stalls down demanding that they cut approximately the size you ordered from their inventory. Because like everywhere in the country, there may be a business selling exactly the same thing not too far from the last vendor.
Yet walking through the market, there are also surprises. A woman carrying a tray of jelly-looking drinks may bump past, deftly balancing her offerings as she weaves through the narrow lane like a dragonfly.
And just when it seems you have seen as much of the same thing over and over, there comes a true surprise.
When passing by this stall, I was surprised to see larger bras. Looking down, I noticed it also offered some silicone inserts to fill them. No one sweetly trilled to me or my friends to come purchase these, nor the fake buttocks that were also on offer. While it shows that some businesses offer something completely different, this stall also shows how making a fake can be found in other areas as well.
I guess my driver may be correct after all.
Vietnam may offer the product you need, you just have to know where to look.
I guess my driver may be correct after all.
Vietnam may offer the product you need, you just have to know where to look.