Shopping Madness
There seems to be no weekend activity more popular for well-to-do Saigonese than to visit their neighborhood electronics store. Today, I went on the hunt for a new webcam (used to have a built-in on my Mac, but alas…).
I found myself among throngs of Vietnamese consumers jammed up against glass displays, hopping from floor to floor, bobbing their heads in unison to Viet-techno beats pumping on the sound system. Nguyen Kim, a four story Vietnamese Best Buy, sells all kinds of low cost Chinese knock-offs and ridiculously marked-up American imports. A Canon Powershot being sold for a whopping $350 USD! (It’s only $200 USD in the US).
Lenovo is the most popular laptop here, but I was pleased to see lower-cost netbooks have found their way into the hearts of Vietnamese. There were several MSI Winds on display (though I have yet to see one actually being used by anyone). They’re so adorable and come in cute colors like the iPod Nano! But while I love the idea of an uber-portable laptop that can fit in my purse or be carried under my arms like a book, my lust for Mac products is unshakeable. Besides, while netbooks are extremely small, they’re extremely small. Meaning even more carpal tunnel problems than I already have.
On a tangent: For those who can’t stomach the fight for a spot in line to park the motorbike, there’s always Vietnam’s version of Craigslist-eBay-Amazon: chodientu.com. (Cho means store and dien tu means electronics.)
The company partnered with eBay last year, which gained it a bit of press coverage including in Businessweek. My friend works there but I have yet to fully understand how they make any money without a local online payment system (coming soon, from a host of competing start-ups). Apparently they don’t make much money yet. VC cha-ching!
If my understanding is correct, one way to make a purchase on this site: The seller posts their mobile number and the buyer calls to arrange an in-person meeting.
Hey, I’d choose this in-person exchange over techno beats anyday! Good news: I picked up a Logitech webcam for under $20 USD. Bad news: It crashed my Skype. Doh!
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Tags: E-Commerce, Saigon Life
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