Shopping is a fun experience in Vietnam, up until the time you need to find something a little unusual. For me, things like oversized shoes, bicycle parts, and clothing are just a few items that I really struggle to find in Vietnam.

More so, it is the difficulties of dealing with shop owners that do not regularly service expat clients that I find most disappointing. 

After living in Vietnam for many years, I must note that the majority of my shopping experiences have been good ones. I prefer to shop locally whenever I can.

Price is not my top priority. I am more motivated by being able to see a product in person, try it out, and take it home immediately. 

Of course, big malls, such as Vincom and AEON, have brought Vietnam's retail sector into the modern age, and local markets still offer a shopping experience that is unrivaled across the Western world.  

Still, the structure of the retail sector in Vietnam is a little different than most Western countries. Low-demand items can be tricky to locate, making it challenging for expats to find certain goods in local markets.

As an example, I recently decided to buy a fat bicycle. After a week of browsing bicycle shops, sending messages, and searching local websites, a bicycle shop owner said, “You won’t find it in Vietnam. You will need to buy it and have it imported.”

And he was right. I ended up buying the bicycle through a shopping platform from China. I have to wait 2-3 weeks for it to arrive, but I got the product I wanted even though it was not available in Ho Chi Minh City. 

While buying a bicycle turned out ok, other shopping experiences haven’t. On one occasion, I took a common bathroom item into a hardware store and asked, in Vietnamese, if they had one. I was told no and the shopkeeper just walked away, leaving me alone in the store.

To my surprise, as I was leaving the store, I glanced to my right and saw a shelf stocked with the very item I had been looking for. It became clear that the shopkeeper had no intention of helping me, likely because I was not Vietnamese.

At times, I also find myself a little embarrassed because I try to communicate in Vietnamese and English but find that shopkeepers are unable to understand me. I am well aware that my Vietnamese is far from decent, but some shopkeepers see a foreigner and immediately panic, thinking that it is impossible to communicate. The result is that you leave the store frustrated and empty-handed. 

On rare occasions, I have purposely been overcharged. One such experience came at a local store near my workplace. I purchased an item and paid the price I was told. At the time, I didn’t think much of it because the item was reasonably cheap. 

A few weeks later, I needed to buy the same commodity a second time. This time, the shopkeeper’s daughter served me but gave me change. I asked her if she was sure that was the price. She said yes and that it had been that price since the store opened. 

I concluded that her mother added 25 percent to the price for me, and this suggests there remains a small fragment of old-thought processes that believe it is ok to fleece a foreigner because they are perceived to be 'rich.'

Post-pandemic, I’ve heard of a few rare instances, primarily in the countryside, where a foreigner had entered a shop and the owner refused service. Although uncommon, it does happen for reasons only the business owner knows. A difficult situation, for sure.

Despite some negative experiences, I've also had numerous positive ones that have made shopping in Vietnam enjoyable. It's a mix of the good and the bad that creates a unique shopping adventure. Unfortunately, the limited supply of low-demand items restricts what you can purchase from the otherwise excellent shop owners in Vietnam.

I love shopping locally in Vietnam. I love the experience of interacting with the people and being part of the local community, but the fact is that most of my shopping for large items is done online through major platforms. 

The major platforms, which mostly supply Chinese goods, are reliable and mostly deliver a product that is fit for purpose. They have generated a reputation for delivering on expectation and are easy to use. 

The only point against online shopping was a very poor experience I had with obtaining a refund. An item I received was broken but the online shopping platform advised me to just put it in the trash rather than shipping it back to the factory. They still issued me a refund, but it was just 75 percent of the total purchase price and they would not even consider my complaint about receiving the full amount.  

There is no one perfect way to shop as an expat living in Vietnam. The fact remains that for some commodities, online platforms are the only option to get what you want. Other times, the local shops do offer good products at the right price. I suppose I just need to forget my bad experiences and place some trust in local sellers before choosing to shop online.

I’ll keep using online platforms since the merchandise I need for my hobbies and interests aren’t readily available locally. Still, I hope for a future where I can shop in person. I wish for a wider variety of products in Vietnam and hope that shop owners accept me as a local, even if I stand out a bit.

Regardless of my use of online purchasing, for everyday stuff, I will continue to relish the joy of local shopping and being part of my wonderful community here in Vietnam.

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