If in previous years, on the 29th and 30th of Lunar New Year, the Buon Ma Thuot Tet flower market right at the 10-3 Square area was bustling, with flowers displayed densely, people jostling to see, buy and take pictures, this year it was very sparse.

According to VietNamNet reporters, on the afternoon of the 29th of Lunar New Year, many stalls selling apricot, peach, chrysanthemum flowers, etc. had signs of “clearance sale”, and the prices were also very “soft”, even only half of those of previous years.

According to the reporter's records, a large pot of Kim Cuong or Dai Doa chrysanthemum, about 1m2 high, which cost 1-1.2 million VND in previous years, this year is only 500-600 thousand VND. For small pots and shorter ones from 80cm-1m, the "clearance" price is only 250-350 thousand VND.

Because it is almost Tet but there is still too much stock, traders at Buon Ma Thuot flower market have simultaneously hung up signs to clear out their stock, offer deep discounts, even buy 1 get 1 free, but there are still no buyers.

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Mr. Do Thanh Hai is sad because he has not sold all his goods.

Mr. Do Thanh Hai (residing in Buon Ma Thuot City) said that this year he brought more than 100 flower pots and kumquat trees from Binh Dinh to Buon Ma Thuot City to sell during Tet. However, up to now, he has only sold more than half of the goods, the risk of losing capital is present.

"Although the vendors have deeply discounted their prices, customers still do not buy. Everyone is sitting on hot coals and trying to hold on to sell whatever pots they can to save the situation," said Mr. Hai.

In the same situation as Mr. Hai, Mr. Nguyen Van A. brought 200 pots of bougainvillea from Phu Yen to Buon Ma Thuot City to sell for profit, but by the 28th of Tet, he had only sold 60% of the goods and could not recover his capital.

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Tomorrow is a clearance sale but there are no buyers.
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Paper flowers are in the same situation.
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The chrysanthemum vendor looked absentmindedly at the blooming flowers.
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Even though the price has dropped significantly, the number of buyers is very small.

A 1.2-1.5m tall kumquat pot cost 1.5-1.7 million VND last year, but this year the seller is offering it for only 900-1.2 million VND, not to mention the fact that they are willing to lower the price if customers bargain. Or pots of Marigolds, Pansy... that were advertised for 80-100 thousand VND a few days ago, on the afternoon of the 29th of Tet, were only 40-60 thousand VND, but still no one bought them. Besides, many shops selling bougainvillea, apricots or peaches also put up "clearance sale" signs, but customers are not interested.

Even when they can't sell their products, many owners get angry. When customers complain that the flowers are all in full bloom, the owners reply with an annoyed attitude, "It's already the 29th of Tet. If they don't bloom, when will they?"

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Pots of marigolds and pansies are not of much interest to anyone.
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The apricot tree costs 25 million VND. The owner could not sell it and wanted to rent it out for Tet for 7 days for 7 million VND, but no one was interested.

Ms. Hoa, the owner of a chrysanthemum shop, said that this year the amount of flowers sold at the market is only half of last year's, and the prices are cheaper, but still very few people buy them. "Perhaps due to economic difficulties, people save money to buy more essential items, causing gardeners to lose money this year," Ms. Hoa confided.

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Economic difficulties force buyers to choose small apricot trees for Tet decoration.
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The bougainvillea pot costs 120 thousand dong.
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The owner was happy when he sold a kumquat tree for more than 1 million VND, and the driver also earned an extra 100,000 VND when he brought it home to the customer.
Tet flowers flood the sidewalks, sellers risk losing hundreds of millions . Only 3 days left until Tet, but chrysanthemum traders in Buon Ma Thuot City (Dak Lak) have only sold 10-30%, the risk of losing capital is present. Small traders in Vinh City (Nghe An) and Thanh Hoa are also 'sitting on fire' when they can only sell a small amount of Tet peach blossoms.