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Hello! Just a word of warning if you are coming to Hoi An to buy clothes. There are loads of amazing tailors in almost every other shop in the old town. We were approached whilst having a coffee by a lady who established it was our first day there. She managed to convince us to walk with her to her shop- which was actually in the market hall. She told us that the tailor we had originally planned to go to had closed, and was extremely friendly and flattering (in hindsight I should have known that this was just to get us to go with her but we were very tired and jet lagged!) once we were there we were pressured into choosing clothes styles and fabrics- to cut a long story short we paid about 5 times the price that we should have- and were made to pay in advance. I do realise that this is my own fault and that I was extremely naive- I have since heard from other tourists that their hotels warned them not to buy clothes from the stalls in the market. The clothes I received are made from very cheap fabric (think Temu fabrics!!) and would have actually cost less to make in the UK. I hope this post helps someone from making the same mistake we did 😣
Hello! Just a word of warning if you are coming to Hoi An to buy clothes.
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We did Yaly and highly recommend, dresses for $75 USD and leather shoes $105
I think that would happen to every foreigners visiting especially when you can’t speak their language. We were also charged about 5 times than the actual price for conical hat ( size of a cat’s head) and animal keychains with viet flag and we didn’t know it was unfair until we went to a market with mostly locals and a fixed price shop. Even if you’re a girl, don’t be shy and try to bargain.
What did you buy and what was the price?
All part of the learning. Just wave them off, if that doesn’t work a few choice words works a treat.
It’s usually cheaper, and better to buy from a shop than at the markets, and haggle the price (it’s expected, within reason, and do it with a smile and politely!). This applies all over Vietnam, not just Hoi An
I guess a thing to remember when going to different countries is to never say this is your first day here! They suss us out and if we say we’ve just arrived, they know that we haven’t explored yet to understand the general price of things. Even if you’ve just arrived, still say it’s your third day here etc. to avoid being ripped off too much (has happened to us a couple of times, so we’ve now learnt what they ask and how to respond) ☺️
Most of the tailors were about the same price. My wife paid $80 usd for an outfit and I paid about $40 for a shirt.
I was approached by 2 women carrying baskets with fruit in on sticks across their shoulders. They seemed very friendly and asked if I would like to have my photo taken with them, being a newbie i said thank you very much, i should have known they weren’t being friendly as she then demanded the equivalent of £4 for an 🍊!! Obviously I just walked away…I know they have to make a living but really £4!!!!
𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋
My deepest empathies. Do scroll through some of the earlier posts in this group to lookout for other traps to avoid for your remaining days in Vietnam. I usually transfer out of Hanoi & HCMC after 1 or 2 days. I avoid staying in these city centres as much as possible