BootsnAll Travel Community

So, I'm probalby going to be moving to Vietnam this fall with my newly minted degree and TEFL certificaiton to teach English there for a while. However, I think I've had a pretty ingenious idea and am wondering if anyone has had any experience in this area...

I show horses here in the States and the outfits we wear are VERY expensive. I'm talking $500+ for a nice suit, $200+ for a pair of chaps or a jacket, $100+ for a shirt... so, what I want to do is get some beautiful custom clothing made in Hoi An VERY cheap ($30 or so for a suit, less for other items), send them back here to my friends and family for them to hawk on e-bay, making all of us a nice profit. I will probably be sending around 10 itmes/month to start, maybe more if demand warrants it.

Does anyone know if I will be subject to import/export fees? I am thinking I should be able to do it all "under the radar" if I'm not sending huge quantities home and if we stick to e-bay... but, I'd hate to be hit with huge fees and taxes when I decide to return to the States.

Anybody done anything like this in other countries? Any ideas, advice, or suggestions? Thanks!

I think your pretty ingenious idea is up there with sweatshops. That's aweful. I'm ashamed that you'd think of something like this as ingenious. You'd be supporting their economy, yes, but you'd be taking full advantage of a third world country. Instead of trying to take advante og the people of Hoi An, why don't you help set them up with a way to hawk their items on ebay themselves.

Wow, I sure didn't expect that kind of reaction. I'm not sure if you've been to Hoi An, but one of the main reasons people go there is to have new wardrobes customly sewn for $100 or less... I think a main reason so many people visit SE Asia is because it is so incredibly cheap.

Secondly, the Hoi An tailor shops are not what I would even begin to describe as sweatshops. The ones I partonized seemed very well run, do not employ children, and, while I'm sure the wages are not what anyone would be paid in the U.S., the tailors are probably making a heck of a lot more than the average vietnamese citize.

Thirdly, you are right. I would be supporting their economy and, hopefully, establishing a relationship with a specific tailor and giving them guaranteed business. If this is a win-win situation, I don't see how it could be a bad thing.

And, by the way, setting them up with their own e-bay accounts isn't a bad idea, however, I have a feeling listing "Vietnam" as the country in the e-bay listings will probably scare away potential buyers.

I may have jumped the gun. But I'm still not in favor of the idea. People visit SEA because it's cheap and beautiful, but how many people go there to set up shop? The reason those deals are so great is that they're limited to a certain area of the world. People go to SEA and effect the economy directly, they don't go just to buy suits and take them back to the US. I have no problem with the tailors getting more business, but I have a problem with making a nice profit on their hard work without doing any of the work yourselves. You seem to be more willing to get the money than you do benefit the people of Hoi An.

I think, no matter what we do in SE Asia, whether taking a two week vacation, living there for a while, or sending goods back, we're exploiting the local population. While it is gorgeous over there, the tourist industry is thriving becasue it IS so cheap and because it costs so much less for us to enjoy such beautiful scenery than it does in developed countries. It's all exploitiation if you look at it in that sense. But, enough of the dependency theory.

What I didn't mention in my initial post, because people in the horse industry probably woudln't understand, is that I will buy the custom clothing in Hoi An and then probably spend 60+ hours embellishing them myself. Horse show clothing has to be flashy and not only would I design the clothing, I would hand-sew leather designs, hand-set rhinestones and studs, and hand-paint designs. While I still would make quite the profit, the main reason the clothing would sell for so much is because of the time and effort I will spend making it pretty and shiny. I don't plan on having much of a social life when I'm living in Vietnam and thought this would be a good way to relax when I get home from work in the evening while, at the same time, making some extra money. My mom and I do this on a much more limited basis right now -- we buy the fabric for around $40-50, sew up the clothes, I do the design work, and we make a decent profit.

If I can not only have more clothing to sell, but at the same time can support the local Vietnamese economy by patronizing the tailors and spending more when I live there, I really see no harm.

My reaction to your first post versus your previous post is a much different one. You have to admit that it sounded rather devious of you to be hawking Vietnamese goods on the internet, but if you're making them yours, it changes things quite a bit. Spending 60+ hours on hand embellishing the clothes, I see no problem in selling them on eBay, but of course you wouldn't be seeling Vietnamese products you'd be selling your own. A big difference in my opinion. So, my apologies for jumping down your throat, but that bit of information in the last post has made all the difference.

SloLopin, your's is an age-old venerable idea. I hope you can make a profit.

Taylor I think you might be overlooking the whole point of commerce. Since the beginning of civilization, the point has been to buy cheap merchandises from abroad to sell them for a huge profit to the wealthy at home. What do you think Marco Polo was doing when he went to the Khan? And Columbus was trying to find an even cheaper way to get to the spices of India. Not to mention the East India Company. Southafrica exists mainly because it was a place to refuel after long merchantile journeys, and it was actually run by the Duch East India Co. And in the USA... well, where to begin! Most phone customer services for big corporations are handled from India, solely because it's cheaper to hire people there. SloLopin's idea has nothing out of the ordinary in the moral dept, and it's the way the world runs, if we're to talk real here. And tourists, hehe, do you know many that go to cheap countries to establish charity shops? When they open a business, and employ people, you bet they're in for the profit...90% of the time at least.

Now, that the world and the way it's run is a bit fucked up?.. I'll agree with that, but not everyone can be a philantropist and devote life to doing good.

Globe I agree, I jumped the gun on all of this. To me it seems wrong, but I guess it really doesn't matter because thats what business is all about. I'm a hypocrite for talking one way and living in a society that chooses to work another. So, like I stated before, my apologies. I do think SloLopin's idea to make the clothes her own before shipping them out changes things a bit, I don't see anything wrong with putting her own work into the clothes and selling them at her own prices. Again, my bad.

Ty don't worry about it. If anything, it should be me asking the apology here. I'm in kind of a bad mood tonight and am jumping at every possible moment.

I'm much of a hypocrite myself for living the way I do while at the same time criticizing so much the corporate world. In the end I think we're all just trying to make it work, even if we're a bit clumsy like myself

This is so funny how this discussion is evolving -- thanks for admitting you jumped the gun a bit, Taylor, but I think what you and Globe have brought up is one of the fundamental problems with West v. East, North v. South, Developed v. Developing nations. I'm a huge Political Science nerd and have studied this type of "dependency theory" in class after class and, while I certainly don't agree with exploiting child labor or making people work 16 hour shifts in hot, stuffy factories, I do believe that The economies of both the developed and developing world depend on each other for growth.

It's interesting, since Vietnam opened its doors to foreign investment (and, you could argue, exploitation at the hands of the west), the GDP per capita has risen, I believe, over 11% (don't quote me directly, but I think it's somewhere in there). That is a HUGE amount. This is happeneing all over the world. And, while workers in the developing nations aren't making nearly what we would make doing the same jobs, they're making a heck of a lot more than they would be if they didn't have the job. In addition, they are becoming more educated which, in turn, allows them to, in time, demand more money for their services. This type of outsourcing eventually leads to a more highly educated population and, again, raises the per capita GDP.

I certainly understand your point, though, Taylor. I think the fundamental problem of exploitation of "third-world" countries by the "first-world" raises a lot of moral and ethical questions, which is why we study it so in-depth.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. Globe, I think you're totally right -- we can talk about this all we want, but at the point at which we're enjoying $20/night beach-front bungalows, $10/night regular hotel rooms, $5 hour-long massages, $2 meals, and $1 beers, we're all contributing to the fundamental divide between the first and third worlds. Until one is willing to give it all up, move into one of the tin-roofed, plank and board shacks, give up their computers and iPods, and bust their asses for $2/day, or donate all they earn to charitable contributions, one cannot escape the hypocracy.

That said, anyone know about the import/export regulations? LOL...

I wish you luck on your idea. I have had acquaintances that tried to set up workshops for clothing in Guatemala.

I have an acquaintance that uses Turkish factories to produce her clothing.

One did miserably, probably because the product was difficult to sell. It sounds like you have a ready-made market, and that's good.

Ok. Heres a short how to, minus a million setbacks.

Find a tailor or two. Give them a uniform to copy. make sure they do good quality work. make sure anyone they sub-contract to does good quality work. Make sure again. This is very important as unless you are paranoid about quality, you will not get quality.

Send these uniforms home, or take them home. Keep the contact numbers of the people that worked for you. You will need an agent in Vietnam to see to the quality of your work, and the parcelling out of the work while you market it in the USA.

This could be you, selling half the time, manufacturing half the time. It is a very exhilirtating and pressured existence, so a lot of people stick to one end or another, and get a full time agent in the country in question. Some don't. They like travel.

Workshops, at least in the areas I know about, like to have the material handed to them. So you'll be buying the material as well, unless they have better sources.

People will try to cheat you. You will probably be cheated a few times until you learn the ropes.

It is a business. It turns out not to be so much fun as a learning experience, and only only learns by doing.

Good luck on financing your travels with this venture!!! I am truly jealous you have the guts to do it.

Import export rules? When you are in Vietnam, talk to the local Trade board. I'm sure they will be glad to walk you through the formal steps. The informal ones you'll learn on the streets, and in the process.

needless to say - if you manage to get this whole thing running, you could be on your way to big bucks. I know a few people who import things from China, and they're filthy rich - maybe you should consider doing it legally, and ship in bulk to the US, you can take it to the next level...