Lisa (Blackpink) posted a photo of herself with a Labubu teddy bear on her personal Instagram in April 2024, creating a fever. Many young people rushed to hunt for products related to this character.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, many people created products such as clothes, hats, and sandals with Labubu's image printed on them with the aim of "following" the trend to make a profit. However, the results were not as expected when the orders only stopped at a "dripping" level.
From the price of this character printed T-shirt at 220,000 VND when it was first released, now it is reduced to 160,000 VND/piece, but the goods are still piled up in the warehouse, causing Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen Linh (owner of a fanpage specializing in clothing business in Can Tho City) to lose money.
"When it first became popular, many young people stayed up all night to hunt for Labubu teddy bears, so I tried printing pictures on T-shirts to sell. I didn't expect that after spending tens of millions to make them, in the past 3-4 months I've only sold a dozen shirts," said Linh.
Not much better, with a group of friends spending 50 million VND to design hats and sandals with Labubu's image with the hope of making a profit, but Ms. Huynh Thi Ngoc Mo (owner of a fanpage selling accessories in Hau Giang) shook her head in disappointment because she could not sell her products.
"After the business was sluggish, I started to learn more. The reason is that there are many people selling, so the competition is high. Most young people like to hunt for teddy bears and small accessories. Moreover, the trend is gradually cooling down, so the business is not improving," said Ms. Mo.
In contrast to the "dripping" orders of clothing, hats, and sandals, Labubu lanterns are constantly sought after. On average, every day, Ms. Bui Bich Loan's accessory store (Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho city) earns more than 1 million VND in profit.
"Depending on the material, design, and size, the price varies, ranging from 20,000 - 90,000 VND/piece. Because of the new, compact, and cute design, it is loved by many people this Mid-Autumn Festival . The average highest revenue is from 1.5 - 2 million VND/day," said Ms. Loan.
According to experts, the trend of business is flexible, it is not difficult to reach large customer ranges. However, this form of business has a short "life cycle", high risk, if not carefully calculated, will have to suffer great consequences.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Loc - Director of the Institute for Life and Society Research - shared: Doing business following trends is true to the term "skimming". This layer of cream is very thin and fragile, easily changing when there is an impact from the market. In the long run, in terms of economy and society, it will be difficult to form a true class of entrepreneurs.
