Ben Thanh Market Price Guide 2027 What Things Cost & How to Bargain
Ben Thanh Market is a bargaining market, not a shop with fixed prices. The first figure a vendor shows you — on a calculator screen, a handwritten card or in conversation — is an opening move, and in the souvenir and clothing aisles it is routinely two to three times the price the seller will happily accept. Arrive knowing the fair number and you pay a local price instead of a tourist one.
Every price below is in Vietnamese Dong (VND) and reflects late-2026 street rates. The market has two very different halves: the food stalls, where prices are effectively fixed, and the shopping aisles, where nothing is.
Ben Thanh Market prices: the five things everyone buys
What you should expect to pay after a normal bit of bargaining, next to the opening quote you will probably hear first:
| Item | Fair price (bargained) | Typical opening quote | Approx. US$ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Souvenir T-shirt | 60,000–150,000 VND | 150,000–350,000 VND | $2–6 |
| Conical hat (nón lá) | 30,000–60,000 VND | 80,000–150,000 VND | $1–2 |
| Vietnamese coffee, 500 g | from 80,000 VND | 150,000–300,000 VND | $3+ |
| Silk scarf (genuine silk) | from 300,000 VND | 600,000–900,000 VND | $12+ |
| Bowl of pho | from about 35,000 VND (street stalls) or 50,000–120,000 VND (food hall) | fixed price | $1–5 |
đ° The 40% rule
Open at 40% of the seller’s first price — a sharper version of the old “start at half” advice — and expect to settle around 50–60%. A 300,000 VND quote for a scarf means a 120,000 VND opening offer from you, and you will usually meet around 150,000–180,000. The vendors expect this; it is the ritual, not an insult.
How to bargain at Ben Thanh, step by step
Negotiation here is polite and predictable. Work with the flow and you will usually reach a fair price in under two minutes.
- Ask the price and stay neutral. Never look over-keen. Ask “how much?”, then let a calm pause do the work.
- Counter at 40%. Type the number on your phone calculator, or hand it to the vendor to type back — numbers cross the language gap better than words.
- Move up slowly, never down. Settle near 50–60% of the first quote. If they hold high, price the same item two stalls away.
- Walk away. A polite walk toward the exit often brings a call-back and a lower price.
- Buy several items. “Three scarves for 500,000” lands better than haggling each one down separately.
- Confirm the total before you open your wallet, especially for clothing and dried goods.
𧎠Not every stall bargains
The food hall is fixed-price, and some of the outer-ring stalls — often the staff in light-blue shirts — sell at set prices too. Bargaining applies in the souvenir and clothing aisles; elsewhere, just pay the marked price.
Shopping prices: souvenirs, silk, lacquerware and clothing
Beyond the five staples above, these are the fair post-bargaining ranges for the things visitors buy most. Prices vary with quality, so treat them as a compass, not a price list.
| Item | Fair price (VND) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Souvenir T-shirt | 60,000–150,000 | Plain cotton cheapest; printed and branded designs cost a little more |
| Conical hat (nón lá) | 30,000–60,000 | Flat-packable versions for luggage cost slightly more |
| Vietnamese coffee, 500 g | from 80,000 | Common brands such as Trung Nguyên; most stalls let you taste first |
| Silk scarf | from 300,000 | Genuine silk slides through your fingers and does not build up static |
| Lacquerware box (small) | 80,000–200,000 | Beware plastic passed off as mother-of-pearl inlay |
| Áo dài (ready-made) | 300,000–800,000 | Tailored versions cost more and take a day or two to make |
| Fabric by the metre | 80,000–200,000 | Price tracks the weave; ask to feel the bolt before you commit |
| Spices and dried goods, 100 g | from 20,000 | Pepper, star anise and turmeric are the reliable buys |
| Small souvenir (magnet, keyring) | 20,000–50,000 | The cheapest fixed-price purchases in the market |
Food prices: the fixed-price half of the market
The food hall in the middle of the market — and the street stalls around it — work to fixed prices. Outside, the pavement kitchens are where a meal costs least.
| Dish | Price (VND) |
|---|---|
| Phở — street-side bowl | from about 35,000 |
| Phở — food-hall bowl | 50,000–120,000 |
| Bánh mì | 15,000–30,000 |
| Cà phê sữa á (iced coffee with condensed milk) | 25,000–40,000 |
| Cơm tấm (broken rice) | 50,000–70,000 |
| Gỏi cuốn (fresh spring rolls, 4) | from 40,000 |
| Bún bò Huế | 60,000–80,000 |
| Bánh xèo (sizzling pancake) | 80,000–150,000 |
| Chè (sweet soup) | 20,000–50,000 |
| Fresh sugarcane juice | 15,000–30,000 |
What not to buy at Ben Thanh
Some stalls trade on the fact that you cannot tell a fake from the real thing. Skip the “real” pearls, the “crocodile leather” and the brand-name anything — at these prices they are counterfeit. Genuine silk and quality lacquerware are fine; it is the luxury-brand claims that are not. If a price seems too good for what is being described, it almost certainly is.
Cash, cards and the VND numbers trick
Cash in VND gets the best price. Cards are rarely accepted on souvenir stalls, and where they are, expect a small surcharge. ATMs sit inside the market and around its entrances, so you are never far from a top-up.
đĩ Vietnamese prices are spoken in thousands
Vendors drop the last three digits when they talk. “Sáu mươi” (sixty) means 60,000 VND, not 60. When a number appears on a calculator, count the zeros before you agree, and check the change — the largest common note is 500,000 VND.
When to shop for the best prices
Timing changes the deal as much as technique does.
- Morning (6:00–10:00). Coolest, freshest and the most flexible. Many vendors believe the first sale of the day brings luck (khách mở hàng), so they discount more readily to get it.
- Midday. Hottest and busiest with tour groups; the least flexible time to bargain.
- Late afternoon (16:00–18:00). Stalls would rather sell than pack up, so closing-time deals are common — then the night market takes over outside from around 18:00.
Market hours are worth checking before you go; the opening hours page has the current day and night schedule.
Working out your souvenir budget
A realistic haul for one shopper, at fair bargained prices: two souvenir T-shirts at 120,000 VND each, one conical hat at 45,000, a 500 g bag of coffee at 120,000 and one silk scarf at 350,000 comes to about 755,000 VND — roughly US$29. Budget double that if you let the opening quotes stand.
Where Ben Thanh fits in your Saigon shopping
Ben Thanh is the convenient, tourist-facing market, but it is not the cheapest. Our what to buy guide covers the full product range, the Ben Thanh vs Binh Tay comparison explains where wholesale prices live, and the An Dong Market guide covers the wholesale textile alternative. For the whole city in one place, see the Ho Chi Minh City shopping markets guide.