As Tet grew closer, farmer and traders hurried to transport fruits and flowers to HCM City Market to serve the large demand for such during the holiday. Compared to regular days, sale of fruits and flowers jumped by 50-100 percent at the Binh Dien, Thu Duc and Hoc Mon wholesale markets. The supplies were mostly transported from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces. A small portion of the supply comes from China to compensate the large number needed.

However, despite the abundant supply, many of the fruits including fresh coconut, pomelo and custard apple are sold 5-10 percent higher. Though many consumers would want to believe that the price increase was timed to take advantage of the season, knowing people would buy regardless the add-on to the cost, traders justify the higher price to the rising labor costs.

More expensive by about VND20,000 compared to the previous year, Pomelo, tangerine and custard apple are priced between VND50,000 and VND60,000. Mangoes are sold at VND50,000-60,000 a kilo, just a slight difference from last year. Meanwhile, the price of long watermelon stayed at VND6,000-8,000 a kilo, while round watermelons are priced at VND12,000-15,000 a kilo.

Flowers are equally as sellable during Tet. Mostly, people go for the popular yellow apricot, peach, and kumquat trees that are readily available at flower markets in the city. However, because of the unfavorable weather conditions, apricot flower trees made available are only those  in small-sized pots. Price for flowers mostly stayed on the same range as in 2012. Some types of flowers were sold slightly higher at 5-10 percent difference from last year. Many new kinds of flowers and decorative trees for Tet were introduced to city customers this year, with the van loc tree (a kind of water plant with colorful leaves) especially popular.

Being the most important holiday in the country, its preparation is mostly lengthy. Traders and sellers find this season among their most profitable since people normally flock to the markets to purchase everything they need to observe the tradition. Tet 2013 fell on Sunday, 10 February 2013. The Tet 2013 public holiday in Vietnam was celebrated from Saturday, 9 February 2013 to Thursday, 14 February 2013.