Here is some advice i picked up from my travel to Vietnam.
Those of you that bring USD/CAD/EURO with you to to Vietnam, you will often get a better exchange rate at the local jewelry shops.
When I went, they charged me 3000 VND per $100CAD which is 17 cents CAD. (currently $1CAD=17,502VND)
The Western Union and many other exchange shops were 3% plus fees on your exchange.
Be sure to check the current exchange rates on XE.com ahead of time and check with the jeweller what they charge. It varies at every jewelry shop. We exchanged at jewelry shops that had their store front open to the street and not the ones in the malls.
Oh, there may be hustlers near the shops. They pretend to be very unfortunate souls who will beg for milk or food monies but in actuality, they are very wealthy from this scam. Unfortunately, young children are often used for begging as they will more likely to recieve donation. My dad and I often offer to buy them a meal instead of giving them money. We were warned about this from local friends who lived in Saigon.
Oh, on a side note. Locals are charged normal prices, tourists are charged 2 times as a general rule there or often 3 or 4 times the price depending on the seller. So i usually start by offering 1/3. Example, I asked the clerk at the mall how much the generic USB charger (
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MB352LL/B?fnode=MTY1NDA4NA&mco=MTM3NjUwNDE) was, it had no Apple Inc symbol on it. She said 700,000VND which was $46CAD. Prices are much higher in the large cities.
I bought one from Wal-Mart for $12CAD instead when I got home.
If there is no set price, be sure to ask first! Especially at restaurants. It is tough to haggle down the tourist price if you've already eaten the meal.
Hope this helps
