In 2023, the mooncake queue outside Bao Phuong in Hanoi began around midnight. VnExpress reported that paid proxy buyers secured places from midnight and recruited relatives when orders were large. In a line governed by purchase limits, the number of people counted by the shop meets the number a proxy business can mobilize.
A body in line is not always waiting for its own purchase. The shop’s idea of fair distribution and the proxy’s effort to fulfil an order confront one another inside the same sequence.