Secondhand clothes business sluggish

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Senen market in Central Jakarta is a favorite shopping spot for low-income people. Here, those with a very limited budget can find dozens of stalls selling secondhand clothes inside and outside the market.

"The quality is good, while the prices are affordable for us. This is the place where we, a low-income family, go to get 'new' clothes," Ida told The Jakarta Post on Thursday while browsing for an outfit.

Ida, a resident of Sunter in East Jakarta, was there to buy her Idul Fitri clothes.

There is no doubt that secondhand clothes are really cheap, carrying a price tag of as low as Rp 5,000 per piece.

But the vendors complain about poor sales.

"Unlike last year, business is slack during the Ramadhan fasting month now ... even though Idul Fitri is coming," Robert, who sells secondhand gowns and dresses in his three-meter-square stall with plastic sheeting as a roof, said on Thursday.

He said that only a few customers had visited his stall over the last three weeks. "But they did buy a gown or two, they weren't just browsing."

The most favorite items, he said, were long-sleeved and ankle- length gowns that can be altered into Muslim-style gowns.

The dresses he sells range in price from Rp 5,000 (around 56 US cents) to Rp 25,000.

During Ramadhan in past years, Robert said he had to replenish his stock with a sack of used clothing every two or three days. Each sack contained 100 articles of clothes. This year, it takes him two weeks to sell one sack.

The used clothes are imported from other Asian countries, such as Japan, Singapore and Korea. Many are in poor condition, with dirt stains or stains caused by saltwater infiltration.

The secondhand clothes business started here in the mid-1990s. Business was brisk after the economic crisis hit the country in 1997.

Senen market and its surroundings, where used clothes are most commonly sold, is best known as "Ayola" because the sellers always shout ayolah, ayolah (come on, come on) at customers.

Doni, another vendor at nearby Jl. Galur, also complained about the lack of customers. "I don't know whether it is because their buying power has decreased or because they are shopping elsewhere," he told the Post.

He said he suspected that it was more likely that people could not afford the items because of rising prices.

He said the prices of used clothes had increased because of the limited supply, which he suspected was due to a government policy halting the importation of used clothing.

A sack of women's clothing is currently priced at Rp 1.6 million, up from Rp 1.2 million early this year. The price of a sack of men's shirts increased from Rp 1.3 million to Rp 1.8 million, while a sack of pants and jeans now costs up to Rp 1.3 million from only Rp 750,000.

Last year, Doni said, he could sell a pair of used jeans at Rp 20,000, but now he asks for Rp 30,000.

Martinus, who buys and sells used clothing on the sidewalk of Jl. Kramat Raya, Central Jakarta, grumbled that business had never been as slow as it was this fasting month. He has not sold any of his merchandise, the prices of which start from as low as Rp 1,500 each.

"These are bad times. In the first week of the fasting month I had only three buyers in a day, but I've had none since last week. Could shoppers all be in the malls? Lots of discounts are offered there," he said on Thursday.

"Last year was good. But I still remember 1996, my best time for business," the 67-year-old man said.

It is true that shopping malls are packed these days, but whether Martinus's customers are there is another question as people who come to shopping malls are mostly from the middle income to upper income brackets.

In Central Jakarta's Tanah Abang market, the most popular place for low-income people, traders had earlier complained about the sluggish business.

Several retailers even grumbled about their tiny profits as visitors were bargaining for the lowest prices.