Trade in second-hand goods hit hard by economic crisis

Trade in second-hand goods hit hard by economic crisis

By Emmy Fitri

JAKARTA (JP): Traders at the Urip Sumohardjo flea market in
East Jakarta have enjoyed a surge in the number of people looking
to sell used goods since the economic crisis first broke last
year, but unfortunately they are finding eager customers a touch
harder to come by.

Over the last three months an increasing number of people have
been forced to sell belongings ranging from old clothes and shoes
to household utensils at the flea market in exchange for ready
cash with which to buy basic commodities.

The prolonged economic crisis, which first hit the nation in
July last year, has forced people to revise their expectations
substantially. Instead of saving up for new consumer goods,
people are now looking to supplement their falling incomes by
selling off unessential possessions.

"I bought five second hand shirts, two pairs of trousers, two
pairs of shoes and one old clock today," an aged vendor named
Saleh said contentedly on Monday.

He bought a faded pair of blue jeans for Rp 3,000 (27 U.S.
cents at the current exchange rate) and plans to resell them for
Rp 4,500 or Rp 5,000.

The 64-year-old Saleh said vendors like himself used to have
to travel to Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta at least twice
a week to buy used clothes at the flea market there.

Business along Jl. Urip Sumohardjo begins at around 8 a.m.,
when vendors arrive with rolled up mats filled with their wares
and bamboo poles from which they hang second hand clothes.

"Lately, however, I've been coming here after eight because
business has been really quiet. Passersby only stop to look at
our goods after lunch or on their way home after office hours,"
Saleh said, looking forlornly at some clothes hanging limply from
a bamboo pole in front of him.

While waiting for customers, the vendors sit under their
makeshift tents.

Some of them use their newfound spare time to sip black coffee
and smoke and chat with their neighboring traders.

Saleh and a few others industriously brush the dust from old
clothes and make minor repairs.

The traders now earn an average of Rp 3,000 a day, a sharp
drop from the daily income they enjoyed before the crisis broke,
when they could earn anything between Rp 10,000 and Rp 20,000 a
day.

Saleh, who has a 14-year-old girl and an eight-year-old son,
understands that the most important thing is to meet his family's
daily needs and save for his children's education.

"I save Rp 1,000 a day and Alhamdullilah (Thanks to God) my
wife can manage with my small earnings," he says, adding that he
has pledged to himself to give his children the best education he
can manage.

"I always ask my children to be proud that their father is a
tukang loak (rag-and-bone man)," he says.

He did once hope that his children could get their school fees
reduced if their headmasters knew the family were very poor,
adding that: "As long as the teachers don't discriminate against
my children, I'll be happy."

"There are no tricks of the trade which I can use to increase
my profits", he said. "In principle I only have to be more
persistent than my customers because the law which applies here
is that the most persistent party gets the benefit," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Saleh, a resident of Kampung Kebon Manggis in Matraman, East
Jakarta, recalls the flea market's golden era in the 1980s with
fond memories, when there were only a few traders and the
business was a new idea among the city's poorer classes.

"Many temporary workers from outside Jakarta like to shop here
and buy clothes from me before they return to their home towns,"
he said.

"Housemaids and minivan drivers also like to shop here for
their clothes," added Saleh, who hails from Cirebon in West
Java.

Saleh said he was among the first generation of traders who
moved in to work in the area. He started his business in 1965 and
has stuck at it for the ensuing 33 years.

"I used to sell second hand clothes in front of Jatinegara
train station," he said.

Saleh realizes that life has not been always kind to him, but
he believes that each person has their own destiny.

The proceeds of his business helped him to buy a modest house
in 1988 and continue to provide him with a steady, albeit meager
stream of earnings that keeps his family alive.