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.