Trumpet sellers make a fortune amid tight competition

Trumpet sellers make a fortune amid tight competition

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Tough year or not, the last day is worth celebrating. And no
New Year's Eve fiesta is complete without paper trumpets.

Starting early this month, trumpet vendors have filled the
sidewalks of strategic streets all over the city. Eye-catching
paper trumpets in various colors and models -- some even
resembling real ones -- are hanging along the sidewalks to lure
customers.

Although the making of such trumpets could be seen as a work
of art, the trumpets actually come from the hand of farmers and
small traders who have taken the opportunity to make big and
quick money.

But trumpet-making itself is a long process.

Rendi, a farmer from Selang Bulak hamlet in Cibitung, Bekasi
-- around two-hours east of Jakarta, started the business in the
capital along with his family, relatives and neighbors in the
early 1980s.

He said he used his spare time throughout the year to make
1,000 to 2,000 trumpets. And he had to travel a long way to get
all the materials needed. Rendi has to buy the shiny carton from
Tangerang, and bamboo to make the whistles from Bogor.

"The materials cost me Rp 3 million (around US$337). But last
year I brought home Rp 7 million from the sales," he told The
Jakarta Post at his sidewalk stand on Jl. Hang Tuah, South
Jakarta over the weekend.

The father of two claimed that he was able to build a house
for his family from the profit he had made, despite tight
competition.

Party organizers and even a distributor from Bali bought
trumpets from him. It is not yet three weeks since he started,
but he has sold more than 500 items. "Some even left their phone
numbers because I ran out of trumpets. But I'm too lazy to call
them back. If they really need the trumpets, they can always come
again".

Rendi's younger brother Miska, who has his own stall beside
Rendi's, said that more and more Bekasi residents had joined the
business. The brothers, and their parents, had to move to their
current place from Jl. Melawai, also in South Jakarta.

"It's too crowded there (on Jl. Melawai). Moreover, we have to
pay lot to public order officers there. Here, we only give the
officers tips. But we had first to obtain permission from the
subdistrict administration," he said.

Renting a pick-up truck to carry the merchandise -- they
brought only the parts of the trumpets and assembled them later.
Rendi took his wife Diah and sons to live for one month on the
sidewalk right after the Idul Fitri celebration on Dec. 6.

Jealousy among vendors is common. Some make bigger money, said
Rendi, because there is no standard price for the trumpets
although they use the same materials and techniques to make
quality products. On average, he said, prices range from Rp 6,000
up to Rp 25,000 or Rp 30,000 each depending on the model.

"And we cannot keep a new model secret or make inventions of
our own because we have to dry the trumpets in the sun outside
the house. We live in a small hamlet. Everyone can look at it and
copy it".

So, he said, if they want to sell well they have to offer
lower prices. And if they still cannot sell all, they can always
keep the leftovers for next year's display.

Miska admitted that they are a step behind trumpet makers in
Bandung, West Java, who had been innovative in producing jazz
trumpets, trombones, saxophones, French horns, and tubas, instead
of the common conical ones with tassels on the brim.

Miska and others changed their model for 2002 when a customer
ordered "saxophones" and gave them the prototype to copy,
although the order did not push through as the customer was only
willing to pay a low price. Now, each of them has a guidebook on
types of trumpet and how to make them.

It is innovation which had buoyed the business, said Rendi.
And they still intend to create one or two new models.

"This year's new model is a horn with three keys. The keys are
not artificial. They really work!," he said.