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.