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| East Jakarta, the heaven of flea marketBERITAJAKARTA.COM — 1/14/2010 5:51:04 PM
Hunting secondhand stuffs is a hobby for some people. They enjoy it a lot. Hunting secondhand stuffs is like hunting the history as well. In the Jakarta Capital City, East Jakarta is a heaven for secondhand stuffs hunters and antiques collectors. A lot of flea markets can be found in East Jakarta.
You can find a flea market in West Jakarta only in Cengkareng Sub-district area. In Central Jakarta the flea market is in Poncol Senen and Tanahabang near Block A. In North Jakarta the flea market is located in Pasar Ular. In South Jakarta the flea market is in Kebayoranlama market; the traders come from Taman Puring while the remaining Taman Puring traders are still in South Jakarta District Attorney building area.
Meanwhile, in East Jakarta you will find a lot of flea markets: along Jl Matraman Raya to Jl Bekasi Barat, Jatinegara; on Jl Bekasi Barat around Jembatan Item market, Jl Jatinegara Timur I to Jl Bekasi Timur and Jl Jatinegara III.
Flea market has been an old tradition since Meester Cornelis era.
There are almost 50 cellphone traders in three different roads: Jl Bekasi Barat, Jl Jatinegara I and Jl Jatinegara II and other traders preferred to trade outside Jembatan Item market or on Jl Bekasi Raya Timur.
It is enjoyable. Almost all the stuffs are still in good conditions. In Jembatan Item market, beside cell phone, other secondhand stuffs are watches, shoes, clothes and antique stuffs. “All of them are secondhand, but still in a good condition,” said Rochman, one of the cell phone traders, Thursday (1/14).
Rochman admitted that the price in Jembatan Item market is cheaper than the same cell phone sold in the store selling secondhand cell phone. “The difference reaches 200 thousand rupiahs. But we have to be careful in choosing the stuff,” he said.
The significant difference of the price is a reason why people visit Jembatan Item market. Another reason why people come to that market is that they can meet directly the owner of the cell phone.
“If you’re lucky, you can meet the cell phone owner who wants to sell his phone. You can get cheaper price,” said Ayup, a customer looking for cell phone.
This mutual symbiosis is one of the reasons why people come to the flea market. The same things also happen on Jl Matraman Raya and Jl Bekasi Barat (beside Jatinegara train station). The latter market offers you secondhand households and pets.
Traders on Jl Matraman Raya to Jl Bekasi Barat commonly sell secondhand books and clothes. But some of them also sell new and original stuffs with cheaper price than ones sold in stores.
Ira Suryani, a housewife living on Jl Kebon Pala, Jatinegara, admitted that she is interested in buying secondhand stuffs in Jl Matraman Raya because of its cheap price. “I always go here if I want to buy households,” she said. “I can get the difference up to Rp 15 thousand rather than in store per stuff. I can save more money then,” she smilingly shared the information.
"I once wanted to buy sandals for my kid. In a store it was charged Rp 50 thousand but I found it here for only Rp 35 thousand and it still looked good,” she said.
In the flea market on Jl Matraman Raya, you can ask for cheaper price to the sellers if you want to. "The difference is around Rp 5 thousand,” said Riyadi, a woman clothes seller in Jl Matraman Raya.
Pets are also sold there. There are monkeys, fish, hamsters and cuscus. The price starts from Rp 50 thousand for a hamster up to million rupiahs for a gecko.
In the economy crisis, the existence of flea market can alleviate the burden by providing cheap stuffs in a good condition.
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| | Translator: ajeng |
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