Pre-Loved

I learned a quite expensive experience in the last 2 weeks: it cost me more than 350,000 rupiah to sell my old items, our pre-loved items –which at the end, I made less.

Since we decide to have less stuff, I trying hard not to cling and hang into some stuff for so long. Just for keepsake or any other sentimental reason. Like my children old but immaculate shoes, toys, their baby-things and knick and knacks. It just doesn’t work. Too much space, too much energy to look after. I have to let it go. I tried to pass some of it to family, family friend or anyone we thought will need it. But somehow, it’s still piling up mysteriously on every corner of my house.

Like before, we been experiencing in selling some of our stuff, online or offline. I got praise for my effort keep everything I sold neat, clean and most of them just like new. I knew for sure I won’t sell anything in less than 90% its condition. As it the condition I would like to expect every time we need to buy something and looking around for some pre-loved goods.

As people says, culture does matter, I found it’s not easy selling pre-loved items here, as some people think buying a 2nd-hand or pre-loved stuff would make others thinking about their incapability of buying good quality new items from big and well known shop.

So, when I opened a table at local bazaar, at the beginning people just walked passes our table, some of them glances on the items I displayed nicely. One-or two customer stopped, have a good look, questioning about why the price are so low and cheap for such a quality product –mind you, my pre-loved mostly branded goods on its area- and once me or my staff tell them its pre-loved, they taking a back and just walk without saying anything, as if pre-loved items it’s kind of disease they have to avoid.

Some of them tried really hard though, to bargain, using word ’2nd’ and kept asking why we selling 2nd items that expensive -10,000 rupiah for Avent insulator cup, 95% condition, cost you 170,000 rupiah for brand new that you’ll use it in like 3 month, kids grow up quickly, remember?-

Another who really want to buy, stand quietly on the corner of the table, waiting until everyone’s disappearing and she just starts bargaining. The funniest thing is: she asked me to send it to her home, cost her extra for delivery fee, rather carry it herself, just for the sake of avoiding her friend there asking about why she bought pre-loved item. She couldn’t stand the risk! Wow!

How about you?