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View all search resultsThrift sellers, shoppers lament planned crackdown on secondhand imports
If the government fully enforces the ban, the move may hurt the income of hundreds of sellers of imported used clothes across Jakarta and prevent customers from buying affordable attire, according to thrift sellers and customers at Senen Market.
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A shope attendant arranges a pullover on Oct. 24, 2025, at Senen Market in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Naufal Khoirulloh)
T
he government’s plan to clamp down on used clothes imported in violation of an existing ban, mainly to protect the domestic textile industry and prevent the risk of infectious diseases, has met with a cold shoulder from both thrift sellers and shoppers in Jakarta over increasing cost of living and sustainability issues.
Thrift shoppers in the capital usually flock to Senen Market in Central Jakarta, known as a hub of used clothing stores. Located near a busy train station that shares its name, the market is home to hundreds of thrift shops that sell countless volumes of secondhand clothes, mainly sourced from Japan and South Korea.
One such seller is Muhammad Dede Purnomo, 20, who said the government’s plan to limit imports of secondhand clothes would not only hurt the incomes of traders like himself, but also undermine the high sales turnover that had come to define the secondhand market over the decades.
“We’ve built our own loyal customer base. If the government really enforces the ban and carries out crackdowns, so many people will not be able to buy affordable clothes anymore,” Dede told The Jakarta Post on Oct. 28.
Sellers like Dede typically earn up to Rp 2 million (US$120), enough to cover the price of a big sack of worn clothes. Dede said he often buys a 150-kilogram sack of secondhand clothes from a supplier in Bandung, West Java for between Rp 5 million and Rp 12 million.
Thrifting is also a solution for many people who live in Jakarta, one of the country’s most expensive cities where monthly household spending can average Rp 14 million, according to a report from Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
Recent graduate Al Ghifary, a loyal customer and thrifting enthusiast, expressed his disappointment over the government’s plan to enforce the ban secondhand imports, saying it would limit his options for buying affordable clothes and affect his lifestyle.
