Sep 02 2008
Yard Sale Season: Philippines Version
To an expert shopper and a shopaholic… shopping is therapeutic. Of course, it’s just an alibi. I used to employ it too as a psychological defense to absolve myself from the sin of avarice. Good thing I am now a convert which means I don’t really do much shopping like I used to. Aside from the seasonal yard sale, the only regular shopping that I do now is – the grocery.
Back home… in the Philippines… we have our own version of yard sale. And it is a year-round-all-season activity there. In the Philippines we call it “Ukay-Ukay” and you can find it almost everywhere in the country. Though most of the goods sold at Ukay-Ukays are either surpluses or second hands, they are surprisingly good quality items and some of them are also branded. It is famous among Filipinos because the goods are not just reasonably priced but amazingly low-priced. You can buy a pair of Levi’s denim jeans for only 65 pesos ($1.30)… a Prada purse for 250 pesos ($5.90)… or a pair of boots for 42 pesos ($1).
But just like any yard sale, you should have what it takes to be a smart shopper. Since there are lots of Ukay-Ukays all over the place, prices are somewhat competitive so you can still haggle for a lower price for the already-lowest-priced goods. And just like any yard sale, you should have the right skill to spot the best items among racks-upon-racks and shelves-upon-shelves of merchandise. You should have the patience to dig up among piles-upon-piles of your priced finds. And you should have the endurance to deal with other bargain hunters who, like you are in search of the same items that you victoriously found.
Here is one example of what I am talking about… check this out.
Of course, weather you are in Maine or in the Philippines, shopping is fun when you have enough money to buy all the things you want and a place to put them.
Credits:
Thanks to the following:
My brother Japol for the photos I posted here.
Jwerner
PINOYexpats
Inquirer.net
This reminds me a lot of nicer thrift shops in the US, but it looks MUCH better organized.
Hi Ruthi, wow, I did not know the ukay ukay now is sooooooooo much arranged. my late “nanay” introduced me to ukay ukay, and i loved it. we would buy our curtains, some household decors, and some really nice clothes for very cheap! I really wanted to buy a hiking shoes when I was there, but I could not buy it fresh from the stores since they are just sooooooooooo overly expensive for me, several thousands pesos for a pair, unless, I would settle for a not very good hiking shoes. Would you believe, I would travel very far to different ukay ukays whenever we had news that they had new stocks in the whole of Negros province just to look for the hiking shoes I wanted? But sadly it does not have my size, so I always go home disappointed about getting cheap but a good quality hiking shoes
But to make myself happy, I would buy nice clothes in the ukay ukay, and would proudly wear it looking like millions yet the clothes i wear were just a few pesos, hihihihihi.
Kalilea… yes, yard sale is more organized in the philippines and it’s a real business unlike here, people have yard sale to get rid of all the stuff they don’t use.
Bechai… really… these ukay-ukay have gone a long way and now a booming business among pinoys. you should go to Baguio and you will find lots of them… it’s almost like a mall.
Which ukay are these pictures from?
Yanna.. i believe the ukay store in the photo is somewhere in Alabang area, in the Philippines. Honestly, I only asked my brother to take those photos for me for this post because I am based now here in the US. But I did a lot of ukay shopping before I came here and taking pictures of those stores did not cross my mind back then till now that I need it.