Yesterday Bebe Metillo was here at our house teaching somebody Bisaya over the Internet. After her class we were talking and she asked me if I want to go with her and shop at the Ukay-Ukay (used imported clothing, purses, shoes and house stuff) place. I told her sure, I’m up to it. So today Bebe came to my house at around 3pm and we headed to the ukay-ukay place. This time we went to the Uyanguren (Chinatown) area. Its fun to go to this kind of place too and get some good bargains.
When we got to Uyanguren the taxi driver dropped us at the spot where a lot of the ukay-ukay vendors are. We started entering a lot of stores that sell purses. They had plenty of them. Some are really in good shape and when I asked the price its way too much more than I expected. If I saw a purse and in good shape and price so much I would rather go to the mall and buy the purse in one of the famous brand there. Some vendors they really overprice the stuff. Its also fun to bargain with them too. A lot of times I will get the price that I asked for though. Sometimes we meet in the middle. One thing to look for there that is good sometimes were sheer curtains. They will have a whole variety of curtains that are in good shape. If they overpriced it just really bargain with them. I saw a lady trying on a gown in one of the shops. The gown is in good condition and the price was just less than 500pesos. Honestly if you saw that gown somewhere here in the mall I would not be surprised its worth over 2k there.
Nowadays there are already a lot of cheaper clothing here in the Philippines. The only thing is that it is also made cheaply. The quality really is bad. We usually just say its disposable. 🙂 That’s why people here go for the UK product (that is the short term of ukay-ukay) because a lot of the product there are good quality. UK product some are made from here and it doesn’t not pass through the quality control. Some might be the zipper are broken or the seamstress missed some buttons. Also some are the surplus from the USA and Europe.
Anyway, lets go to the UK guys. Have fun shopping and bargaining.
Feyma: Rebecca used to buy big bales of used clothing in Abu Dhabi and send them in Balikbayan boxes to her family to sell in the palengke in Ballesteros. She used to buy the bales, what you see is what you get, no returns, by the kilo. There were some odd items in there… Old election t-shirts from the States (Dukakis for President, for example), giveaways (about 100 Nestle Quik baseball caps), and miscut sizes (Size 6 jeans that should have said size 8). The family would resell the shirts for around 20 pesos, jeans for around 50, and they would "sell out" in a matter of hours!
we,re selling ex korean jeans 100 pesos a pair and they always sell ok unless the style is a bit odd. At least you don,t pay skin tax like I am expected to. You must know how to bargain or you,ll get fleeced by these vendors, they all know the game and play it hard, but it,s a great way to shop.
Been to a couple of Ukay-Ukay places here in Cebu, CDO an Manila.The wife goes to them drags me a long too so she can show of her husband hee hee ..I'm not a shopping person so it is not for me .but it was fun going the first time ..I just have no idea what they are saying,so I look and don't talk 🙂 cheaper that way too ….Phil n Jess
Hi Feyma, This is the first time I've written to you, so glad to be able to converse. Ukay-Ukay is popular now all over the philippines I guess. My family is always showing me the latest thing they've purchased and it's usually quite new and in good condition and cheap too. I had to laugh recently when my young nephew was wearing a UK T-shirt that said "Don't Worry I'm Married" In the states and at home in Cebu I love to wear "vintage" clothing. It's hard to explain to my friends and family why I would be wearing something not new from a store or where one would get such things. Have you heard people say that silly thing, "Nice outfit–where did you get it? UK (as if something imported from the United Kindom)Really? ooh Ukay-Ukay!
John, imagine the things I get from the alleys of Chicago? At least they put on top of the garbage bins things that may be of value to others. If I could put on balikbayan box the couches I see on the alley esp these spring…
Roy you could become a second-hand milloinare if you could get them there … cheaply of course …Happy dumpster diving Roy ..Phil n Jess
Kamusta ka Feyma,
You never know what you will find at these places, sometimes is very good deal on very nice things.
Here in the USA, it is quite popular to shop "2nd hand" stores, at least here in Florida it is. GoodWill has many retail stores now, instead of just donatation centers. There are so many thrift shops here in Florida as well..so is a very good business I guess to be in and also find good things.
Rose shops these places in Maasin City, and Cebu. I always say to her, wow your outfit looks so nice, and she'll reply with a "bashful" look on her face and say "I get a second hand store". I don't care..I think she looks great in the clothes she gets from these places..
Salamat kaayo,
Danny 🙂
Hi Feyma – garage sales (used items of all sorts) and swap meets are still very popular around here. Stuff starts out overpriced at times, but you can always bargain and it is expected.
My Mother-in-law and I "thrift" shop on Tuesdays when they offer discounts off very very cheap prices already!
Hi Feyma,
Great article! I was thinking of some kind of business to start in the Philippines. As I recently discovered the shops along San Pedro, I thought of having such a business there. There are plenty of closeout/wholesale/discounters here in Chicago, so it wouldn't be too difficult to find a reliable source of merchandise. I'll have to study this in detail before jumping into opening a store.
Also, nice to meet you last month!
Cheers!
Hi Feyma, good to see you in Victoria by the way. Am in Davao 6 days a week now. Anyway, have you been to the Chinatown 169 stores? or is it 178? Heard they are starting the night market 2 times a week and if successful they will do 7 days a week. Good for tourism, they said. Have you heard of this? I've never been there, but have visited the 169 stores in Manila. Really good bargains. Got 3 pairs of walking shorts for 100. They were all new, not used. How they can do it, I don't know. They were not fancy, but good to wear around. But still, the cloth and labour alone, how can they do it with 100 pesos only?
my sister wonders why i still like ukay-ukay shopping everytime i come home for a visit. I don't know why. but there must be somethin about it why i love ukay-ukay.
Hi Henry! Where you at in Chicago? Do you travel to the Phil..regularly? Hmnmnm…:-) Yes…study the business in detail. I think it would be a good deal if you can get them almost for nothing. In that way, you'll nxt worry would be its shipping.
Hello Henry,
I would love to hear your findings about this, more out of curiosity. For now I am thinking of another type of business there.
But like Roy said in his reply, the shipping would kill you, and would keep the retail price way high..I am thinking. Just my thoughts, I am certainly no expert. Maybe there is way of getting such things at a great deal in Cebu, Manila or maybe even Davao. Not sure where these markets get there stuff from.
Take care,
Danny 🙂
Hi Feyma, we have UK stuff here too, during night market but not as good quality as what i saw in gensan. mingaw na sad ko mang ukay ukay
sa gensan ba,maka lingaw man god. regards.
hi fema, if your interested in a horse hair purse , hand made from montana silver smiths with a life time warente ill post one on the photo gallery for you to see/. this is a medem type moddle priced around $235/.00 you can write my wife if you want to know moor info./ this is the one she owns , so far/.
Roy – I live in the south suburbs of Chicago (30 minutes from downtown). I'm a workaholic here (16 hours each day, Monday through Friday). Well, I just started making annual trips to the Philippines. Every April I've been coming out to get a taste of life there. With this being my 2nd trip [last month], I decided to make plans to retire there.
Danny – Yes, the shipping would kill me, so I have to beat my head to figure a way around that issue. The answer could be something I'm overlooking, eh?
Hello Feyma,
ukay-ukay stores and thrift shops to a point I have to stay away from when I get there. I am an addict to a good deal. Have been for too many years. I have about 3 weeks to move from my home of 20 years, and yards sales thrift stores and eBay have my rather large 3 bedroom house that I live in by myself filled. It would take 5 of those balkianyan boxes just for one bedroom. and the two others are fuller. I just rented 12 by 20 storage today and I am not sure if garage will fit in it. This one 40 year old habit I have to get over. I sit here and I am so imtidated by what to sell, give to kids that won't be here until June, what to try to sell and the rest gets donated or thrown out. I bought 20 40 gallon garbage bags yesterday
knowing with closed eyes I just had to toss. I have an acre and I do not think all stuff will fit outside for yard sell. hehe worst is it is all so important to me. I am thinking about 20 balkianya boxes will get enough of the things I think I can not live with out there. True is I will be at ukay-ukay on regular basis I love a good deal. Just like wet market. I loved it
Hi John Miele – Wow, that was a good business. In the province they would really buy it. They don't have to go to the city to buy. They don't have to pay the fare and some other expense to come to the city. At least with Rebecca's family business they can choose it there instantly and very cheap too.
Thank you for your comment John. Take care!
Hi Daryl Lister – Yes you really have to bargain hard if you want to get lower price. If you go there frequently they even text you if they have new stocks/shipment coming. Your the first in line to see the stocks before they sell to the public.
Nice to see you here. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Phil n Jess R. – I think your wife wants you to see the UK place. 😉 Honestly I don't bring Bob or any of my kids along with me in shopping at the UK. Can't get any bargains then. The price went up if they see a foreigner. 😉
Thanks for stopping by! Take care.
Hi queeniebee – Glad to see you here. Yes UK is so popular to the Filipinos. I think we grow up with it. It's really fun to go there and bargain to death. 😉 Lots of time you find something thats nice stuff and affordable.
Hey I'm not a vintage clothing kind of person. But if you enjoy wearing them yourself go for it.
I've heard and seen similar saying that your talking about. I saw in the advertisement here on TV like a year or two ago. It was really cute. I really like the commercial.
Hope to see you more here. Take care and have fun shopping!
Feyma, mi bonita amiga: You buying plenty UK clothes? What about my Spanish clothing, it is "ES" instead "UK"? ES is Spain- Espana!
Hi Randy C – Back when we used to lived there. Every weekend during summer time I like to go and shop at the garage sales. Some of my decor I bought it at garage sale and flea market. Some of the stuff that I bought with just a little bit of good cleaning and fixing its already looking new.
I know how to bargain hard. 😉 Ha ha ha….
Good to see you here again. Take care!
Hi Michelle – Way to go. 😉
Hi Henry – That might be a good business for you. Just make sure that the person your trusted with know how to do the business.
Good luck to you and its really nice to finally meet you.
Take care and God bless!
Hi Ellen – Really nice to see you a few days ago. Hey, thats new that you are coming to the city 6 days a week? Wow, your family must be happy with that. I know before you just stayed in Samal and come here to the city rarely.
Anyway, I haven't been to the stores you're talking about. I will try to go there this week. I like good bargains though. Hey I might see you there? You'll never know.
I'm like you I wonder sometimes how can they make money with the cheap clothing they are selling nowadays? Some are really good quality and some just wear once and its already torn. Oh well, I'm just happy they still have cheaper stuff that we can still buy nowadays.
Take care and nice to see you dropping by here. God bless!
Hi evelyn – Your from GenSan? I was born in Sarangani Province and studied my grade school there. I really grow up in Lagao and studied high school in Notre Dame (used to be Notre Dame of Lagao for Girls Before).
Anyway, I like to go to the UK before with my mom and sis in GenSan too. My mom is a UK fanatic. She shops a lot in the UK place.
Have fun shopping and bargaining. Take care.
Hi jerry smith – Cool. I like purses too. I will take a look at the photo. Maybe some of our readers here might be interested to purchase too.
Thanks for your comment. Nice to see you again here. Take care!
Hi Andy Wooldridge – I understand your feeling. Its is hard to get rid of the stuff that you have put away for a long time.
To be honest with you when Bob and I moved back here we brought a lot of stuff with us. Now I am trying to get rid of it by giving away to a lot of my family here. A lot of the stuff its just in the storage outside the house, and hard to find place to store.
Better get rid of it now, than bringing stuff here that you are not going to use it anyway.
Good luck to you. God bless!
Hi Carlin – Hey I will buy the ES if I can find one. 😉 I might have to travel to Spain for that. Then its way too expensive for me. Ha ha ha…
Thanks for stopping by!
hello fema,how are you?im jane the teacher who has an american bf b4…my co-teachers told me that you stopped at the corner in Digos city where we usually waved for a free ride…that was amor my best friend and grace our friend…they told me that you are very kind coz you have them ride in your very nice car…and you asked about me…well,im been wishing that one day i could catch you on the way to Gensan…i am teaching at Tagaytay Elementary School…my friends asked me to tell you that they are very thankful for the free ride…keep up the kindness Fema,i know u not only please my o-teachers but most of all you please God…regards to Bob …God Bless you…
Hi jane – As soon as I saw them I really thought it was you. I asked them if one of them was a girlfriend or wife of a foreigner that knows me and Bob on the net? "They said ah that's Jane, and that your teaching in Tagaytay". At first when they said Tagaytay, the place that registered in my mind was the Tagaytay in Luzon. 😉
Honestly I forgot your name, but I never forget the incident that you recognized us even were inside the moving car and still you know who we are. We always talked about it and tell friends that you really had an amazing eyes.
Luckily its just me and my nephew in the car, so we gave them a ride all the way to Malungon. It was a nice ride, we did have a good conversation. Hope to see you there sometime.
Thank you for dropping a line here. Hi to your friends from me. Take care and God bless!
hi fema…i also wished to meet you one day…or you can drop by in our school just along the way to Malungon…hope to see you soon..God bless you and your family…
hello fema…i like ukay2x too…i usually buy my clothes, from little stores of ukay2x here in Digos…my friends could not even believe my dress is an ukay2x,just like yesterday,i wore a jeans with an off shoulder blouse,one of my co-teachers appreciates my blouse,all of them say WHAT! when i say it is only P10.00… it is good to have an ukay2x stores here.i could see rich people in ukay2x places…and i just knew,even YOU?….
Hi jane – Hey you'll never know we might accidentally meet up there one day. Hope to see you someday too.
Take care and God bless!
Hi jane36 – Good for you. Something for them to talk about. 😉
Really UK stuff is good and cheap. I really enjoyed going there myself. Have fun shopping at the UK place.
Take care and good to see you here too.