“I don’t understand, bro,just try that”, answer Yuni when I asked about the condition of the used powerport that he sells. Yuni is one of the seller in the Klitikan (used-goods market) Kotagede.  For about 7 years, Yuni has been a selling in Klitikan Kotagede, this is the main and only livelihood. Next to him was Pak Kosim, who was one of the pioneers of the Klitikan Kotagede. The Pamekasan man, who has lived in Yogyakarta for almost 25 years, began his career as a street seller at the bus station. Coming from a Maduresse family who fulfilled his stereotype: iron flea, Mr. Kosim tried the same fortune as his family, which eventually led him to the findings of these second-hand merchandise.

Besides Mr. Kosim, there is Mr. Sukemi, a retired city bus driver.  He came from Riau, had been a civil servant in Medan, a place where he met his wife, a native of Kotagede, who took him to stay for almost 35 years in Yogyakarta.  After 17 years of profession as a city bus driver, Mr. Sukemi finally (forced) to retire by his health condition which coincided with the TransJogja bus project.  Pak Sukemi has a “hobby” of collecting used items and repairing them, unexpectedly this hobby will become an activity that will support him in his old age.

The three sellers give an illustration of how this Klitikan works.  People who buy and sell various types of goods, in various types of conditions, and in various kinds of interests.  The target market is diverse, consciously or unknowingly they exist.  Awareness to not head to head with other sellers next to everyone, is in them, and even tends to complement each other.Seeing from the perspective of economic and political culture, Klitikan Kotagede has become an important space for its existence.  When other Klitikan in Yogyakarta have experienced capitalization and specifications, Klitikan Kotagede prefers to be “true” Klitikan.  As Mr. Sukemi’s customer said, “Klitikan should be like this, stalls are free, lots of choices of goods, people just have come to looking for what they needed.