Market crash takes its toll on kabadiwallas too

For the neighbourhood kabadiwalla , who has been buying old metal from us for generations, the season of prosperity has been uncharacteristically quiet. That's because the annual spring cleaning of homes to welcome Goddess Laxmi during Diwali has not really translated into the once-a-year spurt in business. He blames the slump on a battered stock market and steep inflation.It would appear that the man at the bottom of the consumer eco-system, the kabadiwalla, is feeling the pinch too.
"Naya maal ayega toh juna maal niklega na (only if new goods are bought will old ones be disposed of),'' says a Kandivli kabadiwalla, with a sad smile. His sentiment is mimicked by Edison Varghese of Cleanworld Enterprises, also of Kandivli, and Laxmilal Manikchand Jain of Tilak Nagar's Saroj Waste Paper Stores. Both Varghese and Jain say business is down by about 30% this year. By business, they refer to second-hand electronic items such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines and fans, which fetch the seller anywhere between Rs 50 to Rs 1,000. "Consumption has gone down,'' says Varghese.
K S Raman, former president at Consumer Electronics and Television Manufacturers Association (Cetma), however, says he has never seen sales of consumer electronics dip. "Whatever happens, across the globe or in India, I have never seen durables (electronics) go negative. Maximum, there may be no growth.'' But kabadilwalas insist that business has been hit. "Bahut kam aa raha hai (volumes have reduced),'' says Farooque Chaudhari of Ghatkopars SKF Enterprise. While Chaudhari deals in industrial metals, he says the number of electronic items in the scrap market has reduced as compared to the previous year. "If people spent Rs 100 last year, this year they are spending Rs 50,'' he says. Even old copper, brass and aluminium utensils have not clattered in.
Does this mean that the use-and-throw Mumbaikar is turning into a hoarder? Raman tries to explain the phenomenon saying people are not selling older products because the price of second-hand items has fallen "considerably''. For the same reason, buy-back schemes are no longer lucrative to either customer or company. "Most of these schemes have gone to large retail chains and regional retailers,'' says Raman. Although, Savita Ashar of Breach Candy says she has not come across any interesting exchange offers this year.
Except refrigerators, says Raman, people do not really throw away old electronic gadgets. Rather than sell the old television, they may plonk it in another room. For a rainy day, maybe.