The latest buzz in town is the online shopping site, Barang Baru (barangbaru.com). It’s a clearing house for rags from all over the globe — most of which are made in Indonesia anyway — that offers big discounts and has attracted a huge following of desktop shoppers.
However, unlike its equivalents in western countries, Barang Baru offers multiple ways to order and pay. You can simply roll your virtual shopping cart to the checkout line, SMS them (using product codes, which is a process that’s much faster if you’re already a member on the website), contact them via YM (yes, YM still exists), or even (gasp!) talk to a human being over the phone.
Interestingly, payments must be paid via direct debit from a local Indonesian bank account (such as BCA, BNI, Mandiri). No credit cards are accepted. Shipping via express courier, Tiki, is free for purchases above Rp 200,000 and generally takes three working days.
It’s simple and easy, not to mention pretty cheap! They also have a showroom in Cipondoh (to the east of Jakarta) in case you want to feel the rags in your hands before ordering.