What is baju bundle

‘Baju bundle’ is actually a mixed Malay & English word. Baju means shirt or clothing while the English word bundle refers to the ’squarish’ bales of packed clothing in which the clothes come in (from suppliers).

Baju bundle is used clothing. In the Malaysia context, most of the bales of used clothing comes from countries like Japan, US and Canada. Clothing that has been discarded from the households of these countries are processed (usually to segregate types), packed (in bales) and then shipped all over the world.

Each ‘bundle’ of clothing typically weighs around 100kgs. The clothing in a bale are compacted using hydraulic machines and then binded together using steel wires or webbings.

Baju bundle is very popular in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Phillipines. Besides being cheap, the baju bundle industry also provides access to foreign brands, styles, culture and sometimes (but very rarely)…skin diseases!

In Malaysia, a bale of used clothing can costs anything from RM500/ 100kg bale to RM1,500/100kg bale, depending on the quality and grade of the items packed inside. Some items have been graded prior to packing and this will cost more. The higher the grade, the better the quality in terms of no tears, broken zippers and overly abused items.

Technically, baju bundle does NOT include locally discarded used clothing. Though there is a start in the trend of selling locally discarded clothing locally, I would say that the response is still very much unpopular. Buying used local clothing just isn’t cool. One has to get the real ‘bundle’.