Most of the watch and coin traders who go
and trade to
Arrangue in Manila come from Apalit, Pampanga. These people travel
the whole Luzon area or even the entire Philippines just to buy silver. gold,
and watches. If you are familiar with "cold calling" from
representatives of a call center company, these people are doing the same work
but they do it personally. If you hear someone shouting outside your
house, "Bumibili kami ng lumang alahas!" (We buy old jewelries!), these
are the people that I am talking about.
They are making house to house calls. They will inquire in every household if the home owner has a broken jewelry, watch, and old coins. They
carry with them a digital weighing scale and an acid solution to determine the
weigh, the karat and the authenticity of the silver and gold. Since most
Filipinos do not know the present value of gold, silver, and vintage watches,
these people offer a meager amount to buy the items. After they bought the
items, they will go to Arrangue or back to Apalit and sell their items. There
are small makeshift stalls at the back of the Apalit Public Market where the
trading of gold, silver, coins and watches happens. Like in Arrangue, everyday
is a trading day in Apalit except on Sundays. In Apalit, do not entertain a
trader near the stall of a certain buyer/seller because that stall owner/buyer
will NEVER sell an item to you if he sees you buying items from their traders.
Kindly ask the trader to go somewhere a bit far from stall owner buyers. These
stall owner/buyers get the best collectible coin and watches because they are
already well known personalities in the area and if they like you, they will
invite you to their home where they kept the valued coins and watches. Trading
in Apalit is safe. I never heard stories of pickpockets in the area. But just for
your safety, always take care of your belongings. The dialect they use is
Kapampangan but everybody speaks Tagalog and English. If you are a westerner,
just blend in with the crowd. Memorize the different item prices in Apalit so
that you will not buy an overpriced item. Please bring with you a trusted
person so that he can converse with the locals easily. If you are planning to
go to Apalit, and if you are using a car, use the Malolos Exit in the North
Expressway and just drive straight to Apalit, Pampanga. But, if you are
commuting, there are buses in Caloocan going to Apalit. Travel time is
approximately 2 hours from Manila. Take care!
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