Need quick cash? Pawnshop's the place

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Arianto, 30, took his 20-inch television set from his house in the Kebon Kelapa subdistrict in Central Jakarta to the Pasar Baru pawnshop by city bus.

Unfortunately, the pawnshop could not serve him as its storage room was already full with collateral goods such as motorcycles, VCD players, tape players and other kinds of electronic goods.

"I asked the pawnshop clerk where I could pawn my television. He told me that I should come here," Arianto told The Jakarta Post Wednesday at the Tanah Abang pawnshop on Jl. Petamburan, Central Jakarta.

Arianto, a vendor who sells fried cakes, is going to celebrate Idul Fitri in his wife's hometown in Klaten, Central Java.

He said that he has obtained four economy class train tickets for his wife, his two children and for himself.

"I need additional pocket money to celebrate Idul Fitri in the village, so I decided to pawn my television," he added.

Arianto only asked for Rp 300,000 for his television, although it was worth more. He said that he did not ask for more because he did not want to spend more money to redeem his television later.

The interest rate at the pawnshop, which is between 1.25 and 1.75 percent for a 15-day period, is higher than the bank's interest rate, but many prefer to go to pawnshops for the quick and easy procedures.

As Idul Fitri approaches, more and more people throng pawnshops. Some want to redeem their jewelry to be worn during the celebration, while others are there to get easy cash.

Soejadi, assistant manager for public relations at the Jakarta pawn office, explained that prior to Idul Fitri, there is about a 30 percent increase in transactions at 72 pawnshops in the Greater Jakarta area as compared to the rest of the year. He said the situation was more or less the same as last year.

For example, before Ramadhan, the Senen pawnshop in Central Jakarta received only two to three pawned items a day. On Tuesday, however, pawnshop manager Heri Kisrianto said it received 20 items of collaterals.

A similar story was told by Agnes Arnelawati, a manager at the Tanah Abang pawnshop.

Normally, the shop provides loans of about Rp 80 million a day, but since Monday, the amount has rocketed to about Rp 120 million a day.

For most migrants living in Jakarta, extra money is needed to support the traditional family reunion at their hometowns during Idul Fitri.

Purwanto, for example, brought his VCD player to the Tanah Abang pawnshop as he was in dire need of cash to celebrate Idul Fitri in his hometown of Purwokerto, Central Java.

However, he was disappointed when the pawnshop officer set the value at only Rp 100,000.

"I bought it for Rp 900,000, why did they only offer me Rp 100,000?" said Purwanto.

According to the clerk, they set the value low because Purwoto did not bring the remote control with him.

Grumbling, Purwanto finally took the offer as he did not want to go home to his house in Tangerang empty-handed.

Asked as to why he did not pawn the VCD player in Tangerang, Purwanto said that he deliberately took it to Tanah Abang because he did not want anyone to know that he had pawned the item.

Actually, there was no need for Purwanto to feel ashamed, as pawnshops are not just for low-income people, at least as is reflected by the collaterals.

The pawnshops distinguish collateral goods into two categories: jewelry and non-jewelry. Some 85 to 90 percent of the collaterals are jewelry, mostly of gold, while most of the non- jewelry items are VCD players, tape players and televisions. Other items range from batik cloths, valued as low as Rp 10,000 each, to cellular telephones and motorcycles, and even cars.

"There are 25 cars which have been left as collateral here. The owners are not poor people who need money. Maybe they only want a safe place to keep their cars," said Heri, but added that some cars had been at his pawnshop since June.

Soejadi mentioned that there was even a customer who had left diamond-studded jewelry worth Rp 3 billion as collateral.