Need quick cash? Pawnshop's the place
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.