Pawning business picks up for holidays
Pawning business picks up for holidays
JAKARTA (JP): Pawnshops in the capital are no longer dominated
by visits from the poor, with many affluent figures, like
businesspeople, celebrities and even children of former
ministers, visiting the shops often to get loans by pawning their
belongings.
Such a trend can be clearly seen at the Kebayoran Baru
government pawnshop in South Jakarta, which has been widely
dubbed as home to middle- to upper-class families.
According to state-owned Perum Pegadaian pawnshop spokesman
for Jakarta, Aryadi, the Kebayoran Baru branch has been the
biggest contributor to the company's profit.
"In previous times, our clients were mostly the poor. But now
the trend has changed with many affluent people, especially
businessmen, coming to our pawnshops to pawn their stuff," he
told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
He said many entrepreneurs probably preferred to visit
pawnshops nowadays to get cash to run their as credit from banks
was hard to get.
When contacted separately on Saturday, the manager of the
Kebayoran Baru branch, Edhi Junaidi, said that its regular
customers were mostly local wealthy people, such as businessmen,
lawyers, bureaucrats and celebrities.
"They pawn their belongings to get cash to run their
businesses or even to pay for their credit card," Edhi said,
refusing to give any names.
He said 95 percent of pawned goods comprised gold jewelry.
The rest, he added, was mostly electronic goods, including
television sets, and CD and VCD players.
"They (the rich) usually pawn their valuable jewelry. It's no
wonder my office becomes the biggest contributor to the company's
(Perum Pegadaian) income," he said.
Traditionally, people -- mostly those with a poor economic
background -- put their goods at pawnshops as security for loans
several days prior to "big days", such as the upcoming Christmas
and Idul Fitri.
In Indonesia, the business is a monopoly of Perum Pegadaian.
For regular customers, the main attraction of pawnshops is the
simple and speedy procedure.
Those attempting to get loans just have to show the goods to
be pawned to an officer, who would spend a little time to
appraise the estimated value of the items.
Pawnshop countrywide offer four different categories of loans,
namely A (for loans between Rp 5,000 and Rp 45,000); B (from Rp
45,000 to Rp 150,000); C (Rp 150,000 to Rp 500,000); D (Rp
500,000 to Rp 20 million); and E (Rp 20 million and above).
For the A and B categories, the pawnshops imposes a 1.25
percent interest rate for every 15 days.
For C-category loans, the interest rate is 1.5 percent, and
for loans in the D category, the interest rate is 1.7 percent for
every 15 days.
If a pawned item is not reclaimed after 120 days, or four
months, the pawnshop has the right to sell the item at open
auction.
When asked about the number of people pawning their goods at
the pawnshop over the past few days, Edhi said that the figures
were relatively stable.
"But now, many people have begun reclaiming their pawned stuff
(mostly jewelry) for the holidays," he said,
The situation is similar to that of the Salemba pawnshop,
Central Jakarta.
People have started to flood the pawnshop to reclaim their
belongings, which had been put up as security for loans, manager
Firdaus Mutiara said.
Firdaus said that people were likely to use their belongings,
mostly gold jewelry, for Christmas and Idul Fitri celebrations.
"Usually, they will come here again in the weeks following the
festive seasons to pawn their goods again," he said, referring to
his past experience.
The Pegadaian office in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, also relates
the same story. Most of its customers have came to take out
belongings for the coming celebrations.
A client, Nurhayati, said she came to reclaim her mixer, which
she pawned two months ago.
"I plan to sell cakes and cookies for Christmas and Idul
Fitri, so I have to get the mixer back since it is my only one,"
the mother of two said.
She said she often went to the pawnshop, whenever she needed
cash immediately. (04)