Pawnshops thrive come new school
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung
A housewife in her 50s hurriedly entered the state-owned pawnshop in Bandarlampung city, on one recent morning. The moment she reached the customer service counter, she took out three flower- motif bed sheets wrapped in plastic. Not long after, an appraiser held the three packages and wrote a figure on a piece of paper. "A hundred and twenty," the appraiser told the cashier next to him.
The cashier then handed over Rp 120,000 (approximately US$12.60) to the lady, with three documents denoting the value and the due-date for redemption of the items.
Rohanah (not her real name), acknowledged that she had to pawn off her three cherished bed sheets because she needed the money to register her two children in school. "I needed cash fast. There was no other way but to pawn the belongings still available," said Rohanah.
She had previously pawned off her 14-inch TV set and 10 pieces of batik cloth of various types in early July. The TV set was one of her cherished belongings that she still hopes to get back as it provides her with entertainment.
The 10 pieces of batik cloth, among them the Sidomukti, Parangrusak and Trumtum types that she got in Yogyakarta, were her personal collection, inherited from her parents.
For Rohanah, the beginning of the new school term means that she has to visit the pawnshop. According to her, the pawnshop is the only place where she can immediately and easily obtain money without going through complicated procedures.
For her, the pawnshop is exactly true to its motto, which reads "Solving problems without problems".
"I usually take thing to the shop at the beginning of a new school term for my children's schooling needs. It costs hundreds of thousands of rupiah just to register one child. I have to register two of my children in new schools (one in junior high and the other in high school) and another one who is in sixth grade. My husband only works as a construction worker whose earnings are not regular," said Rohanah.
Besides Idul Fitri holidays, pawnshops are often packed at the start of a new school term -- as they were last week. Clients who trade in their belongings not only come from the low-income bracket like Rohanah, whose most valuable property is a TV set, but also those from the middle to higher income levels, as can be seen from the daily turnover and types of belongings brought in by them.
A staff member at the pawnshop on Jl. Pattimura in Bandarlampung, Yadaeni, said that the value of belongings brought in by customers ranged from Rp 20,000 to hundreds of millions of rupiah.
Yadaeni said that the office still accepted things of nominal value, because besides being business-oriented, it was also carrying out a social function.
"We will accept customers who only pawn off one piece of cloth, as long as its value is not less than Rp 20,000 after being appraised," said Yadaeni.
According to Yadaeni, the pawnshop on Jl. Pattimura does an average daily turnover of Rp 100 million. Most of the things put in hock by customers are gold jewelry items, motorcycles and cars.
Manager of the Jl. Antasari branch pawnshop in Bandarlampung, Tun Imanuddin, explained that his office had launched a new program in the past year, called the creation pawning system. Customers no longer need to leave behind their belongings at the pawnshop, that way it does not need to be stored there.
"Customers of the program can get money and still take home their belongings, but their documents have to be clear. Before we approve loans, we will conduct a survey on them first of all," said Imanuddin.
According to Imanuddin, nearly 50 percent of his clients have opted for the program because they consider it more beneficial. Clients can get fresh funds without having to leave their valuables with us as collateral.
If someone borrows money, the person can still use his or her vehicle because the pawnshop only keeps the vehicle ownership book.