As winter sets in, citizens were seen bargaining with retailers at the Lunda bazaars of the Multan city, where woolly heaps of used clothes are up for sale.
Vendors and shopkeepers of the city experienced a hike in sales as compared to the previous year. All kinds of winter wear and accessories including gloves, woolen hats, mufflers, pullovers, sweatshirt and jackets were seen displayed in front of stalls, shops and weekly bazaars to attract customers.
Stalls of winter clothes and shoes could be seen at Fountain Chowk, Hussainagahi Bazaar, Gardezi Market and in many other streets of the city.
Many customers, however, complained that second-hand clothes had also become expensive. Prices of used clothes had been spiraling every year, commented a customer Ahmed Khan at Hussainagahi Bazaar. He said that due to entrance of wealthy families, the shopkeepers had increased the rates of used cloths and made them out of the reach of the poor.
A second-hand clothes dealer Safder Khan said that they had bought those clothes at high rates from wholesale dealers of other cities and that is why they were selling accordingly to earn profit.
Muhammad Waleed Irshad, a clothes-dealer at Fountain Chowk, said, “Our business is going very well these days as the demand for winter clothes has risen considerably.”
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He said that sales had doubled and they were expecting even more revenue in the days ahead.
“Customers, however, have become more selective in their purchases. They not only select clothes which had the best quality, but also try to buy these cloths at throwaway prices,” said Muhammad Nasser, a salesman at Hussainagahi Lunda Bazaar.
Waqas Naeem, a customer at the same bazaar, said, “These bazaars offer cheap and inexpensive clothes, because prices of new winter clothing are out of the reach of common man. We rush to these second-hand clothes’ stalls where we find quality clothes at affordable rates,” he maintained.
This news agency also observed high prices at the Lunda Bazaars where shopkeepers demanding Rs700 of a shirt, Rs1800 for jacket, Rs550 for muffler, Rs100 for pair of socks, Rs850 for pair of trousers and shoes were being sold at Rs1,000 to 2,000 at these bazaars.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2021.
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