Staff Reporter
Second hand clothes which were considered as the most selling items at the advent of winter season in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have gone out of reach for the citizens owing to the increasing prices of each and every commodity and their reduced purchasing power.
A huge rush of people can be seen at the Landa Bazaars of the twin cities after the rain spell forecast by the weather experts who are buying warm clothes, woollies, caps, socks, jackets and hoodies for their children to save them from chilly weather affects.
“The second hand clothes, which we use to buy during every winter season for our children are now being sold on very high prices even in Landa bazaars. Buying of only few clothes has disturbed my whole month budget, which is a matter of concern for the persons who belonged to the middle class family what to talk about poor ones”, Ameen Malik, a buyer at Landa Bazaar of Rawalpindi said.
Talking to media, he said the clothes in Landa bazaars were once affordable for the people even belonging to the poor class, but now the exorbitant rates of clothes in these bazaars have created a sense of frustration among them.
Beenish Khan, another buyer who bought some woollies from the push cart selling second hand imported clothes said, “It is hard to manage buying clothes of my three-children when only one person in the house is earning”.
She said the sweaters and hoodies which I used to buy for Rs 200 to Rs 400 at these carts are now being sold on Rs400 and above while the quality is also not satisfactory.
The online shopping websites for the leftovers and imported clothes are also exploiting the customers by charging extra money, she said.
Amina Farrukh, a university student said Landa Bazaars through providing variety of imported clothes on economical prices is a great source of protecting the dignity of white collar strata in a society where wearing a good dress means a lot to get respect from others, she observed.
She said, “I always buy clothes from these bazaars to match the dressing level of my fellow students who belong to the rich families, but surging prices have reduced the overall purchasing capacity of the buyers like me”.
Ahmad Nawaz, a seller at Landa bazaar said the prices of second hand winter stuff have registered a significant increase in the Landa bazaars and the reason is increased import duty and withholding tax.
