Second-hand goods’ demand on the rise

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Faryal Najeeb
KARACHI: Consumer demand for second hand electronic items and white goods has increased following another 10 per cent rise in the already exorbitant prices of new electronics products that have worried both customers and dealers alike. Mohammad Rizwan, a dealer at the electronics market, said the price hike was due to new taxes and duties that the government had imposed on luxurious goods under which category a plethora of electronics goods came.

He said though additional taxes had been imposed some months ago, manufacturers and middlemen had taken it as an excuse to continue with constant price rise. Rizwan further said prices of locally-assembled electronics products had also increased as loadshedding and higher electricity and gas tariffs all added to the cost of doing business and consequently to the final value of the product.

The price rise was earlier always attributed to the dollar being expensive against the rupee which made imported items costlier.

However, following stable rupee-dollar parity, consumers had been expecting that prices would come down now, he informed. “When this did not take place, consumers stopped visiting electronics markets altogether and turned to the second hand electronics products or repairing old items,” he said.

Rizwan was of the view that electronics dealers were struggling for survival whereas those dealing in second-hand items were having good business lately. He said lack of purchasing power amongst the popular class of the society had left them with no choice but to reuse their products after having them repaired.

Fridges, deep-freezers, washing machines, air conditioners, food processors, microwaves and televisions are some of the items that are seeing renewed interests amongst second-hand items or those products that are being repaired by their owners, he explained.

Another local dealer who spoke to The News from Malaysia on phone said he had left the country to look for better business opportunities abroad as the local market was in desolation.

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