KABUL (SW): The secondhand shops, thrift stores and used merchandise stores have flourished in recent years in Kabul and other big cities. A number of residents of Kabul said that in the last decade the secondhand shops were almost diminishing, however with the new government and the increasing insecurity, these shops once again emerged.
There is a used-merchandise store located in the outskirt of Kabul city. The owner of the shop is a man who said he had no other choice except to sell the used appliances. In his view, the sale of secondhand items is the easiest work one can do and in addition, a big investment is also not needed to do this business.
Saadat, who owns a secondhand store in Kabul for five years, said that he is not happy with his business. According to him, the secondhand store’s businesses are directly linked to insecurity and unemployment in the society.
Saadat said that in the past, the secondhand stores were doing just a normal business, but because the insecurity has increased, the profit margins have increased slightly nowadays.
According to Saadat, after the Iranian embassy cancelled its 300 Euro guarantee for a visa program, a large number of people have sold their home appliances to his store.
Usually, two types of people have come to Saadat’s secondhand store to sell their home appliances. First, those who are forced to sell their home appliances due to economic hardship and, second are those who intend to leave the country.
Saadat said; “Every day, more than 10 families come to his store to sell their home appliances”. He added that he has always advised them to keep their belongings if they do not need money urgently because if they once again have to purchase those appliances, they will have to spend more money.
Saadat also said that some of the families who have been deported back from European countries had to purchase their old items from him by paying twice the price they sold it to him.
Babrak, one of the customers at Saadat’s secondhand store told Salam Watandar that in 1997 when the Taliban captured Mazar-e Sharif, he had to sell his home appliances for 15,000 AFN (15 hundred thousand of that time currency), and then he escaped to Pakistan. However, after a decade he has returned to the country but still, he regrets and wants to leave the country once again.
Babrak said he has to repeat the bitter experience of selling his belongings and then leave the country as he did back in 1997.
Mohammad Rahim, another secondhand vendor said that due to increasing insecurity the sale of used items has declined and people even cannot purchase the used items due to economic hardship, therefore, many people sell their items rather than to purchase.
The prices of used items are half the price of the new ones. Therefore, some items that have not been used much have been sold in the secondhand stores due to economic hardship or because people are leaving the country and have to sell their belongings.
Abbas, a young man who got married just two years ago said he has to sell his home appliances which are almost new for lower prices because he fears insecurity and would like to leave the country.
After the recent insecurity incidents in the country, many people have been thinking to leave the country. A number of residents of Kabul told Salam Watandar that increasing insecurity and unemployment made it difficult for them to live in Afghanistan. This has led many residents to leave Afghanistan and sell their home appliances at lower prices to secondhand stores.
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