Well nice of you, if u want to pay more than the usual rates in Pakistan, in the end the locals will have to deal with the high prices just coz us ppl abroad grow our money on trees and can easily give above Rs1000 for a normal suit. .
That's not quite what I meant. First of all, people abroad work really hard for what they have, hamey apney mehnat ki kamaee milti hai.
My point is that in an era of inflation when the prices for all goods and services are going up - imagine the darzi whose clients tell him "lekin hum to sirf 150 rps daingay kyun kai hum nay hamesha 150 rps diya hai.”
If you think about in equitable terms - how many suits does a darzi sew in a day - 3, 5, 10 - however many. If you have the master tailor and his juniors - the master tailor is getting at the low end - 250 per suit and at the high end of the cheap scale 500 rupees. The master tailor is paying for his storefront, electric and supplies and however many other costs associated with operating his business - which occasionally include mehmandari of their clients.
So the 500 rps becomes considerably less after you take out the expenses, and in turn the junior tailor gets just a fraction of master tailor’s charges.
Like everyone else, the master and the junior darzis are also dealing with skyrocketing inflation - the cost of living - beginning with basic necessities like food, housing, school fees have gone way up - so what are they to do? Say:
"Nahin baji, hamarey akhrajaat bargai hain mehngai kai zamaney main, lekin hum aap sai utna leyngai jitna pehley liya kartain they kyun kai ziada liya to inflationary cycle main mazeed izaafa hoga."
They charge more and clients pay more.
There's one point I didn't explain in my earlier post - Kehkeshan Market tailors are more expensive than Gulshan ki gali waley tailors – which was one of the reasons I paid more for tailoring during my recent trip. But even if I had gone back to Gulshan, I would have expected to pay at 350-500 because of the reasons listed above.
And one last comment – the darzi had initially quoted 1500 rps for a suit because he knew I was from abroad - I knew to pay less because he had been recommended by my aunt who lives in Karachi and she told me what the going rates were. Instead of 1500 rps, I paid him 900 rupees for a lined kameez with zipper with trouser or shalwar and dori piping on the kameez and dupatta – the zipper and piping ka kapra was provided by the tailor - which if you look at prototype's email is comparable to what she pays her good tailor for similar work and the fit was amazing.
Which is why I was saying - 250- 500 rps is not so terrible in this day in age if you compare prices.
I could elaborate and mention social responsibility and obtaining goods produced in sweat shops also being a factor in paying fair prices for goods - but I think I'll leave that for another post...