As the beautiful cool winter breeze sweeps the land of Karachi, people make more and more trips to malls and other shopping centers. And why not after all we literally fight the brutal scorching heat all year round and two beautiful winter months are utter bliss for us!
We have more weddings, more birthdays, more anniversaries, friends and family visiting from abroad and the pretty long winter vacations. So winters here are basically in all a celebrations for the Karachiites.
Now with so much happiness, fun, excitement around the corner why wont the big corporate business cash on these good times. Of course they will!!
So just like the West starts preparing for its holiday season which comprises of Thanksgiving and Christmas we also start preparing for mainly weddings and the New Year.
Black Friday the Start of It…….
Now with that said this year there was a new trend all over Pakistan and that is the complete awareness of Black Friday which was 27th November this year.
By awareness, I basically mean that most of the people knew that Black Friday means Big Sale and since most of us have information on our finger tips, the word did spread. From online sources like Daraz.pk to 70% sale by Gul Ahmed, the eager shoppers had already made plans to head to the shopping malls the first thing on 27th November.
And although I am too an eager shopper; can’t really say shopaholic the word “Sale” does excite me, so somehow managed to make a trip to Dolmen Mall Clifton around 10 at night and what I witnessed was something for the first time at least in Dolmen Mall.
A crowd of excited ladies waiting in line outside Sapphire Outlet….. and security guards on position to stop women from bursting inside. And just like the typical psychological magnetic attitude that we have when we see a crowd I also was intrigued as to whats happening inside and how much was the discount?
But owing to the circumstances I wouldn’t dare even try entering inside… later on sources told me that they offered a flat 50% off on ALL items, which is actually good but wait…… the original prices of Sapphire silk screen prints were for Rs.8000 to Rs. 10,000 and 50% means that it now costs Rs. 4000- 5000 which is still pricey!
How Many People Perceive Sale As….
But sale is sale and to most of the people its almost like a charity by the big brand that they are offering to the consumers by deducting their own profits so that’s why people madly fall for it and in turn end up buying heaps of stuff thus doubling or tripling their own expenditure!
What is the “Real Worth”?
And since its very hard to actually make out the actual worth of a dress/shirt/kurta, since we all know what the actual cost of lose fabric (cotton,lawn, chiffon, silk, satin, cambric, khaddar, swiss voile etc) is, and then the regular stitching cost with added designing features like ( ribbons, appliques, stones, sequins, diamentes etc) and what the overall cost would be? Thus we Pakistanis still need to be 100% guaranteed that what we are paying for has an actual value/worth especially for clothes.
Because Pakistan is a country where an entire wedding can take place for Rs. 1 lakh including food, dresses shopping etc and in another situation just a bridal dress can cost up to Rs. 15 lakh, so we really don’t know whats the actual worth?
But since we all are always in constant need of clothes for some reason or the other, people who wish to spend less and buy more are active participants of such Sales.
So coming back to the winter shopping festival that now almost every big name is offering from Gul ahmed to Khaadi, Al Karam etc I also did participate in this festival by spending a fair amount.
“But a very important thing to keep in mind when shopping from sales is make sure to read the tags correctly, if it says …. up to 70% off then it means that the sale might begin from as less as 20% and it also might be that you won’t be able to find a single item of 70%off.”
And even when they claim that 50% of on ALL ITEMS its not always true.
So here’s a review of the Sales that I shopped from:-
Gul ahmed upt0 70% Off
Very good actually!
My cousin had to buy a fancy formal dries for his fiance, the actual price of the dress was Rs.18000 and after 30% off it was for Rs. 12000 . The dress was pretty good actually because it was made on a nice cambric material with elegant gold embroidery, with a chiffon dupatta and cotton trouser. A three piece ready made formal dress from sale is a good deal.
And my mom in law bought some nice bed sheets of 50% discount, which ranged pretty less.
Khaadi Sale 50% on All ITEMS
I received a SMS from Khaadi about their upcoming 50% sale on ALL ITEMS. What ALL ITEMS??? This must be awesome I thought and I did mange to make a trip on that day sometime late in the evening, since there was a small crowd gathered outside Khaadi clothes I decided to check Khaadi Home.
It was basically Khaadi Home which offered the real 50% off on All ITEMS, yes on all items!
And this did get me!
Beautiful cotton King Size bed sheets worth Rs 3000 were for Rs 1500 and silk printed cushion covers actual price Rs 700 now for Rs 350 which is sale in real terms, traditional tea coasters actual price Rs. 1000 now for Rs 500 and so I did buy lots of home stuff for a reduced price and was pretty happy with it.
A Big Thumbs Up for Khaadi Home Sale. This was a true shopping festival.
Now Khaadi Clothes. After waiting for 5 minutes in line we did enter Khaadi and thankfully women were very well behaved, there was no shouting, no making faces to each other if they both laid hands on the same dress, no snatching, the crowd was actually very well behaved.
And so there was a rack of clothes that claimed 50% discount I did pick a few but to my dismay only one of them was 50% off and the rest were 30% off and even more to this the dresses were half unpacked which wouldn’t display the entire design so thinking that I got a long shirt when I got home it, I found that it was a short shirt.
So when it comes to Khaadi clothes sale I won’t really rate it 5/5 because not all items were 50% discount and most of the dresses were 30% off. However since its Khaadi and their designs are pretty unique paying Rs. 1800 for a shirt is fairly OK.
The Next Big Thing in the list of Sales is Origins Sale
I am a big fan of Origin dresses, their colors never fade, their stitching is professional and their designs are always a mix of urban and traditional designs.
But as I am searching through their online store I can hardly spot a 60% off item, and this is giving me doubts as to will the visit be worth it?
By now you all must be also viewing crazy videos of whats happening in Aga Noor or the cat fight in Sapphires outlet, and when such videos are going viral we can also make out as to which direction these women are headed too!
A simple piece of dress which is not EVEN FREE cannot turn you into a beauty queen over night and I may not be an authority to give my opinion its just a simple thought that I wish to share with my readers. 🙂
Happy Winters and Spend Wisely!
