Rawalpindi street vendors sell women's comb-collected hair to Chinese buyers for up to Rs14,000 per kilogram.

Rawalpindi street vendors now buy women’s hair collected from combs in neighbourhoods for cash. The trade began around 2000 when hair was sold for about Rs4,000 per kilogram. In the last three years the price has risen to Rs14,000 per kilogram, a jump of Rs10,000 per kilogram. Customs clearing agents now buy hair for Rs16,000 per kilogram and sell it to Chinese dealers for about Rs20,000. Around five to seven sacks of the hair are dispatched daily from Rawalpindi customs to Urumqi, China. The hair is used to make modern wigs that are exported to Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. In Pakistan, wigs made from Pakistani hair can sell for Rs200,000 to Rs250,000. Street vendors collect shed hair by walking through residential areas, and some have agreements with beauty parlours. Those parlours now gather hair before trimming customers’ hair and sell it weekly to vendors. One resident said that five women in his family collected shed hair and sold it to vendors every three months for Rs12,000 to Rs15,000. A beauty parlour owner said hair used to be discarded but now sold monthly for extra income that helps pay rent and electricity bills. A customs dealer said the business had started in 2000 and operated entirely in cash, with Chinese dealers often sending advance payments. He noted that about a dozen clearing agents now operate the trade.