It took Samain Abid, 26, nearly two years to scrape together the 120,000 rupees ($454) he needed to buy a PlayStation 5. Before he bought it, he combed through reviews and asked friends for advice. Finally, in January last year, he placed an order with ZipTech, a gaming equipment company that had by then become the supplier of choice for Pakistan’s gamers.
The company’s appeal was clear. It was cheaper than the competition, offering longer delivery times in exchange for below-market prices on imported goods. It also came highly recommended in the Facebook groups that make up the core of Pakistan’s ecommerce industry. It even had a celebrity endorsement from
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