Fireworks will soon fill the sky for the 4th of July holiday weekend, but one seller said higher prices are keeping customers away.

It’s a loss sellers have had to deal with since the start of the pandemic.

Claritza Mercado has sold fireworks for years. She opened her Weslaco stand on Monday.

“It's been super slow compared to two years ago,” Mercado said, adding that the firework industry has suffered since the start of the pandemic. 

"A lot of money has been lost and all the merchandise has been stored there, so it's been pretty bad," Mercado said.

She's worried the rise in firework prices will only make matters worse.

“Since there's not many sales, since two years ago obviously, the prices have risen a lot,” Mercado said. “So I believe that it's because of the pandemic, since they had to balance everything out."

Mercado says most people aren't willing to pay more.

“A lot of people have been buying, and they have been complaining,” Mercado said. “[They’re] like ‘Oh yeah the prices are super high, more than two years ago,’ but it’s not on us. It's on the pandemic, how everything is going on.”