drkane

I am interested in traveling to purchase some fine carpets. I am more interested in Baluch and tribal rugs than in the typical turkish carpet, but would rather go to Turkey on travel than Afghanistan. Does anyone know whether there's a wide selection of all oriental rugs in turkey? What about reputable dealers?

Louis

I don't think you can go anywhere in Turkey without running into a rug dealer. They will hunt you down on the street. They are all types reputable and otherwise. You will pay less in the villages than you will in Istanbul. Also there is a Museum in Istandbul that has rugs for sale. Word of warning it is illegal to take out of the country an antique rug so if you are buying older rugs make certain that it is not classified as an antique. As you know, except for antiques, rugs sell by the square meter. You need to have your bogy for cost for square foot for the various rug types converted to cost per square meter. Negociation is a must so you need to know the sq meter of the rug you are considering to set your price horizon. If you are interested in tribal rugs then you already know something about how to tell a good from a bad rug. Do not depend on the dealers. Buy a rug because you love it and have a place for it. If you are a sharp buyer in the US you should be able to save about 50% by buying in Turkey. Also you will see rugs of types and designs that you have never seen before. If you look for rugs you will drink a lot of tea "Chi". You almost can't talk to anybody without having a cup to tea first. We had a requirement for a rug of unusal size and color tone and we found it in a village south of Istanbul when we were in Turkey in 1997. It has been a total joy. The orgin was Yagcibedir with wool warp and woof, 145 cm X 79 cm or 1.15 square meters. If is natural dyes circa 1935 in perfect condition. My wife said I paid around $400 for it which was about 50% of their asking. <BR> <BR>Turkey is a very interesting country. By the way when I talked about antique rugs, antique rugs from orgin other than Turkey do not count. However lets face it, the lover of village and tribal rug like you and us don't involve the rugs that are in the museums. We most likely don't have a problem. We just carried our rug home on the plane with us and nobody asked any questions anywhere.

Elsa

Hi, <BR>We were in Turkey a couple of years ago and bought some rugs at Bazaar 54 in Istanbul. I hate to admit that I've not had them appraised yet, so I don't know if we got a good deal or not. They seem like they are good quality, but I can't say for sure. We stayed at the 4Seasons and they rec. this particular caret store. The address on the card is: <BR> <BR> Nuruosmaniye Caddesi No. 54-65-67 <BR> 34330 Cagaloglu - Istanbul <BR> <BR> Phone: (0090-212) 511-21-50 <BR> <BR>Hope this gives you some starting point. They had lots of carpets, so you could check to see if they carry what you're looking for. <BR> <BR> <BR>

Louis

Just read the previous posting. We also stayed at the Four Seasons which is not a normal hotel for us to pick. This one is special as it is in a Turkish prison with and interestin history. The hotle has about 80 rooms and it is small but everything about it was delightful except their food prices are out of hand. You can depend on their recommendation. However you still bargain. <BR> <BR>To the previous poster: <BR> <BR>Why would you want them appraised? You either like or love them or get rid of them. There is no way you could have paid more than prices in the USA. That is where their asking starts. If you paid too much there is little you can do about it.

Elsa

Louis, <BR>We were posting a reply at the same time to this question. You sound like you know something about the carpets, so I have a couple of questions for you. First of all, what is a "bogy" that you mentioned? Secondly, other than the fact that a carpet should be all wool(other than say silk wall hangings) just how DO you tell a good carpet from a bad one? THANKS!!!

Elsa

Louis, <BR>In answer to your question as to why would I want to have the carpets appraised - out of curiosity as to whether we got the quality we were told we bought and also to compare prices.

AJ

I bought a rug in Istanbul in 1997. Two friends took me to their rug dealer, saying that it is very important to go to a reputable dealer. I tried to educate myself on rugs before I went - to no avail. I pretty much just put myself in the hands of my friends. Yes, there is a lot of talking and drinking tea. The manager has his people bring out rug after rug. One thing I found curious was that my friends and the dealer couldn't understand why I liked the blue rug, but didn't buy it (the color wouldn't go well in my house). There is more appreciation for whether you like something than if it will fit in a certain space or color scheme in your house. With respect to paying, keep in mind that many dealers will not take credit cards, even though the credit card sign is posted. They took a very long time to obtain approval on my AE card, bringing it back several times and asking if I could perhaps pay cash. I have never shipped a rug home, but talked with some people who received a different rug from the one they thought they had bought. We carried our rug home, and it is amazing how the dealer bundles the rug into a very compact package. Then, of course, there is the value added tax issue. You are charged for it at the dealer, then have to go to Customs at the airport to get a refund. This was a substantial amount of money. When we got to the airport, it took me over an hour to find the Customs guy, who checked my paperwork, then referred me to someone else, who issued a credit. Then I had to take the credit to the "bank" at the airport, where I received turkish lire, then had to exchange the lire into dollars. My husband was about to his grip, thinking that I had been abducted, or was going to miss the plane! <BR> <BR>When I got home, I unrolled my rug and gave it a careful look-over. Even though I had spent two hours at the dealers, I hadn't noticed that this particular rug has a truncated design on one side, so that it wasn't symmetrical. And over the next months, the edges curled. If anyone knows how to uncurl the edges of a Turkish rug, please let me know! <BR> <BR>Would I do this again? Not unless I was knowledgeable about rugs.

Lindsay

When buying a carpet in Turkey, there are several things to look for, to tell if you are buying quality or crap. <BR> <BR>The best type to buy is wool on wool. Sylk looks nice, but is expensive, cotton is junk and will fall apart if you use it, and some places will try to sell you either wool on sylk, or cotton on sylk....Bullshit sylk does not mix with either wool or cotton, and the carpet will most likely be polyester. <BR> <BR>Buy wool on wool, that is hand made with hand spun wool and natural dyes. Machine made carpets are to similar and not what you should be buying, as there will be many other copies of the same carpet. Chemical dyes run if you wash the carpet, and will be useless. <BR> <BR>To check for pure wool, ask if you can burn the carpet, if the sales man doesnot allow you to try this, they are selling polyester, pure wool will not burn (it will only singe). To see if the carpet is hand made, check on the back, if the knots on the back are all even, then it is machine made. <BR> <BR>Checking to see if it has natural or chemical dyes is the hardest to part to spot. Look at the back, it should have the same colour variations on both sides, also, pinch the carpet, and check to see if the colour variation is the same right through, if the colour varaiton changes at all, then it is chemical dyed and will be crap.

Paciano Diaz

I agree with, I believe it was AJ. Unless you know what you are doing, I would discourage from buying expensive carpets. Aside from the "received a different carpet than I paid for", I was on a cruise last April and the tour guide cautioned us about the quality of the carpets and what you paid for them. Even though there were reputable dealers that the cruise line recommeded, we stayed away from the carpet buying.

hamlet

FYI - A recent issue of Consumer Reports magazine has an article on buying rugs and offers advice on what to look for/at. <BR>