How much did you pay for the carpets you bought in Turkey?
May 5th, 2002, 01:13 PM
#41
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By the way I would also give an idea apart from a nice rug or kilim to buy from Turkey, why not a back gammon set with mother of pearl, turkish silver, pottery or special walking sticks,sufi music discs or similar, marble items... jesus, there are a lot once I start to count gift items 
Feb 5th, 2006, 03:55 PM
#45
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I bought a kilim in Selcuk (near Efes, north of Kusadasi) and I love it. It was about $300 - I think it is 4' x 6' - something like that. I've never had it appraised - I don't want to hear that I was cheated etc. It is a lovely souviner from a wonderful trip. Every time I see it, I remember the wonderful time spent in the carpet shop sipping apple tea. They even let me use their computer to send a message to my husband. I do have Turkish carpet and I probably got a reasonable deal when I compare to what I recently paid for a nice machine made area rug from Home Depot.
Feb 5th, 2006, 06:12 PM
#46
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Sep 9th, 2013, 10:10 AM
#47
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HONEST RUG DEALER FOUND IN KUSADASI.
ABRASH Carpet and Kilim
Muzaffer Tunc
+90 532 371 2081
Saglik Caddesi No 53
09400 Kusadasi Turkey
http://www.abrashcarpet.com
Incase you dont want to read the whole story. I brought 2 Hereke Silk on Silk rugs.
56cm x 47cm and 12x12 knots per square centimetre. $3000 USD
150cm x 93cm and 10 x 10 knots per square centimetre. $8000USD
I also received 2 very nice certificates with photos of the rugs on them. He also took both of them to the turkish museum and had the certified as genuine turkish rugs. He also offered to take me along for this process. He is one of the nicest and most genuine people i have been lucky enough to meet in turkey.
I was lucky enough to stumble through the door of a beautiful rug store right next to the old town bazzar in Kusadasi. Earlier That day i had brought my first turkish rugs while on a tour to ephesus. The rugs i purchased turned out to be fake and i will post that story after my money is back in my account.
Muzaffer the store owner was nice and i asked him a few questions about the carpets and how they were made. It took him a few minutes to wind up and then his true passion for turkish carpet started to show. He started to show me some lovely wool on cotton carpets but i told him i wanted a genuine silk on silk turkish rug. He pulled out half a dozen rugs for me to have a look at and each one was more beautiful than the next. I told him that i would love to own one but didnt think i could afford it right now and wanted to shop around a little.
I asked a lot of questions about the areas the rugs were made in and which regions produce the best quality rugs. He told me about this and then began to warn me about the amount of Chinese rugs that are being sold in turkey as genuine turkish rugs. I asked him what to look for when purchasing a silk rug.
He explained to me the process of making each rug.
In turkey they cut the excess material off the rug as each row of nots is tied, this makes the silk extremely short and almost bristly when you move your hand across it.
A chinese rug is still hand woven but is not trimmed during the process, after the rug is completed they machine cut it. A chinese rug ends having a longer pile than a turkish and is more soft to touch. If you give it a good rub and find any strands that stick up its definitely a fake. The chinese version of a silk is often sold as a Kayseri.
If the dealer you are using is good he should produce a small plate with a 1 square centimeter hole in it and a magnifying glass over the top. This allows you to count the knots and confirm that it has the knot count he claims.
Muzaffer also explained that everyone will give you a certificate of authenticity wether it is a fake or not. Muzaffer will actually take you with your carpet to the Turkish museum by ephesus where they will inspect the rug and give you a certificate of authenticity from the turkish government.
After going through all of this Muzaffer told me he is selling his business because he can no longer compete with the other places selling chinese rugs as turkish ones. You could see the pain in his eyes as he told me how many people had shown him fake rugs they had brought while shopping in the area. This had all come to as shock to me and now i was questioning if the rugs i purchased that day were actually legitimate. I thanked Muzaffer for taking the time talk to me and explain what to look for. He never tried to push anything on me and wished me luck on my travels. When i got back to my hotel i checked my carpets and there was no doubt in my mind that they were fake.
The following night i took some of my friends to Muzaffers store and the carpet i had purchased the day before. I asked if he wouldnt mind taking a look at it for me. I barely had it out of my bag when he said it was chinese. The first thing he noticed was the long pile. The second was the ends were cotton and the label on the back clearly said silk on silk. I was sold this rug for $6000 and he said it was worth about $500. He was so saddened to see what i had brought and told me i should return it and ask for a full refund. The following day i called the company i purchased the fake from and organised a return. When i arrived the owner of the shop told me it was a chinese rug and that his salesmen had done the wrong thing and he had fired them. I received a full refund.
I ended up buying 2 beautiful hereke rugs from Muzaffer for a very reasonable price. He is currently trying to sell all of his stock and its going for little more than he paid for it. I will be buying from him again.
If some other people can verify this store it will make carpet buying better for all of us.
ABRASH Carpet and Kilim
Muzaffer Tunc
+90 532 371 2081
Saglik Caddesi No 53
09400 Kusadasi Turkey
http://www.abrashcarpet.com
Incase you dont want to read the whole story. I brought 2 Hereke Silk on Silk rugs.
56cm x 47cm and 12x12 knots per square centimetre. $3000 USD
150cm x 93cm and 10 x 10 knots per square centimetre. $8000USD
I also received 2 very nice certificates with photos of the rugs on them. He also took both of them to the turkish museum and had the certified as genuine turkish rugs. He also offered to take me along for this process. He is one of the nicest and most genuine people i have been lucky enough to meet in turkey.
I was lucky enough to stumble through the door of a beautiful rug store right next to the old town bazzar in Kusadasi. Earlier That day i had brought my first turkish rugs while on a tour to ephesus. The rugs i purchased turned out to be fake and i will post that story after my money is back in my account.
Muzaffer the store owner was nice and i asked him a few questions about the carpets and how they were made. It took him a few minutes to wind up and then his true passion for turkish carpet started to show. He started to show me some lovely wool on cotton carpets but i told him i wanted a genuine silk on silk turkish rug. He pulled out half a dozen rugs for me to have a look at and each one was more beautiful than the next. I told him that i would love to own one but didnt think i could afford it right now and wanted to shop around a little.
I asked a lot of questions about the areas the rugs were made in and which regions produce the best quality rugs. He told me about this and then began to warn me about the amount of Chinese rugs that are being sold in turkey as genuine turkish rugs. I asked him what to look for when purchasing a silk rug.
He explained to me the process of making each rug.
In turkey they cut the excess material off the rug as each row of nots is tied, this makes the silk extremely short and almost bristly when you move your hand across it.
A chinese rug is still hand woven but is not trimmed during the process, after the rug is completed they machine cut it. A chinese rug ends having a longer pile than a turkish and is more soft to touch. If you give it a good rub and find any strands that stick up its definitely a fake. The chinese version of a silk is often sold as a Kayseri.
If the dealer you are using is good he should produce a small plate with a 1 square centimeter hole in it and a magnifying glass over the top. This allows you to count the knots and confirm that it has the knot count he claims.
Muzaffer also explained that everyone will give you a certificate of authenticity wether it is a fake or not. Muzaffer will actually take you with your carpet to the Turkish museum by ephesus where they will inspect the rug and give you a certificate of authenticity from the turkish government.
After going through all of this Muzaffer told me he is selling his business because he can no longer compete with the other places selling chinese rugs as turkish ones. You could see the pain in his eyes as he told me how many people had shown him fake rugs they had brought while shopping in the area. This had all come to as shock to me and now i was questioning if the rugs i purchased that day were actually legitimate. I thanked Muzaffer for taking the time talk to me and explain what to look for. He never tried to push anything on me and wished me luck on my travels. When i got back to my hotel i checked my carpets and there was no doubt in my mind that they were fake.
The following night i took some of my friends to Muzaffers store and the carpet i had purchased the day before. I asked if he wouldnt mind taking a look at it for me. I barely had it out of my bag when he said it was chinese. The first thing he noticed was the long pile. The second was the ends were cotton and the label on the back clearly said silk on silk. I was sold this rug for $6000 and he said it was worth about $500. He was so saddened to see what i had brought and told me i should return it and ask for a full refund. The following day i called the company i purchased the fake from and organised a return. When i arrived the owner of the shop told me it was a chinese rug and that his salesmen had done the wrong thing and he had fired them. I received a full refund.
I ended up buying 2 beautiful hereke rugs from Muzaffer for a very reasonable price. He is currently trying to sell all of his stock and its going for little more than he paid for it. I will be buying from him again.
If some other people can verify this store it will make carpet buying better for all of us.
