Tips for purchasing a rug in Turkey
 

I am going to Turkey in June and would like to purchase a rug for my dining room. I'm no rug expert and am trying to educate myself through articles I'm reading on the internet. It seems like a confusing pain! One article stated to buy in Cappadocia (where I will go for a couple of days) as opposed to Instanbul because there will be less hassle. I'm looking for a rug for about $500, so wool is fine, not silk. Any suggestions about how to bargain, where to go in Cappadocia, what to look for. Also, I would rather have it shipped back instead of dragging it around with me for the duration of the trip. Any suggestions will be helpful. Thanks.

Measure the floors in your house and convert to metric if necessary. They don't want to mail small rugs so ask yourself if you really want to carry it around on the rest of your vacation. Finally, if you don't buy one, check Bloomingdale's when they have their 70% off sale. I bought one there instead.

Thanks Neopolitan. I did just do a search. After reading some of the remarks, it seems that Wally's advice to buy at Bloomingdales makes the most sense! Thanks.

I'd agree with that too. It's just that to many people it's the "idea" that they bought a rug in Turkey that makes the rug special. Rarely is it really a good deal.

Hi Dori,

I do not know which town are you going to stay BUT if you go to Cappadocia you will find THOUSANDS of thousand carpet shops in Goreme Avanos and Urgup. The most important things is you love your carpet. walk around towns check the prices I am sure that you will find CHEAPER THEN Bloomingdale's or ABC's(also have %75 of sale here in NYC) price

I recommend you becareful in Istanbul especially around Sultanahmet Mosque (blue Mosque) because there are many carpet shop sellers.

I hope you will have nice days in Turkey

Sinan Akdeniz

Word of warning. We were offered a free alcoholic drink before we looked at the rugs once arriving at the rug shop.

Hi D,

With little knowledge of carpets, how would you know what is a good quality carpet for your $500?

How can you be sure that you are dealing with a reputable merchant who will actually ship your carpet to you at a reasonable price?

What will you do if the goods are damaged in shipment?

You have a bit of research to do. :)

((I))

We were told to bargain and when the seller walks away to deal with someone else, that means you have hit the bottom price and should take it if you really like the rug.

I didn't buy, but they are gorgeous.

If you do buy one and having it shipped home. take a felt pen and put your initials on the back, to prevent a switch.

Thanks for your answers. I agree with your questions, Ira. That's why I posted. This is a little part of my "research"

For $500 you are not going to get a rare or unusual rug, but you may get one that you love. I agree that you should take the measurements with you, as well as any color swatches. There are many sources to read up on how to buy rugs, how to distinguish natural or chemical dyes, etc etc. If you want to read up on Middle Eastern rugs, I can recommend several books ("The Roots of Wild Madder" offers an excellent overview of the art and trade in MiddleEastern rugs) but in my own experience, you really should look at many rugs both here and in Turkey before you buy. If you have the time, I would suggest a visit to a couple of the high-end rug shops in Istanbul, just to get an idea of what is out there, before you buy. I would urge you to carry the rug with you, not because the merchant will not ship one that you have purchased, but because you will be spending money to ship that would better be put towards the rug itself. I have not heard of anyone being shortchanged when shipping a carpet from Turkey and I have friends who have made many purchasing trips to Turkey. I did much research before my trip, reading a lot and looking at many showrooms here in NYC; even with all of that preparation, I was overwhelmed by the array of product in Turkey. I found prices to be much, much lower in T
urkey than in NYC department stores, especially in your price range.

This is the book I recommended earlier; while the subtitle mentions Persia there is much information about Turkish rugs as well.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...11&Go.y=12

Never mind..I did not post it correctly. Anyway the book is fascinating.

This site has extensive information on choosing a rug - highly recommend reading it.

http://www.jacobsenrugs.com/index.html

enjoy your trip!

please check my post as Propertravel about rugs.
500 US will buy you a nice camelbagº kelim or small Cappadocian rug wool on wool. A kayseri silk 15cmx30 cm might be also possible to purchase.

Happy Travelling & good luck
Murat

I bought two small silk and wool prayer rugs in Turkey about 25 years ago (yikes!) I don't remember how much they were but not much. What I do remember is that the whole transaction took about 2 hours. We drank mint tea, I looked at pictures of the seller's family in Lebanon, he looked at my family pictures, we drank more tea, and finally we settled on the price. It was wonderful and everytime I look at my beautiful rugs I get a happy feeling.

Murat..are you talking about a camelbag kilim as a rug made from sewing together small sections of old camelbags?

Yes Ekscrunchy I mean those camelbags. Some old some new. But new ones get older too;-)
Regards,
Murat

I have a funny story about buying carpets in Istambul about 15 years ago. We'd already bought a carpet and had no more money. On our last day in a shop where we'd been browsing I found a carpet I absolutely loved. We drank tea etc with the shopkeeper who showed us loads of beautiful things even though we told him we had no momey. Anyway in the end he said take the rugs (at this point I'd fallen in love with two!) and send me the money when you get back to Italy. We couldn't believe it. £1,200. He gave us both carpets with holdalls to carry them in and when we got home we transferred the sum. Oh and the rugs are great - my mother is an expert in anatolian nomadic stuff so I know we weren't ripped off. We still get xmas cards from him every year!

They pack small carpets (about all you can expect for $500) in such lovely parcels. So easy to carry with you on the plane.