Certainly a tangent, but can anyone share tips on where/how to pick up traditional wool rugs without getting taken for a ride? I get the distinct impression most vendors are buying way low and angling to sell way high...
Just as a note to you: when I drive through Teheran, there are often rugs in the middle of the road so cars drive over them. This is how they are made "old" and sell for many, many, dollars.
We found ours, at all places, at a Lord & Taylor (or Nordstrom can't remember which one now) travelling rug show. List price was $11k, the show had it on "sale" for $4k we took advantage of a combined holiday sale and some other discounts (we signed up for a store credit card to get another 15% off of our first purchase) and after all the discounts stacked ended up paying around $2k.
Internet prices put it at similar rugs at between $6k-$12k.
Home Depot and a few other places have similar traveling rug shows. Harder to haggle at those vs. a rug store, but I feel like you get fairer pricing. The store "Homegoods" in the U.S. also has a rug section that will on occasion stock hand-made rugs at very good prices.
I would personally avoid the dedicated dealers as they'll pump up the price and take advantage of uninformed consumers. Definitely worth it to study up a little on what contributes to pricing variability in rugs (location, material, knot density, etc.)
If you travel, I've seen very good prices in and around the middle east (sounds obvious, but hey)
I have bought all of mine at physical auctions. Once you go to a few you learn who the dealers are and bid just above them - they can only go to wholesale prices while you can go to retail. Just make sure they are not the one selling the rug in the first place - come in on the last possible moment tends to make it hard for them to shill bid you up.
Look for an estate sale. (Not an auction.) When my mother passed away, we had a firm come in and handle the estate sale. They priced the Persian rug that she had gotten from her mother at $400-$500. My sister did not want to sell it and took it home. The Persian rug dealer she talked to about some repairs said it was worth around $8,000 before being repaired.
