Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

sbayz92 OP t1_iud5kvu wrote

Reply to comment by jerkITwithRIGHTYnewb in Did I get a fair price for my Turkish Rug? by sbayz92

Nice! Yea I bought mine in Turkey so obviously cheaper here.

I honestly don’t care if we overpaid by $100 or got it for $500 cheaper than what it’s worth.

I just like to have an idea of what something is worth roughly.

I feel like we got a pretty good deal, but someone with experience might be able to let me know :)

29

fcfrequired t1_iud6lep wrote

If it is handmade, and if it is real wool a similar rug would run about $300 USD in Bahrain.

25

sbayz92 OP t1_iud75y5 wrote

Cool, thanks for the info. So I’m in the ballpark range. Honestly can’t imagine buying for less than $600 in USA.

Also with inflation worldwide, I’m guessing prices are even higher right now.

19

Western_Detective_84 t1_iuk9mlp wrote

Yeah. For a rug that size, in wool, and for-real hand made, which in this case I think is hand-LOOMED (made on a loom), you got a good price. Was it the cheapest you could have gotten it over in Turkey? IDK, and I don't care, because I think if YOU feel like you got a good price, for a product you likely would have a hard time getting AT ALL in the US, then you got a good price. You may already know this, but "hand-made" in the rug/carpet biz often includes machine-assisted - but somebody had hands on the machine. Which, when you think about it, is an exaggeration of the "hand-made" quality, but "meh, whatever", eh? In your case, I suspect "hand-made" means a person made this on a loom, without machine assistance. You can find hand-loomed wool rugs in and around Chimayo, NM today. 40 years ago I bought a couple for about $300 each. It was off-season, and I got a slightly better price than in season. I sold one, 15 years later, in a Scottsdale AZ gallery for twice that much. I've still got the other.

1

beholdthefield t1_iudp356 wrote

A lot of your comments in this post sure read like, "I just want to make sure the artisans didn't get paid enough" so I could get a negotiation "win" while in Turkey.

−44

sbayz92 OP t1_iudsiym wrote

I’m sorry it feels that way to you but it’s actually quite the opposite.

I mentioned a few times that I just want to know if this is the normal going price range in Turkey.

I like to know the value of things I own. Especially since this will likely be kept for my entire life.

Some locals even mentioned to me I might have overpaid a little bit. If that is true, I am totally ok with that. Extra money to the shop owner who was a cool guy.

Additionally, usually in Turkey you buy from rug shops that sell rugs made by various artisans. I didn’t buy directly from the artisan so no matter the price I paid, they were already paid what they got.

19

beholdthefield t1_iudw6fk wrote

>I’m sorry it feels that way to you but it’s actually quite the opposite.

  • You can say that, but I don't think it's the case. Actions matter more.

>I mentioned a few times that I just want to know if this is the normal going price range in Turkey.

  • The price of anything is what someone is will to pay for it.

-Most likely, someone will pay more than you, and others will pay less.

>I like to know the value of things I own. Especially since this will likely be kept for my entire life.

  • You want confirmation that what you did was "good" or a "win". If you keep something your entire life, what's the point of monetary value? You appreciated the item, then it zero value to you. Confirmation that you spent the right amount of money doesn't need get involved, at all.

>Some locals even mentioned to me I might have overpaid a little bit. If that is true, I am totally ok with that. Extra money to the shop owner who was a cool guy.

  • You definitely overpaid. Might have been a little. Might have been a lot. Nobody is going to be honest with you about that.

>Additionally, usually in Turkey you buy from rug shops that sell rugs made by various artisans. I didn’t buy directly from the artisan so no matter the price I paid, they were already paid what they got.

  • Yeah, no way that seller goes back to the artisan and says something like, "your rugs only fetch $X.xx at my store. I am not paying your asking price anymore".
−48

sbayz92 OP t1_iudx1os wrote

You yourself posted a very similar post asking about fair prices:

“[Pricing] Questions about my first SXS purchase”

Anyways, I think you have my intentions wrong.

Simply just like to know if I paid a fair value price. Same questions you asked on your post.

16

beholdthefield t1_iudywcb wrote

Do you know how many Turkish artisans it takes to hand build a side-by-side machine in South Carolina?

−35