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ORIENTAL RUG ZINE
BUYING IN THE BAZAAR
Emmett Eiland
As a rug dealer, I am often asked by people who have bought rugs in the Middle East and Asia to tell them whether they have been fleeced. They show me their spoils, hoping I will have good news,
fearing I will laugh. I am always polite.
Usually, it seems to me, they have had a good time buying rugs in Turkey or Nepal and have enjoyed lots of tea and met charming rug dealers. They have
bought rugs for 20 to 30% less than what they would buy the same rug for at home. The tradeoff is that they invariably have been lied to, about the rug’s age, for instance. Age is always exaggerated, just as it is by dealers at home,
but even more so. They have been lied to about dyes, which are always represented as natural, just as they are at home. But most devastating, they have bought rugs they never, ever would have bought at home.
I understand how that can happen. Travelers show up in, let’s say, Morocco and are struck by how bright and garish the rugs are. They see nothing but
bright pink, bright orange and purple. Still they knock about, exploring, and in a day or two notice a few rugs that are decidedly less garish- a cut above all
the others in color. Without realizing it, travelers begin to cave to the local aesthetic. They have put on new eyes. They buy. They get home with their rugs. They are shocked to see that their rugs are bright pink, orange and
purple. How could they have done it? They bring their rugs to me, often hoping to sell.
My advice is don’t do it. Don’t buy rugs in the old country, or, like those who gamble with their eyes open, spend only as much as you can afford to lose. It
is too perilous and the odds of finding great rugs are slim. The best newly made rugs never reach the local bazaars. The looms on which the blockbuster pieces are woven are all under contract to American and European firms and
go directly to Western shores. In the trade, “bazaar goods” is a pejorative expression describing the odds and ends that end up for sale locally. But still some people will buy rugs where they are woven, and who can blame them.
To those who persist, and really, my hat is off to you for your spirit, let me make a few suggestions.
Make no mistake, if you are a rug buyer in Kashmir, for instance, you are being fed on by legions of tour guides, bazaar boys, taxi drivers and so on, all
of whom have an “uncle” who owns a rug store. Each takes his 5% bite, so the price goes up to you. If you can make your own way to a rug store without a guide leading the way or a bazaar boy shadowing you, do so.
Don’t buy a Turkish rug in Pakistan or a Pakistani rug in Turkey. Rugs are considered exotic in countries where they are not made, and you will pay a premium for the rug’s supposed rarity value.
I need hardly advise you to bargain. Everyone is primed for that in advance. But do be advised not to be overly worried about hurting the feeling of a
merchant by starting too low. They can take it. The fact is that the rug dealer knows more than you do about bargaining for rugs. No matter what a shrewd bargainer you are, the rug dealer is better at haggling than you are - so good
that you will may even walk away feeling you won.
I am the exception, a Western rug buyer who can absolutely devastate a bazaar merchant. I am laughing at myself, of course, but I must say that I have
formulated a few Principals of Bazaar Bargaining of which I am proud and that I hereby pass on to you.
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