The Oriental Carpet Buyer

“I make you good price!”

Anyone who has visited the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul has most likely heard this promise that will only fool the most naive of customers. It is part of the arsenal that many reckless carpet salesmen spew out. The statement assumes that you do not know the original price of the product. It makes you feel special. But most of all, it is an insult to your intelligence. Don’t be discouraged about buying carpets because of these sort of experiences. There are trustworthy salesmen out there.

The point of this blog is to say that not all oriental carpet salesmen are swindlers. It is for all those first-time oriental carpet buyers who wonder what they should be looking for in a salesman. It is for the folks who bought a thousand-dollar carpet and later found out that it was worth no more than fifty. And it is for those who have been called up at home by a salesmen who “just happened to be in the neighborhood and would like to show you a few carpets before returning to Turkey.”

This blog will help you figure out whether or not you can trust a salesman about what he says about oriental carpets and kilims. Whether he is full of it or for real.