I didn't go to Istanbul planning to buy a rug, and I did not want to spend my time there shopping for one. But the touts on the street are pretty good at roping you in. The first time I went into a rug shop, I was just doing it for the experience to learn a little about rugs, and check out their sales techniques, which turned out to be mostly cajoling and coercion, at least in the first shop. What surprised is that they thought I would be susceptible to that sort of thing...do I look weak and easily manipulated? Hmm. Furthermore, when I'm traveling alone like this I dress little better than a bum. $6 sunglasses, $8 shorts, a $12 shirt I've been wearing for 5 years, and a beat up pair of sneakers: absolutely nothing about my appearance (other than perhaps my age, race) would give the impression of affluence...but I guess you never know who has money, and the fact of my presence in Istanbul is something of an indicator of wherewithal and worldliness to be interested in such a thing as a rug.
At any rate, after an apple tea (tasty) and a short intro on what makes a good rug, I was offered one I liked for the bargain price of $2400. I can't even remember what the rug was made of, but it looked nice. It was about the size of a twin bed. I thought $2400 was ridiculous and he eventually came down to $1200 before I threw out a single number. When I finally decided to leave and mentioned in my way out the door that I would never spend more than $500 without my "wife's" approval, he then offered it to me for $501. What a scammer.
After that I had no intention of setting foot in another rug shop, but after a strange happenstance political conversation on the street as I stood there eating a kebab with two Turkish-Kurds and an American-Iranian national that ended with the Iranian (who was clearly gay) inviting me to dinner and a Turkish bath later on in the evening, the two Kurds followed me and "warned" me what that guy's real intentions were. I laughed and said not to worry, that despite my curiosity to pick the brain of any person with a connection to Iran, I had no intention of following through on the "date" we made for later in the evening. We all laughed and the Kurds proceeded to give me a tour of the Blue Mosque, in Spanish no less. After 30 minutes of that, I felt a bit obligated to at least see their family store, so in I went into another rug shop.
This experience would turn out to be much more educational and positive, though again, of course, I walked out empty handed. Things I learned: Turkish rugs are double knotted, unlike Afghan and Persians which are single knotted; a rug must be 100 years old or more to be an antique; rugs can be made of silk, wool, cotton, or any mix of these elements; knots per square centimeter can vary considerably; the Chinese are in fact copying these rugs and moving into this market; and lastly, legitimate sales people will probably make their first offer no more than double the actual price they would take.
The rug I was interested in was a silk/cotton mix, about a meter squared in size. Would have looked great and surely lasted a very long time, however, my semi-offer of $500 was not accepted and he would not go below $1350, though if I had put $1000 on the table I'm sure he would have taken it. Probably even $800 but I will never know. His original price was $2200. Nice guy and he devoted nearly two hours of his time to me with no pressure. I almost felt bad not rewarding him for his efforts. Almost.
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