buying rugs in Türkiye

I was on the RS Turkey tour in 2013 and I (along with several tour mates) bought a rug at the factory the tour visited. We all bargained. The prices were in dollars and included shipping and customs duties. My carpet arrived at my door by UPS about a month later. An insurance appraiser said I got a very good price. I still love looking at it every day, have never for a second regretted the purchase.

I would be wary of buying from just anyone.

I agree, don't buy a rug from "just anyone." Do some research, which can be admittedly challenging. It is possible to fold up a kilim, depending on size, and put it in a suitcase. Maybe a tour guide can point you in the right direction?

I just had two kilims sent back to the states from a highly reputable shop in the Grand Bazaar. No pile rugs, just kilims.

It cost me $100 to have them shipped, but I got them in one day.

Sorry m1bem, not able to offer useful advice as we are going in October, but I have similar questions.

Jeanne, did you happen to know the name or location of reputable shop you went to? I am interest in a small kilim that I could hang on the wall potentially.

Price rugs here before you go - that will help you decide whether the price suits when you are in Turkey. My RS tour group stopped at a reputable carpet manufacturer and they put on quite a show (including lunch, drinks, etc). Many of my tourmates purchased rugs after negotiating prices - I think the total sales were in the tens of thousands of dollars. The price included shipping and taxes (at the time, taxes were subsidized by the Turkish government as they want people to buy rugs, not sure if that is true any more). The RS guidebook on Istanbul lists some shops in Istanbul and Cappadocia as suggestions for more reputable shops.

I will issue a warning however. There are hundreds of carpet sellers all over Istanbul and elsewhere. They are master salesman and will try to lure you in with tea, lively conversation, and a show of unrolling rugs to tempt you. If you sit through their spiel (which can take quite a long time), eat their goodies, and walk away without a purchase, you could potentially experience an unpleasant reaction from the seller. Several of my tourmates experienced this and were quite rattled. Understandable from the sellers point of view, it is their livelihood. So if you are not serious about buying a rug, it's better to smile, say no thank you, and move along. And if you do purchase, make sure you get a receipt and verify the seller's address in case you need to follow up and confirming exactly what you are paying for (rug, shipping if they charge you, and tax).

CL wrote at the time, taxes were subsidized by the Turkish government as they want people to buy rugs,

To clarify . . .
We were told on our RS tour that the government subsidizes shipping costs (and import duties) to encourage rural area industry in traditional crafts. So the reputable factory we went to in southern Turkey was subsidized. General rug sales were not.

BTW, they insisted I sign the label on the rug so that when it arrived, I could be sure it was exactly the one I'd chosen.

@Chani, thanks for the clarification. I clearly didn't remember what the guide said correctly! Probably best I didn't make a purchase :)

Price rugs here before you go - that will help you decide whether the price ( is advantageous)

This advice by CL is really the key to OP's question.

If you live in the southeast, expect the rug to be delivered directly to your door. Turkish rug salesmen work out of a high line antique store on Miami Circle in Atlanta and they tour the south selling rugs.

And you will have a friend forever. They will call you periodically and come to your house trying to trade you out of the old rugs and into new ones. Those guys sometimes have $500,000 in rugs in the back of their van.

One came by our house showing us silk oriental rugs--@ $50K each. I don't think our house was of the caliper to warrant such an "investment."