Word: rug
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Even in Syria, however, rug buying can be intimidating for the beginner. Innumerable variations of region, style and quality make establishing the value of any particular rug daunting. And then there's the relentless bazaar bargaining that can turn any transaction a microcosmic "clash of cultures" between in which straight-forward, naïve Westerners imagine themselves being conned by wily, opaque "Orientals...
...First lesson: The seller is going to win, because he invented the game. Friends in the industry tell me that they way to start collecting rugs is to do your homework, by examining catalogs and prices at big auction houses and dealers, then approach smaller shops and look at a lot of rugs. In other words, develop your own expertise. But who has the time? With a job and a social life, no matter how hard I've worked at trying to distinguish between an Iranian Kurdish sumac and an Azeri kilim, there's little chance that I'm going...
...Conversely, even if you got a great price on a rug that doesn't fit in your apartment, you're still a sucker. Early on, I decided that I much prefer simple, single-knot tribal rugs that have a homespun quality to them, as opposed to the grand, Persian, double-knot silk carpets that go well in a living room full of ivory elephant tusks. This may mean my tastes aren't very elevated, but it has saved me a lot of money...
...Another rule of thumb: Life is unfair, and everything comes a lot easier when you don't really need it. I did my best-ever bit of bargaining killing time on a layover in Istanbul, last January. A rug trader lured me into his shop and showed me a beautiful Anatolian kilim. "I'm on my way to Iraq, I don't want to buy a rug," I kept telling the guy, as the price kept plummeting...
...avoid the embarrassment of an expensive purchase on the one hand, or from paying too much for a rug you wanted too badly, think about the big picture. And the big picture is grim...