Rugs for sale - How can I sell my son and daughter's beautiful rugs?
March 23, 2016 3:31 PM   Subscribe

My son and daughter-in-law have 3 high-quality new silk Persian rugs in great condition that each cost multiple tens of thousands of dollars. Photos here. They have asked me to help them sell them where they might be valued. Hence my appeal to the hive-mind for suggestions?

When my son and daughter-in-law married, they had the cash to furnish a house with expensive furnishings, including 3 new, high-quality new silk Persian rugs that each cost multiple tens of thousands of dollars. They have all the characteristic of expensive carpets: astronomical thread-counts, silk fibre, hand-knotted, intricate perfect designs, etc. Photos here. They continue to be in good financial circumstances, but their tastes and needs have changed. (Think pets and small children and a new home in a modern style with different room sizes) They are now dismayed (but not too surprised) that the dealers who sold them these rugs and once valued them so highly think their value much less, now that they are being asked to repurchase or re-sell them. My adult kids have asked me to help find resources to sell them where they might be valued. Are there forums of rug collectors, should they set up an Etsy or eBay store, or what else can the hive-mind come up with?
posted by SamFrancisco to Shopping (12 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: Oh and BTW, they are:
1. 8' x 12', silk and wool tabriz
2. 9' x 13', silk and wool tabriz
3. 11' x 5', silk sum
posted by SamFrancisco at 3:35 PM on March 23, 2016


Where are they located? If the rugs indeed are valuable I would think they might be able to go through an auction house to sell them, like Bonhams for example.
posted by gudrun at 3:39 PM on March 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


I had several similar rugs (thousands each, not tens of thousands though) and sold them through a high end furniture consignment store. I got peanuts for them, but after that sting wore off in the end I was just glad they weren't hanging around taking up a lot of space and making me feel guilty every time I saw them.
posted by cecic at 3:59 PM on March 23, 2016


I dated an Iranian dude for a while. His family is Very Serious about rugs, and I spent two hours in this rug place talking rugs with some rug people. This is them. They deal in rugs all over the world--no matter where you are I'm sure they can give you answers. Send them an email or give them a call.
posted by phunniemee at 4:18 PM on March 23, 2016


Chairish
posted by slipthought at 4:19 PM on March 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Rug pricing and corrected detail:

1. 8' x 12', silk and wool tabriz $27K new
2. 9' x 13', silk and wool tabriz $27K new
3. 11' x 5', silk QUM $44K new
posted by SamFrancisco at 5:14 PM on March 23, 2016


If you sell to a dealer, you are selling at wholesale prices. Taking off 50% for that plus some for wear, and the I'm sure the price seems low. With an auction, the prices are uncertain, and the auction house gets a healthy cut. If it's a dealer that wins the auction, it's going to be at the wholesale price, and the auction house still gets a cut. The only way to get a retail price is to sell at retail.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:29 PM on March 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


How much are the dealers offering for them? The problem is that people who have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on rugs want new, not used. Most people who are buying used want to get a really good deal. If they're just high-quality, but not special in any other way (created by a famous artist, or made from materials that are no longer available, for example), I'm not at all surprised that the resale price is only a small percentage of what they paid new.
posted by decathecting at 8:08 PM on March 23, 2016 [6 favorites]


I don't know rugs. And I suspect the people who bought them did not know either. If you sell back to a dealer I would expect you to get 10-20% of the prices that you gave.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 12:18 AM on March 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


They are now dismayed (but not too surprised) that the dealers who sold them these rugs and once valued them so highly think their value much less, now that they are being asked to repurchase or re-sell them

This is how it works with pretty much all used luxury goods. The original retail purchase prices are pretty meaningless.

The Chairish high-end rugs are being sold by rug dealers. The only way for them to realise retail pricing for used is for them to re-purpose themselves into rug dealers. Otherwise, SemiSalt, decathecting, and yoyo_nyc are on point.

Nearly no honest people will buy pricy items from eBay/Etsy sellers with new accounts and no feedback -- that would be a good way for them to risk getting scammed. Shopping them around to a variety of dealers and auction houses and going with the one you like with the best offer is the only way out here. Alternatively: store them carefully, hope the great-grandkids can get good prices for the antique rugs in perfect condition. If they don't need to sell them and there isn't much money to be made, there's nothing wrong with a little hoarding; most people would love to inherit beautiful rugs.
posted by kmennie at 6:02 AM on March 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Agreed with just about everyone here that you can't expect to get anywhere close to the full value that they paid for them -- although there is certainly a market for rugs that have had more than one owner.

We have a well-established, Armenian-family-owned flooring store here in town that sells everything from StainMaster wall-to-wall to the kinds of rugs you mention. When we were looking at those types of rugs, they integrated several older consignment pieces from local folks in with their other options.

So I would first figure out who the most reputable folks in your area are for rug sales and/or appraisals, and then ask them what they would do. Consignment is a good option for a lot of places, and if you place them with reputable dealers (whether or not they work on commission) you will attract good buyers.
posted by St. Hubbins at 8:30 AM on March 24, 2016


Are they truly Persian carpets, as it says in your photos? With the appropriate proof of pedigree? If so, perhaps the reverse sticker shock could be seasoned by holding onto them as appreciating assets. We haven't allowed imports from Iran in some time. New Persian rugs in the US are drying up. They will be worth much more than they are today in 20 years. It sounds as if your children aren't too desperate for the money, so this is something to consider, as there is no quick turn around even when selling the rugs.
posted by sweltering at 6:21 PM on March 24, 2016


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