10/25/2026
Let’s talk about rug sourcing.
I get asked this question daily. There’s a misconception I buy rugs from estate sales, garage sales, grandmas attic.. all are among the comments I’ve heard. That’s ok! I’m here to educate.
I’m an importer. I source wholesale from Turkey, going through all the Homeland Security protocols, paying tariffs. Every great once in a while I find a vintage rug in the wild, for a good enough price that I can have it professionally cleaned and repaired, and make a profit. I love it when this happens, but it rarely does.
We field calls daily from people who look up rug sellers, call me, and ask me to buy their rugs. My favorite story is the guy who called me and said he had a $7000 rug and wanted me to buy it from him. For $7000.
Let’s get into it.
First, I bear no ill will toward this guy, I hope he sold it for $8000. However, why can’t a small shop owner buy a product for $7000 that’s ‘worth’ $7000?
• Mortgage/Rent
• Insurance
• Utilities
• Cleaning fees
• Repairs
• Property taxes
• Income taxes
• Credit card fees
• Point of sale system fees/website fees
• Employees payroll
• Payroll taxes
• Workers comp costs
• Owner pay (I haven’t paid myself in months because sales are down in this awful economy, if I did it’d be $6 an hr. This is not sustainable.)
All of that is even before a product is bought.
A product, here a vintage rug, must bring in minimally 50% over cost of good, to make a profit. It’s a small profit. Profit is needed to run and grow a business. It’s not selfish to want to make money, you do too.
So if we buy a $3000 rug, we have to make $6-7000 to break even have a little extra to invest back into the business. If I have a sale, which I did this past Friday, I am actually giving you my take home pay. To pay the rest of my bills and employees. This is why when we get asked for a discount or can I make a deal, it’s a hard no. Because I’m not getting rich on this endeavor, I’m not taking advantage, I’m simply trying to offer a service, a product, at a fair price. Does this help answer questions?
Do you want to hear more about the rug business?