Let The Buyer Beware!

I have a small, OK... HUGE, confession. One of my guilty pleasures is watching extremely bad reality TV. Somehow it keeps things "real" for me. Anyway, Monday night I was sacked out on the sofa watching the antics on the Bachelorette and found myself screaming out in disbelief. I saw Ali and borderline nutjob, Frank, haggling with a Turkish rug merchant at the Bazaar for a Kilim rug that the Yogini and I bought at Ikea. I kid you not. I thought that maybe I was imagining things, but the Yogini screamed out at the same time, "That's our rug!" This is where it gets good. The price shown on the merchant's calculator was 980. Considering that the rug costs $149 at Ikea, that's quite a mark-up for the right to say that you purchased it at the Bazaar in Istanbul (not to mention shipping charges back to the States). Even if the 980 were Turkish Liras, that would translate into about $620 US. He did, however, throw in two pillows to sweeten the deal.

Here's the description direct from Ikea's website:




KIBÄK (I love Ikea's names... does ANYONE know how to pronounce them?)

Rug, flatwoven

$149.00

Product Information
Key features

• The rug is hand-woven by skilled craftsmen, and is therefore unique.
• Woolmark. 100% pure new wool.
• Pure new wool makes the rug naturally soil-repellent and durable.
• Its flat woven pattern is equally visible on both sides making it reversible.
• Flat woven rug. Suitable for use in the dining room because it is easy to keep clean and chairs can easily slide in and out.

I especially like the first bullet-point. It's apparently "unique" enough to pawn-off on clueless American tourists.

FYI, You can also purchase the same exact rug from overstock.com for $179.99. They call it the Indo Kilim Multicolor Rug — I think I like KIBÄK better.

Don't get me wrong I'm not bashing the rug. It's a great value, and we love the way it looks in our Cabin. But, honestly, Frank, I hope ABC footed the bill for your purchase.


The KIBÄK / Indo Kilim Multicolor Rug / Turkish Bazaar Rug installed at our cabin.

designer: