FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

A complex website like this, and our unique way of doing business, may bring up a variety of questions. Over the years we have collected the most frequent questions, which you find answered here:

Is there a right of return?
You can return rugs to us and get a full refund of the item price if you inform us within 14 days after receipt of the rug(s) that you do not wish to keep it. If you should discover serious faults in the rug that we have not mentioned in the item description, we will also refund full shipment costs. Please take into consideration that this rug is handmade and therefore does not represent a perfect industrial product. Refunds can only be given in case the rug has been returned to us the way you received it and no value decrease was caused by usage or faulty storage of the rug.

Is delivery always free?
If a rug is shipped within the USA or the European Union, shipping is free. Please make sure the rug you choose is indeed in your delivery zone. You can specifically search for rugs located in the USA or the European Union only and this is again verified in the detailed carpet view under "Location of the rug". Free shipping does not fully apply to dealers and interior designers who enjoy our quantity discount.

Would there be any charge for being listed as a customer or a supplier?
No, inquiries and offers from our side, as well as entering your Oriental carpets into our database are free of charge.

How do I know where in the world the rugs are located and what the delivery time and delivery charges would be?
The region in which the rug is currently located, is displayed in the detailed view of the rug e.g. Europe or USA. Upon request we would let you know which specific country each Oriental carpet is located in and what the delivery time and the delivery charges would be. Delivery within the European Union and within the USA is free (not if you enjoy our quantity discount for dealers, architects and interior designers. Also before you are asked to proceed to payment, shipping costs will be calculated online and you can always delete specific rugs from your order if these seem too high for you.

Would you inspect rugs thoroughly before they are sent out?
Yes, we either inspect rugs ourselves conscientiously and check condition, quality, possible repairs or we send reliable Oriental carpet experts in case carpets are located abroad to do the same thing. We would then give you a detailed description of the rug and our assessment whether the price for it is justified.

Is it possible to have rugs sent to me on consignment basis?
In general the answer is: yes we can send rugs on a consignment basis. In this case we can not always provide free delivery though. It is possible to send a number of rugs so that you can decide while seeing and inspecting the rugs along with your customer. Shipping costs are dependent on where the rugs have to be shipped from and where you are located. Upon request we would inform you about the detailed maximum shipping costs for each rug seperately before actual shipment. In case you should discover serious faults in the rug that we have not mentioned in the article description, we will also refund full shipment costs.

I am looking for a specific rug and could not find the rug on your website. Can you look for such a rug on the market?
Yes, we will gladly contact all our suppliers and start searching for your perfect rug. Just let us know all possible details of your wishes about the rug. Ideally you can look into the Advanced Search and let us know your requirements for all the search criteria on the Oriental rug detailed search page.

Do you charge anything for sending out photo prints of the rugs by regular post?
No, photo prints of our rugs can be sent to you via regular post at no cost. We strongly recommend this before purchase since chances are that the colors are closer to the real colors of the rug. The colors of digital pictures are always dependent on the quality and the configuration of the monitor.

Why do your prices change sometimes?
There are two possible reasons for this:

1) Often prices of certain Oriental rugs are being re-negotiated with the owners and (hopefully) lower as a result. Sometimes though suppliers of these rugs increase their prices due to an increase of the general market prices for that specific type of rug.

2) Rugs are often offered in a different currency from the one in which we were initially quoted the prices. For instance if you live in the USA and we offer you a rug located in Italy, the price we quote you would be dependent on the exchange rate between Euro and US-Dollar and therefore fluctuating over time.

Why is it that prices for the same quality of rugs differ sometimes?
www.oriental-carpets.com is a platform for dealers and private owners of rugs seeking to sell their rugs through us. Whether they offer these rugs for good or not so good prices is beyond our control. Some vendors are simply cheaper than others which then reflects in the prices you see on www.oriental-carpets.com. Upon request we would be glad to let you know our assessment of the value for money of certain prices plus we can always give our supplier a counter offer in case you should regard a price as too high.

According to which criteria can the the database be sorted?
The rugs can be sorted and searched for according to the following criteria:
provenance, country of origin, size, age, price/sqm, price/piece, medallion or allover design, ground color, floral geometric or figural, pile or Kilim, silk or wool etc... Just go to Advanced Search. In addition you can use the text search in the advanced search. Since many Oriental terms are written in several spelling versions, there is the link List of provenances and search expressions under the entry field of the text search showing you which spelling we use for the different expressions.

Is it necessary to fill out ALL fields in the "Advanced Search"?
No, it is enough to fill out one of them only. Though most of the times when you fill out one field only there will be too many results to your inquiry and the system will not show them all (the maximum shown is 50 rugs at a time). We recommend to narrow the results down by filling out more fields step by step until you find your dream rug.

Which criteria must an Oriental rug fulfill in order to be entered into your database?
First of all the rug has to be handmade. In general we carry rugs which are larger than 13 ft long (approx. 4 meter). Runners should be above 23 ft long (approx. 7 meter) and/or above 3.3 ft wide (approx. 1 meter).

If I submit a rug that I own to your database, will you charge anything for it? Do I have to pay commission once you would sell the rug for me?
Neither, nor. Submitting rugs to our database is free of charge. We are your only negotiating party and will purchase the rug(s) from you in case of an agreement with all parties, no commission would accrue.

Is it important which country a rug is located in, in order to be submitted to your database?
No, it is not important at all as long as the criteria mentioned above are fulfilled.

Do you also offer special sized rugs which are not large rugs?
Yes, we do. However, our expertise and main business is large rugs and carpets and therefore our stock in smaller special sized rugs is not as exhaustive as with large rugs.

Do you offer old rugs only?
No, we offer new, semi-antique and antique Oriental and European rugs.

Do you carry European rugs such as Savonneries as well?
Yes, we do. We also have antique French Aubussons and Savonneries, antique Spanish and English rugs etc...

Do you offer tufted and machine made rugs as well?
No, unfortunately we don't. We are working on entering machine made rugs of unusually large sizes into our database as well.

Are all the provenances and qualities which you offer listed in the advanced search?
No, you will only find the major provenances in the provenance list otherwise the list would have been too long. We tried to group similar provenances together and only show the more recurrent ones. However, you can find more rare provenances through our "Text Search" in the Advanced Search. Since many provenances are written in several different spelling versions, there is the link list of provenances and search expressions under the entry field of the text search showing you which spelling we use for the different provenances and qualities.

How can I make sure that the rug looks exactly like in the pictures online?
You can never really make sure. In general it is better to have the photo prints sent by us via regular post since chances are that the colors are closer to the real colors of the rug. The colors of digital pictures are always dependent on the quality and the configuration of the monitor. If you want to know the precise color of a certain rug we can also send you a color sample of a specific color the rug.

How can I make sure that rugs which I have chosen online are still available?
The database is updated regularly. However, due to the huge number of rugs and suppliers and due to the fact that any rug can be sold by the owner just a day before you would like to purchase it, we can't make sure every rug offered online is available at any given time. Owners of the rugs are not obliged to reserve the rugs for us exclusively. Therefore offers subject to prior sale. Upon request we would always check availability of certain rugs and reserve them for a period of e.g. two weeks. If a rug is purchased online and then it turns out the rug is not available anymore we would of course refund the money right away.

Are only wholesalers allowed to enter their large rugs into your database or retailers and private persons as well?
Wholesalers, retailers and private persons can enter their oversize Oriental rugs into our database.

Can inquiries be made through the internet only?
Inquiries can also be made by telephone or fax. Please click here for contact details.

Can I order Oriental rugs to be handmade according to my wishes?
Yes, we offer handmade rugs from Nepal to be custom made in many different designs and colors. Please contact us for further information.

Do all the rugs on the website really belong to you?
No, www.oriental-carpets.com is a platform for (mostly) wholesalers around the world submitting their rugs to us.

Is there a discount on prices for dealers and interior designers?
The prices on our website are retail prices. Dealers, interior designers and architects please register in order to have access to dealer prices.

How many large carpets and rugs do you have in your database?
More than 8,500 large Oriental rugs and carpets and growing...

Do you have pictures of all the Oriental rugs?
We have pictures of approximately 85% of the rugs and are targeting to reach 100%.