Prices and value

(Posted on 03/12/13)

Prices is determined by number of factors, including the cost of purchase in the country of origin, shipping, washing, import tariffs and the wholesaler's overheads; but by far the most important influence on the price you will pay in shops is the profit margin of the individual retail outlet.  Unlike the wholesalers, who normally has reasonably fixed prices, the retailer will charge whatever he thinks the customer is willing to pay.  Retail prices are therefore very susceptible to the law of supply and demand.  Certain basic costs must be recouped if the retailer is to stay in business; only in the most exceptional circumstances will a rug be sold for less than these.  Nevertheless, at any given time there can be wide discrepancies in the prices quoted for almost identical items by retail outlets in the same town, or even the same street.Price and quality  These are normally connected, and-with some notable exceptions - the better the rug, the more expensive it is likely to be.  This is particularly true of items from same group; varying qualities of Mori Bokhara, for example, are normally reflected in their respective prices.  This also holds true for items of similar groups within the same country; a top quality Nain will tend to be more expensive than a second-grade Isfahan (and vice versa), while both can be expected to command a higher price than the average Hamadan or Beluch. However, comparisons between items from different countries present a number of difficulties because of the wide variations in popularity and cost of production; a simple Persian village rug, for example, may prove more expensive than a much more finely knotted and better quality item from Pakistan.