Selling Rugs: Some Tips For Our Customers

Today, we had a customer who wanted to sell two large Chinese rugs which no longer fit in his new home. When we told him his rugs are worth around $10,000 each, he couldn't believe it. We told him that we would help him sell the rugs. However, we mentioned that in order for him to get paid the full value of the rugs, he has to clean his rugs and repair them. This way his rugs will be in great shape again and he can find customers a lot easier. We also mentioned that he has to try to look for end users, rather than try to sell them to a rug dealer. Rug dealers who have 100s of rugs already are not willing to pay as much as an end user who is in love with the rugs.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Rug Cleaning: New Type of Scam

Once or twice a week, I receive e-mails which are surely scams. I just ignore them. I received this one few minutes ago:

"Hello,

I would like to know if you do carpet or rug cleaning services .. have some rugs to get cleaned ...if you accept cashier check please let me know,actually am relocating from my old house to my new house and i would like to know how much will 9x12 oriental rug cost for cleaning and actually i have 12 rugs of that, can you do the total calculation for the cleaning for the 12 rugs , rug type is oriental wool rug and not heavy or pet stain on it,is just kind of dusty,.. please get back to me as soon as possible ..

Regards"

The wordings, total number of rugs, sizes and everything else is always identical. I guess these people copy each other or these e-mails all come from a center or a headquarter. If you say yes, we do rug cleaning and we accept cashiers check or even credit cards, the guy gets back to you and says I will pay you more, so you pay the difference in cash to the transporter who picks up the rugs or something like that!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Antique Rug and Textile Show San Francisco

The 2nd annual Antique Rug and Textile Show began today Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010 in San Francisco. It will last until Oct. 17, 2010. The venue will be the Motel Capri, 2015 Greenwich St. More than 40 internationally renowned rug and textile dealers will show their beautiful tribal and antique rugs and textiles to the visitors.

Admission is free and more information can be obtained from artaa.org. I am planning to go to San Francisco this Friday morning to visit the show. I will drive. I do not like the hassle of going through the airport.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Thonet Chair: An Original Piece

Michael Thonet was a German carpenter born in 1796 in Boppard Germany. He died in 1871 in Vienna, Austria. He invented several light but very strong cafe type chairs and won a bronze medal for his Viennese bentwood chair from the World's Fair in London in 1851. His chairs have sold in millions.

We recently acquired one of his authentic chairs from an Austrian family. This chair was made in Michael Thonet's workshop in Austria probably around 1850. We did the upholstery with a handmade kilim. It is a beauty. We sell this signed (there are two signatures) antique original chair for $1,000.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Rug gallery as a Polling Place

We will have election on November 2, 2010 in Clifornia. We will have our rug gallery as a polling place. We have to come to work at 6:00 am and stay up until 10:00 pm. we did the same thing on June 8, 2010 for the first round of election. This is one way we can give back to the city in which we live and work.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Rug Appraisers Rug Appraisal

The day before yesterday I went to Venice Beach here in Los Angeles for an in house appraisal of four hand knotted Persian rugs. I got there more than half an hour early. I did not want to bother the customer early in the morning around 8:30. I went to a restaurant for breakfast and had an omelette and coffee. This place was across from the ocean so I took a five minutes walk before I visit the customer for her rug appraisal for insurance purposes. There were so many surf riders in the water at that time. Beautiful scene. I wish I had no work to do and no bills to pay so I could spend few hour there! It is only 30 minutes drive from our rug gallery.

Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com

310-770-9085

Persian Rug Embargo Sanction

An anonymous reader has left this comment on my earlier post "Common Cents: Persian Rug Embargo Sanction":

No brains! just making fun of themselves. It is like the ban on Havana cigars, it is a joke. What will they get out of this if they put sanctions on pistachio, rug, and Iranian foods? What else was coming from Iran to the US? The Iranian government sells oil and doesn't care about carpet. It only hurts individuals and pistachio/carpet lovers like me!

I cannot agree more with this reader.

Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com

310-770-9085

The Rug Industry Will Never Die

Because of the present word economic situation, some rug dealers or those who are somehow involved in one of the many aspects of rug industry might think that this is the end of the rug industry. Rugs of different types have been in existence for millenniums. Mankind needs a kind of floor covering regardless of its name, construction, country of origin and other aspects which may come and go.

There have been many changes in the recent decades in the rug industry and its channels of distribution, Chain and department stores, catalog sales, Internet retailers and virtual auction houses, interior designers, television and satellite sellers were never part of the game. The construction of rugs has gone under different changes as well as the designs. Rugs which were considered luxury items and investment are now a consumer product.

Regardless of all these changes, which have come into play, people are still using rugs. The players and rules have changed, but the market is still there and will stay there. Whatever role we play in this game, we should never lose hope. We should master the rules of the game and try to learn more about what we do. If we love what we do and if we do what we love, and if rugs is our love and passion, then we will enjoy the game and we will play it right. The rug market will never die.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Rugs and Our Comfort Zone

Rug market is very slow but we do OK! James Opie a good friend of mine who lives in Portland, Oregon and is the author of two great books on tribal rugs of Iran said to me few months ago that doing OK these days is doing great. How do we do OK? We get out of our comfort zone and give our customers A plus services.

A customer called us yesterday to schedule a pick up of her dirty rug. She goes to work early in the morning and returns late at night. We sat the time for 11:30 this morning when she had her lunch break. She works close by. I texted her around 11:00 and said we would be on our way to pick up her rug in 30 minutes. She texted back "Great". She was so appreciative that we parked in front of her garage 11:29 am to pick up her rug. She had just gotten there a minute before we arrived.

People are busy and appreciate if you care for them and give them attention and customized service. We did the same thing yesterday at 10:30 am when we picked up two rugs from another customer's home.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

BNI Money Makers Chapter in Los Angeles and the New Leadership Team

In another post, I mentioned that we would have a new leadership team in our BNI Money Makers chapter here in Los Angeles. The previous team did an outstanding job. The new team, began it's term last Monday, 10/04/2010.

The new president is Al Knobloch, vice president is Ashkan Sobhe, and Joan Merritt is the secretary and the treasurer. We meet every Thursday morning from 8:00 to 9:30. Our chapter has 35 professional members. We can only have one member from each profession to prevent conflict of interests. I am the only rug specialist in BNI.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Rug Water Damage Restoration in Los Angeles

Because of the sudden rain in Los Angeles, we got a lot of calls for rug water damage. Some people who have rugs in their balcony or outside, were not aware of the rain and therefore got all of their rugs wet. Even the rugs that were kept inside, but got wet because of a leakage from a ceiling, had been damaged. We received calls one after another and had to pick up the rugs right away. Once rugs get wet, if not rewashed and taken care of quickly, they will be damaged. The foundation will become dry and crack, the rugs pile will harden, and the rug will smell. Fortunately our company can take care of all of these problems. With our emergency service, our average estimated pick up time is 45 minutes, so we can take care of problems other than water damage as well, such as wine or coffee spill, dog and cat urine, etc.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Last Dance! BNI Money Makers Chapter Los Angeles

Last Thursday, as usual we had our weekly BNI meeting. It was the last week of the leadership team. They managed the chapter for one year. They all did a great job in attracting new members and surpassing the monthly referral goals which was set for the chapter before each month began. Teresa Agnew, was the president, Dr. Pey Vuong was the vice president, and Jean Libonate was the secretary and the treasurer.

Here I am posting few pictures of the last meeting. Click on each picture to enlarge. Thank you Teresa, Dr. Pey, and Jean. Wonderful job.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Rug Cleaning Marina Del Rey

This morning we picked up an 8 x 10 hand made Pakistani rug for cleaning from Marina Del Rey. The house was in an alley and we had to walk some distance to the house. When I took a look at the rug, I was a disappointed at how the rug was treated with chemicals. The owner's dog had urinated on different parts of the rug. Unfortunately, the owner fell into the trap of the commercial chemicals that are advertised to remove these types of stains. I previously wrote a post on It's Not Do It Yourself. The rug has been damaged far greater than if it was only the urine itself. We have to wash the rug several times in order to get as much chemical out as we can and then do pet stain removal. The commercial chemicals don't have any benefit other than damage the fiber of the rug, make the colors of the rug bleed, and ruin the rug. It really is best to take your rug to a professional rug cleaning company.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Art Silk: Don't Ask Don't Tell

As the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy is used in the Army, some rug dealers use the same strategy when selling Artificial Silk rugs. The rug dealers who sell these types of rugs, tag the rugs by Art Silk to make the name sound more elegant. They hesitate to give more information if they are not asked about it. If a curious customer asks them what the Art Silk tag means, the dealer might be forced to tell you that "Art" actually stands for artificial. While the tag name Art Silk sounds very elegant, it actually means artificial silk which is much cheaper than a real handmade silk rug. So, next time you read or hear "Art Silk", remember this post before being impressed by the name. I am here posting a picture of a 5' x 8' artificial silk rug.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Carpet Cleaning Carpet Cleaners

Holiday season is approaching and we are once again adding carpet cleaning to our services. Many of our customers have wall to wall installed carpeting in their bedrooms and need carpet cleaners and that is why we added this type of service to our other rug cleaning, repair and stain removal services. There is not much profit in it as it is very competitive, but we have to serve our clients.

In 2009, the carpet cleaning industry received an income of almost $3.9 billions with 5.7% decline compared with 2008. This is only for the U.S. market. I am mentioning some statistics here for your information. This is the courtesy of IBISWorld.

Key Industry Statistics

Key Industry Figures	2009
Industry Revenue	*3,866
Revenue Growth	*-5.7		%
Industry Gross Product	*1,824		$Mil
Number of Establishments	*28,593		Units
Number of Enterprises	*29,232		Units
Employment	*67,960		Units
Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay) Certified Rug Specialist (CRS) www.RugIdea.com www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com 310-770-9085

Rug Mileage

A couple of days ago, we picked up two very old Persian Herize rugs and one Persian Kerman rug from a very old client's home. This client, a 92-year old gentleman, had left these rugs in storage for ten years without first cleaning them and then wrapping them properly. The rugs were rolled in the yard when we went to pick them up. He was a referral from another rug dealer.

These rugs were half damaged by moth. You could see the dead moths, live moths, eggs and larvae all over these three rugs. What a bunch of parties they had at the rug's owner's expense! The client had thought he had saved some money by not cleaning these rugs. It is like saving money by not taking care of the cavity of our teeth when we should. This client although very old, started bargaining with me and trying to negotiate the prices. While I was there in the yard inspecting the rugs after I had given him my quote, he said "No, that is too much" and asked his daughter to call other places to get few other quotes. He was trying to play game with me. His daughter said "Dad, his prices seems to be fair and I am convinced that they can do a good rug cleaning job." His father was not paying attention and was repeating himself. The daughter added "Dad, now you have to pay the money you have not been paying for cleaning of these rugs all these years."

After 45 minutes of discussions, the old man agreed with us and we picked up the rugs and wrapped them each separately in plastics. We did not want the moths make our car a mess.

Some of our clients do not know that regular vacuuming (once a week) and professional cleaning (once in 2-3 years depending on the traffic) can extend the life of their rugs and give them better rug mileage!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Rugs and Color

Customers who want to buy rugs, care a lot about the color. If the color is not right for a client, there is very little chance that we can sell that rug. I do not know from where I took these notes on colors, but I like to share them with you.

Black= Authority, power, sophistication, and elegance
Blue= Loyalty, calming, honesty, and trustworthiness
Brown= genuineness and sometimes sadness
Gold= Prestige and sometimes expensive taste
Gray= Corporate, somber and practical appeal
Green= Feeling of nature, regeneration and growth
Dark Green= Conservatism and wealth
Orange= Happiness, freedom, confidence, playfulness, and confidence
Pink= Sweetness, softness, and innocence
Purple= Mystical , spiritual tones, sophistication, and wealth
Silver= Prestige, but it is also cold, and scientific
White= Neutral, clean, youth, peace, and purity

I do not know if these color traits mean the same to every rug client, but I found them very interesting and maybe helpful in studying rug customers behavior.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
310-770-9085

Rug Cleaning Rug Repair: Good Versus Bad Customers

When it comes to rug cleaning and repair, there are good customers, and then there are bad customers. Different clients call or bring in their Oriental or Persian rugs and carpets. A bad customer is the one who asks: How much do you charge to clean a rug? A good client asks: How do you clean my rug?

A bad customer (of course from my point of view) is concerned about the price and would like to shop around for carpet cleaning or repair. This is her right, but we should compare apples with apples. If you call and and reach a wall-wall carpet cleaner who works out of his bedroom with a cell phone and at most with a 1-800 number, there is a chance that you get a lower quote. But is this the type of cleaning which is appropriate for your Oriental, Persian or even your area (machine made) rug? Wall-wall carpet cleaners work hard, but do they know the construction of rugs? Do they do dusting? Dust and water equals mud. Do they use safe material not to damage the environment and your rug? Your rugs do not have polyester or nylon as their pile material. They have wool or silk pile with cotton, silk or wool foundation. Do these rugs need different shampoo and cleaning stuff? Sure they do. Do wall-wall carpet cleaners dry your rug under the sun or just leave it wet on the floor? If a rug is not properly dry, it would smell.

A good rug cleaning and repair customer is concerned about the process and the price. She/he wants to leave the rug in safe hands.

Let me know what you think on this post.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.RugIdea.com
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
(310)770-9085