Hello, and welcome to the RugRag forum!
This rug is in fact, what one would consider to be a "millefleur design Kerman." My best guess is placing this rug with a date I would say tops no older than 1920, probably more around 1925 or possibly even later. I don't think the seller is trying to exaggerated, just from rugs I have seen, this one simply does not look as though it is of ca. 1910 vintage.
Its very difficult to assess a rug when not in person, let alone from one single photograph. Many assumptions must be made which is not fair to the buyer or seller.
To attempt assessment of this rug with the appraisal tool, we also need photographs of higher quality. Generally, there are certain deductions we can make on this vintage Kerman. Most likely this rug is a 2 ply yarn, somewhere around 180-225 KPSI, probably not veggie dyed, not hand spun wool. Be careful of "lighter" areas in an image when used carpets are photographed. Often, these could be simple reflection of the wool, however sometimes can hint to a lower area of pile.
FYI, in the upper left hand corner of the rug you can see there is slight bit of the first guard border missing. I believe this is what the seller was referring to when they stated "only 15 or so knots missing." To repair this can be quite an investment. For this problem alone, the rug
at absolute best is in "good" condition in regards to the appraisal tool. In fact, if this problem is not tended to, the carpet could very easily continue releasing knots. This is a tricky area to fix, even with a simple overcasting technique, as the damage is on an angle, which does not lend easily to repairs/fastening. For this reason alone, we selected "0-4% subtle" in the repairs, dry rot and re-fringe area of the appraisal tool as this is a small missing corner of the rug, not immediately seen. For pile height, we stated "low and uneven" as the missing corner in the top left the rug often also comes with typical wear which is sometimes uneven, especially if this area has been worn down to the point of going into the first guard border of the rug.
Take a look at this appraisal. We cleaned it up a little bit, but do bear in mind some of these things get very difficult to assess as sellers sometimes downplay wear, and then avoid photos to augment claims. Figuring the rug is around 225 KPSI, it would fall in the lower range of this appraisal. Try the appraisal for 131-220 KPSI, and I would guess the rug to be in the higher end of that appraisal. If the corner of the rug has not been fixed to prevent further loss of knots in the upper left hand corner, I would even consider this rug to be in "fair condition," although giving the benefit of the doubt....
http://www.RugRag.com/Ap...D-40D5-A43B-04337BF5468DRegarding discrepancies between 75-99 and 100+ on the appraisal tool, the tool treats certain inputs with priority. The first part of an Oriental Rug to show wear is the pile. Figure after about 5-10 years of normal everyday use of a good quality rug (although sometimes accelerated if the rug is walked on with shoes or is in a high traffic area), you may see slight blooming of the pile, this should be selected as "lower than normal, but even." This being said, to find a 100+ year old carpet with "normal" pile is extremely rare, and therefore has an exponentially higher value than that of the average worn rug. Although you followed directions of leaving the settings at the default, asking the seller must fill in some of these very specific gaps unique to this rug to give more accurate assessment.
Best Regards
