WOW!!! That's off. I mean, it's great you found a rug you like, typical poor representation on the ebay. Although, the seller does not appear to specialize in rugs, so it's somewhat understandable. Otherwise, there are 4 serious problems with this ebay listing which are no good.
1: This is no hand knotted oriental heirloom rug, this is 100% Karastan 700 series machine made carpet. I am 100% sure of this.
2: Even though Karastan makes and made Tabriz Designs, this particular rug is not a Tabriz design, this is one of the most easily identifiable Persian Designs: a "Kerman" or "Kirman"... Same thing, but no Tabriz.
3: This is no $10-20,000 Rug. In fact, a carpet like this, a seller would be lucky to get a $1,000 RETAIL for a damaged machine made rug like this, even in this size. Realistically, an online price should be maybe, MAYBE including shipping $900. There's very little market for this type of rug, therefore, the "understandable misrepresentation."
4: AAHHHHH, one of the most common EBAY mistakes when listing an oriental. An antique rug in previous years was defined as 100+ years of age. Most sellers still hold this to be the case, although some have recently adapted 80 years old to be an antique, which is neither justifiable or disputable now the customs definition has been lifted... The fact of the matter is, there is NO WAY this rug is any older than 40 years of age. In fact, I would be willing to guess this rug could very well be from the 1980's. THIS RUG IS NOT AN ANTIQUE.
Overall, horrible, horrible selling strategies. The sad thing is these some people, not necessarily this seller, misrepresent items and their businesses thrive from it. ALL TOO COMMON ON EBAY. That's why we're here. Jupiter, thanks for bringing this rug to the forum.
Is there some rug rule on EBAY you must add 30 years to the actual age, and that is the advertised age? This is some phenomenon.
See this similar, slightly more accurately represented Karastan (this guy still has his date wrong too) Size is 9x12 and sold (including shipping) just under $500:http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5574716523&toolid=10001&campid=5336111917&customid=Forum&icep_item=280200421430&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg
JUST AS A SIDE NOTE: the 9x12 listed just above is a much, much more desirable and saleable size. This rug above also seems to have much better pile, although the patches on the back are a drawback, there does not seem to be significant blooming of the pile.
