Where to Buy Rugs: Stores, Online Sellers and Buying at the Source
Last updated
Where to buy rugs is really two questions. If you need something inexpensive and replaceable, almost any large retailer will do, and convenience should decide. If you want a hand-knotted wool rug that will be in the house for decades, the choice of seller matters far more, because you are relying on someone's description of an object you cannot yet touch. This page goes through the five places people buy rugs, with the strengths and the weak points of each, and ends with what you should expect to be told by any seller, ourselves included.
From the Atelier
Currently in our collection
Big retailers and home stores
Furniture chains, home-improvement stores and general online retailers sell mostly machine-made rugs in polypropylene or polyester, and some hand-tufted wool. The advantages are real: standard sizes, quick delivery, low commitment. For a rental, a playroom or a room you will redo in three years, this is a sensible place to buy.
The limits are equally clear. Designs are produced in thousands, the life of the rug is short, and words such as Moroccan or Berber describe the pattern and not the origin. Read the label for three facts: fibre, construction and country of manufacture. If it says power-loomed or machine-woven, that is what it is.
Online marketplaces
Marketplaces list enormous numbers of rugs from thousands of sellers, including genuine hand-knotted and vintage pieces. Choice is the attraction. The difficulty is that the platform does not check descriptions, and the same photograph can appear under several shop names.
Buy from a marketplace seller the way you would from a stranger. Ask for a photograph of the back of the rug, of the fringe where it meets the pile, and of the whole rug laid flat and seen from above. Ask for the size measured in centimetres. A seller who has the rug in hand can send these within a day. One who cannot is selling from a catalogue.
Specialist rug dealers
A dealer with a showroom lets you do what no screen can: turn the rug over, feel the pile, see the colour in daylight. Good dealers know their stock, will often let you try a rug at home, and can arrange cleaning and repair years later. For antique and collectable rugs they are the natural place to go.
The trade-offs are a smaller selection, limited to what one shop can hold, and the need to live near one. Dealers who specialise in Moroccan rugs are uncommon outside large cities. If you visit one, take the measurements of the room and a photograph of the space with you.
Where to buy rugs in Morocco
Buying a rug in a souk in Marrakech or Fez is an experience, and many people come home delighted. Go in knowing how it works. The first figure named is an opening position. The tea is hospitality and also part of the sale. Guides are commonly paid a commission by the shops they lead you to.
Know what you want before you go in: the size in centimetres, the colours, a limit you will not exceed. Check the back and the fringe of any rug you are shown, as you would anywhere else. Then think of the practical side. A room-sized wool rug is heavy and bulky, so it travels as excess baggage or by freight, and import duties are due when it arrives.
Specialist online sellers, and what to expect from us
The fifth route is a specialist that sells hand-knotted rugs online, piece by piece. This combines range with accountability, provided the seller does the work a showroom would do: each rug photographed individually, measured individually and described for what it is, with delivery terms stated before you pay.
That is the standard we hold ourselves to. Each of the 275 rugs in our collection is a hand-knotted wool piece from Morocco, with its own page and its own measured size. Each rug is one of a kind, with its exact measurements on its own page. Delivery is free worldwide, duties and taxes included.
What you can verify about us
- Origin
- Made in MoroccoHand-knotted Berber rugs from the Atlas regions. Every rug is one of a kind.
- Construction
- Hand-knotted woolVerified at every stage — never machine-tufted.
- Delivery
- Duties includedFree shipping; import duties and taxes are included in the price.
- Returns
- 14 daysIn condition received, full refund of the purchase price.
Frequently Asked
Questions
- Where is the best place to buy a rug?
- For a short-term rug, a large retailer. For a hand-knotted rug, a specialist dealer or a specialist online seller who shows and measures each piece.
- Is it safe to buy a rug online?
- Yes, if each rug is photographed and measured individually and the fibre, construction and delivery terms are stated clearly.
- Is it better to buy a rug in Morocco?
- It can be a memorable way to buy. Allow for bargaining, the cost of getting the rug home, import duties and the risk of a hurried choice.
- What should I ask before buying a rug?
- The fibre, how the rug was made, its exact measured size, photographs of the back and fringe, and what delivery includes.
Sources & References
What this page rests on
- 1. International Rug Trade Council
- 2. Major Auction House Records
The person behind the piece
“Before you buy, I’ll send you a video of the actual rug in natural light — not a stock photo. I answer the messages myself.”
I’m Youssef. I started ARINID because this market is full of middlemen and machine-made imitations sold as the real thing — and I grew up close enough to the looms to know the difference.
Every piece we list is one of a kind, hand-knotted in Morocco. If you want to talk through sizing for your room, I’m on the other end of the message. A rug at this level is a thirty-year decision. You should be able to look the person selling it to you in the eye.
Youssef
Founder, ARINID
The next step
See every rug we currently offer
Each piece is hand-knotted in Morocco and delivered to your door, with shipping, duties and taxes included.