Rob's Asian Adventure: Buying Kasmiri Carpets or Why Buying a Used Car is a Walk in the Park

My apartment is unfurnished. I had both options and I chose unfurnished. I have started furnishing with the notion to get some carpets I really like and then build the rest of the flat around them. The center of my flat is a large living dining area about 15'x45' with balconies on each end. The floors are marble. Perfect for large area rugs.

I set out to buy carpets. I had actually started the process last Jan when I was here looking at housing. I happened into a Kasmiri silk shop on MG road and enquired about carpets. The shopkeeper took me to another shop where I looked at some carpets. I remembered that little shop.

That is not where I started. I started with the head of security at my office. He recommended one of the office clerks. A fellow named Negendra who had been the managing director's driver. A person who knows Bangalore in and out. Negendra took me to another Kasmiri carpet shop on Cunningham Road not far from my flat. Mobashir was at my service (shown here on the left). Very slick guy. I spent about an hour drinking tea and looking at carpets. I have described some of that conversation in an earlier post. Two 9x12 and one 7x10; $6500 USD. Not today. Not even tomorrow. I told him $4000 was as good as I could do. "Don't worry about price," Mobashir tells me. I left the shop.

I hunted down the silk shop I had visited previously. Got the address of the shop he had taken me to and headed out with my driver. One dimension of this adventure has to do with a certain tradition in Bangalore involving an arrangement between shopkeepers and drivers. Any driver, car or auto rick, who brings a foreigner to a shop is paid a fee by the shopkeeper. This is why every rick driver insists on taking you to a craft shop. He is paid whether you buy or not. In some cases the drivers get a cut (up to 15% some say) of what you buy.

I arrived at the second shop prepared to spend some time. This time I was dealing with Yaseen, shown here on the right. His shop was smaller and he didn't have the selection that Mobashir had. I showed him Mobahir's card. Of course he knew Mobashir. He said Mobashir was in a bigger shop and therefore had to make more money. His approach to price was different. He took that position that money was not important. What is important is what you love. After all he had lost over $200,000 last year. It's only money. It comes and goes.

Yaseen's story about carpets was much different than Mobashir's. His technical details strayed further from what I had read on the internet than did Mobahir's. Mobashir didn't align exactly with what I had read but it was close. I left Yaseen's shop. I had decided to do business with Mobashir.

I went back to his shop. He laid out more carpets and I picked out some. He agreed to bring a dozen or so to my flat so I could make my choice there. It was now time to talk price. I asked Mobashir if he knew what kind of engineer I was. I told him I was an engineer who designed airplanes. I then told him the lowest paid engineers in the states were the ones who designed airplanes because everyone wanted to do that and consequently it didnt pay well. I claimed that the high paid engineers were the petroleum engineers. I elaborated further. I admitted I had offered him $4000USD. I then explained how I had gone home and added up all that I had to buy. How I had discussed this with my family and the most I could pay for the three carpets was $3000USD. Mobashir pleads, "could you do any better? Even if it is only a little better." I rubbed my head. I stared at the ceiling. Mobashir walked away. I took out a piece of paper and wrote down $3400. When Mobashir returned I showed him the figure. He took one look and said OK. Oh no, I'm thinking, I've been had.

At the end of the day I'm sure all my histrionics had little effect but I had fun. There's no way I could get ahead of a guy like that. I never knew where I was in the deal because I didn't know enough about carpets. I can say that I believe the price was better than I could have gotten in the states and I do love the carpets. They really do tie the room together.

O yes. When we set up a time for him to bring carpets to my flat he was adamant that my driver not be there. He made me promise to send him away. He also insisted that I not tell him where I got the rugs. He went over this several times.