Store Owner’s Unprofessional Reaction When I Offered Afghan Rugs

[u/Successful_Taro_1842]

I recently tried to sell a hand-knotted rug to a retailer. I walked into a rug store that was full of rugs from different countries, mostly from the Middle East. I wanted to ask the owner if he might be interested in hand-knotted rugs from Afghanistan.

After greeting him, he immediately started asking me very direct questions. I explained that I was importing rugs from Afghanistan and asked if he had customers for them. I admitted I wasn’t familiar with retail pricing and gave him my offer, hoping to hear his counteroffer.

But before even discussing numbers, he suddenly became rude. He said things like: “If you were in my country, I would throw you out of my store,” and “My rugs are better than any rugs—how dare you suggest this price?”

I was shocked. I just stayed quiet and realized this was how he treated people. I’m not sure exactly where he was from, but he had a Middle Eastern/Arabic accent. Regardless, I thought this kind of customer service was very unprofessional, especially here. I still don’t understand why he reacted that way, but it left me with a very negative impression.

[u/freedomisless]

Do you have any idea about rugs? I have clients that import rugs and some are very expensive. Also, there is very little room for middle man. Most people are smart enough to import from manufacturers. But don’t give up. Try to sale them directly. Use market place get page send some facebook adds. Also bc new you are selling directly to consumers, increase your price