Rug Buying Sources

[wawa]

Are you an online rug buyer? Who has good customer service? Have you had to return a rug? How much have you paid for return shipping?

And if you have bought rugs in person - where did you go?

[pickle123]

I've never had to return a rug, but west elm and rugsusa have been great experiences for me .

[kaylie]

We bought a $60 rug on Overstock and they wanted $19 to return it. We just kept it to use in a different room... I probably wouldn't buy one from there again unless I had seen it in person before. It's very hard to judge texture/color on their site.

[mrsemilys]

I've never returned a rug and have bought 3 online. 1 from Overstock, 1 from Home Depot, and 1 from Wayfair. The rug from wayfair didn't hold up well and when I called to complain they sent me another one and didn't ask for the first one back. Yeah, I would highly recommend them!

[littlemisssunshine]

I love Rugsusa. Great customer service and I always read the reviews so I know what the actual color/texture is. They are suppose to have a 75% off sale for Thanksgiving.

[ssmjlm]

If we're talking room size rugs I've bought one online from rugs usa. I was very happy with it so no return experience. My only thing was the thing stunk to high heaven when we first got it, so we had to air it out in the garage for a bit.

I've bought several throw style 3x5 rugs from JCP. One time they doubled my order somehow, but I easily returned it to the store.

ETA: My in person rug buying experience was we bought one from Lowes.

[wawa]

Nov 6, 2012 13:58:32 GMT -5 littlemisssunshine said:

I love Rugsusa. Great customer service and I always read the reviews so I know what the actual color/texture is. They are suppose to have a 75% off sale for Thanksgiving.

o rly? Thanks for the heads up. Are we cyber monday type sale?

[thatgirl2478]

I have purchased from Overstock.com and rugs-direct.com. Both were just fine.

I've never returned a rug. For the most part I read the reviews so I know what to expect. Seldom are the colors in a rug THAT far off that I can't use it. Plus, I rarely match the color of the room with the rug.

[minniebee]

Online, I've bought from rugsusa.com and homedecoratorsoutlet.com. Good experience with both, but never did a return.

I've looked on overstock, but I find their site very difficult to search. The options are overwhelming and tough to narrow down.

In person, I've bought rugs at TJMaxx and Home Depot. The TJMaxx one did not hold up well at all. Granted, it was an 8x10 rug for $229, but still, it lasted less than a year.

I bought a wool runner years ago at Linens n Things that still looks great and I've used it in high-traffic areas. I realize this isn't helpful since they've been closed for quite a few years.

[hbomdiggity]

I've purchased at least 4 rugs from overstock. Never had to return. I read the reviews regarding color and I always more than pleased when they arrive.

One did come with a spot on it. They offered to exchange but I took a $50 credit instead because it was going under a large sectional anyway.

[Deleted]

What are you looking for and what are you wanting to spend? Do you care about natural fibers v. plastic, longevity (10 years vs. 75 years), uniqueness? If you just want a decent rug that will last until your next decor overhaul, I like online buying. It's not that much of a commitment. I've purchased on Overstock and had to return one. I complained that it didn't match the description or picture (it didn't), so I got to return for free. Otherwise they would have charged me for the shipping. They didn't hassle me though on my complaint.

For our commitment rugs, the ones we plan to die with, we have used both a local dealer and online. I think the dealers are waaaaay better options. You really need to see those rugs in person. But you pay for the privilege, at least in my area. Like at least 3x the online prices I've found for the same quality. I let DH insist on online buying for our last set because it was so much cheaper, and I'm pretty unhappy with the result. THe quality is good, but I don't love the patterns or colors. Now I'm stuck with them forever (or at least until I can convince him to trade them in). I always go with companies that allow returns, but with the set I didn't like, it was too expensive to bother flying them back. We took a risk, and DH is happy because we "saved" a ton; I'm pretty bitter about it because we spent a lot on something I don't love. Not a risk I would take again with a far away company (we did buy one online from an L.A. dealer that I love and it would't be prohibitive to ship back there; I'd do that again).

[wawa]

thanks for the insight Juno! The rug I'm currently in the market for is a "decent" rug. It's going in the nursery, and I pretty much just need it to hold up until the room gets redone for a big kid room. It'd be nice if it was more like 15 years durable, but if I only get like 5 years out of it I'll not be too miffed.

If/When we get up the $$ to really redo the main living spaces the way we want we'll probably splurge on a forever rug and buy from a local dealer for exactly those reasons. But for this one? Yeah...it just has to be good enough.

It helps that most of our house is currently furnished with rugs handmedowned from my mom when she moved into her little city row home, so we're ok with waiting for the scratch to get what we REALLY want for most of the rooms. All her nice wool rugs from the house I grew up in didn't fit - so now they're mine. They aren't MH's favorite though in terms of colors or design, so I'm sure we'll replace them eventually. And probably send mom's rugs to live with my brother or sister.

[Deleted]

You're welcome. If it was for my nursery, I'd steer clear of the polypropylene and honestly tufted rugs as well. I wouldn't want to risk even a little bit of off-gasing in a nursery, and both of those are suspect in my mind (the man-made fibers themselves and the glue/latex on the tufted). These things are straight from China most of the time, and God only knows what materials they're allowed to use. I've had them in my house before because they were cheap, but I wouldn't want my newborn sleeping in a closed room with them for hours on end. Maybe something woven? But I know I'm pretty far out there in my opinions on these sorts of subjects.