As in a previous month's search comparison (see http://brandonrugs.blogspot.com/2013/11/brandon-oriental-rugs-beats-price-from.html), we discovered Brandon Oriental Rugs' price and service offer BEAT the Rug Sale E-sale site by a significant amount on the rug we were comparing (in this month's case: a 9x12 Indo-Oushak.)
The evidence is here and mounting for those shopping for oriental rugs within a fifty mile radius of Central Bucks County, Pennsylvania (including Central New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley) that internet Rug E-tailer "Best Price" -- and other "best-of-everything" -- claims are NOT real or true. Better prices and more convenient service is available from a local bricks-and-mortar store (Brandon Oriental Rugs) just outside Doylestown, PA and within minutes of New Hope, Newtown, Peddlers Village and other communities and destinations in the metropolitan Philadelphia region.
Brandon Oriental Rugs is so confident of the value and benefits of our service that we now offer a internet price match pledge: we can and will provide a better purchase value to rug shoppers in our service area than anything offered by internet Rug E-tailers. See something of interest online? If it is something we offer, we'll beat the value of anything comparable offered via the internet. [We proudly offer only quality handmade oriental rugs (and quality rug cleaning services): so no machine-made rugs, no tufted rugs, and no rugs made of synthetic materials are available through Brandon Oriental Rugs.]
THE RECENT EVIDENCE
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| Above is the screen-capture of the page that astounded us. It is the final check-out page for a 9x12 Oushak design rug made in India from a prominent Pay-Per-Click rug E-tailer found in the results of many rug searches. You can see the price. |
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| Here is the same design and quality rug as that offered above which we recently provided to our customer. Our price for the 9x12 Indo-Oushak (with tax, pad, delivery with installation, and complete documentation included) was $ 2,700.00. That was a SAVINGS to our customer of over $1,600, or nearly 38% better than the "Best Price" offer found online! |
Afterword:
Mass-production rug makers, and "rug sale" e-tail websites are using all the marketing science and advanced algorithms available to engage bargain-hunting rug-shoppers online. They have a BIG (virtually ubiquitous) presence in pay-per-click and organic search engine results relating to "oriental rugs", "handmade rugs", "area rugs", "antique rugs" and the like. And their sites are scientifically developed and tested to assure expeditious funneling to the checkout page. All seem to make claim to offering "the lowest price"; providing "the best of everything"; and having earned the "highest customer ratings". With a perfunctory page or two of "What You Need To Know" information about the purchase of an oriental rug -- a purchase that could gratify (or gall) you for years and years to come -- these venues try to seal-the-deal with offers of "free shipping", "risk-free purchase and return", and "lowest price guarantee".
Unfortunately for the rug buyer (who ought to beware, unless the rug item under consideration has an associated SKU# related in fact to something that has actually been seen), there is no way from browser pictures to truly appreciate what you are buying; or to grasp from the data which is shared much that is meaningful so that meaningful comparisons can be made. And the mass-producers and the E-tailers compound the problem by using "branding" to mask the underlying qualities of their offerings.
[Here's an example of what this means in practice:
"Rug Quality A" is hand-knotted in India with 80 knots per square inch, and with a heavy wool pile on double-weft cotton foundation. It is widely produced by many importers and can be found in bricks-and-mortar establishments nationwide in many different designs and colorways for a price point that ranges from $18 to $22 per square foot depending on location and store policy.
Mass-Producer One, Inc. produces "Rug Quality A" and offers it branded as "Golden Orchid". The exact same "Rug Quality A" is also made by Mass-Producer Two, Inc. which brands it as "Carnation".
Guessing from all their data mining that you might expect different brand names to actually denote different qualities; and that you probably don't make distinctions about quality beyond a brand name so long as you've been promised "the best price", the E-tailers offer you "premium quality" "Golden Orchid" for $40/sq.ft., and "good quality" "Carnation" for $28/sq.ft. (Remember they're exactly the same quality, just branded differently.) If you're only looking for a "low price", you'll buy "Carnation" -- but at a "best price" that is actually $8-$10 more per square foot than you would spend if you went to your local bricks-and-mortar rug retailer. If you buy "Golden Orchid" (because you're looking for "better quality at the best price"), you'll spend $18-$22 more per square foot than you would at your local dealer. Either way, the E-tailer wins big.]
If you've read this far, we commend your interest. You can appreciate that "branding" (the darling of marketing, and rush-to-the-finish-line E-tailing) is not helping you to get the information that matters about a consequential purchase (even if you go "cheap"). Maybe you are like us (that's the algorithm we use for our business operations), and appreciate maximum degrees of freedom in your shopping experiences. You want to know more about what you are buying so that you can compare one item with another, and really get a sense of where value truly is. You want to see things that are unique, and uniquely suited to your tastes and purposes, rather than being channeled to acceptance of the common offering for your demographic, or what some taste-maker has proclaimed someone like you will necessarily want. In fact, you want the satisfaction of doing something special; knowing that the person in line behind you can't do the same thing. You want to know what is truly available to you, and not just what's available in the latest catalog. You might truly welcome and enjoy the experience of looking for your rug through our service (or services like ours wherever they can still be found). We are dedicated to helping you find what really works for you, and what will give you a real, enduring sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. We certainly invite, look forward to, and hope to reward your call or visit.
And we invite you to consider: The people helping you in your local rug store know they will be facing you over and over again in the places you live, work and play. They jealously guard their reputations so that they can forever look you in the eye and engage you cordially. That's a level of protection of your trust that no website can truly offer.
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