Rug buying in estates and house clearances

A lot, not a selection

The difficulty of a house to be cleared is not selling the good piece: it is knowing what to do with the other eight. We take the whole lot, the sitting-room rug, the bedside rugs, the hall runner, the kilim folded at the back of a wardrobe, including what has only decorative value.

We sort on site and we cost piece by piece. You see what is worth something and what is worth nothing, with the reason each time: hand-knotted or machine-made, density, origin, condition. A single overall price would suit our margin, not your division of the estate.

The timetable

An estate imposes its own dates: the notary's inventory, the compromise of sale, the handover of the keys, the removal firm booked for a set day. We fit in with them, and we do not ask for the house to be ready. A rug can be looked at in the middle of the boxes.

A pre-valuation from photographs makes it possible to know, even before the visit, whether the rugs weigh in the file or not, with a costed answer within 48 working hours. If the notary asks for a value for the inventory, our written valuation does the job: nature of the rug, stated origin, measured dimensions, condition, amount. It commits you to nothing and remains valid if you finally decide to keep the pieces.

Collection

A rolled sitting-room rug is heavy, rigid and long: it does not come down a turning staircase without two people. We come equipped, we roll, we strap and we carry away. Collection is free, including from an upper floor and with no lift, and it takes place on the day of the sale.

For the pieces we do not buy, we tell you what to do with them rather than leaving them in a corner: what goes to the recycling centre, what can still be of use, what must on no account be stored. A moth-eaten rug forgotten in a cellar contaminates the woollens around it, and it goes on destroying itself while the file moves along.

Payment and the written record

Payment is made the same day, in one go, to the person presenting themselves as authorised to sell. Cash up to €3,000, instant transfer or banker's draft above that: that is the ceiling Belgian law imposes on any cash payment (article 67 of the Act of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering). On an estate lot, a transfer is often simpler in any case, because it leaves a bank record for the benefit of the undivided estate.

The receipt itemises each rug: stated origin, dimensions, condition, price. It is this document you will attach to the file if a co-heir asks for an account six months later. We keep a copy, and we can send it again.

What we do not pretend not to know

Our offer sits below the estimated market value. The difference covers the washing, the restoration, the storage and a time to resale that is sometimes counted in years. We say so at the first visit, because a quick sale is always paid for somewhere and it is better to know where.

If a piece deserves better than being bought outright, an old silk rug or a nineteenth-century Caucasian in good condition, we say that too and we point you towards an auction. It happens rarely. When it does, keeping quiet about it would be the shortest route to never being called again.