I've seen people making these in the south of Turkey (they'll construct them out on balconies so you can see them in progress) and while they're not in the fanciest apartment blocks their flats are far from the worst in the areas. A lot of the Turkish economy is paid under the table and these weavers are probably paid fairly decently. The assertions that weavers are getting $20 for an entire natural dyed kilim are very wrong and are part of why the hand woven kilims can cost so much given the amount of time they take to make. There are professional carpet appraisers and if you ask around with folks in Turkey or in your home country they'll be able to tell you if the dyes are natural, if it was done by a machine, and various aspects of the patterns which are often unique to different ethnic groups in Turkey. At the end of the day what matters is you like the carpet and feel like you had a good experience at the store.
Gerrymanderingsucks t1_iufxac4 wrote
Reply to comment by sbayz92 in Did I get a fair price for my Turkish Rug? by sbayz92
I've seen people making these in the south of Turkey (they'll construct them out on balconies so you can see them in progress) and while they're not in the fanciest apartment blocks their flats are far from the worst in the areas. A lot of the Turkish economy is paid under the table and these weavers are probably paid fairly decently. The assertions that weavers are getting $20 for an entire natural dyed kilim are very wrong and are part of why the hand woven kilims can cost so much given the amount of time they take to make. There are professional carpet appraisers and if you ask around with folks in Turkey or in your home country they'll be able to tell you if the dyes are natural, if it was done by a machine, and various aspects of the patterns which are often unique to different ethnic groups in Turkey. At the end of the day what matters is you like the carpet and feel like you had a good experience at the store.