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CARPETS
55
June15
If you find carpet stores intimidating,
and especially if you have no idea what
you’re looking for, an auction can be
a wonderful thing, says Peter Hedger.
You just pick up the catalogue and
walk around the room with it at your
own pace.
Peter believes that attending an
auction – even if just as an observer
– is a great way to learn more about
carpets: not only what styles, colours
and designs are available, but also
how they’re made and what prices
they go for. “We’ll always present a
range of carpets of different types and
calibres, from small to big, from the more
affordable to the utterly luxurious – so
that there’s something for everyone.”
And yes, he says, there are bargains to
be won. To get through 80 to a hundred
carpets in three hours, an auctioneer
like himself has to keep the excitement
going, to be flexible, and sometimes to
accept less than he wants for a carpet:
that sometimes even means letting it go
for under cost.
His advice for the first-timer is to come
in for the pre-auction viewing, take a
catalogue and a pencil and circle the
ones you fancy. “That will help you
discover where your personal tastes
lie – especially if you keep on circling
ones of a particular type.”
A final piece of advice: if you love the
carpet and it’s in your price range, go for
it! If you miss out on it, you’ll probably
spend frustrating years trying to find
another like it. So buy it; at a Hedger’s
auction, you always have the option to
WHY WOULD I BUY A
CARPET ON AUCTION?
bring your purchase back later if for
some reason you decide it wasn’t the
right one, and exchange it for another of
equal value, or for a credit to the same
value – and if you got a real bargain on
auction, your exchange carpet will be
one too, promises Peter.
What’s in it for the carpet dealer? “It’s
a great way to showcase our carpets and
to reassure people that they’ll be safe
dealing with us,” says Peter. It’s also a
way to sell a higher volume of carpets
each month, which – with expenses like
staff and rental being fixed – means they
can be sold for less.
LEARNING MORE
Aside from auctions, you can learn more
at one of Hedger’s two-hour carpet
appreciation classes, held either as a
morning coffee talk or an evening event.
You’ll be shown the weaving process on
a small loom, examples of good carpets
and bad carpets, examples of different
types of carpets – including City carpets
and Tribal carpets, say, and examples of
carpets from different areas. “You won’t
just sit,” says Peter, “you’ll be going
on your hands and knees to feel and
experience the carpets and discover
what they’re all about.”
He’s frank about why he bothers to offer
these free lessons. “Through them, people
often develop a real passion for carpets;
and it’s easier to sell anything to someone
who understands what they’re buying.”
To find out when the next auction is,
book your own group carpet session or
put your name down for the next one,
just give the gallery a call.