Purchasing new carpet for your home is a major interior capital improvement that can really be expensive. Dropping $10,000 to totally re-carpet your home is nothing when you consider the prices a square yard for quality carpet is being sold these days.
Here is some valuable information you can use so that you get to know the carpet industry a little bit more and are able to buy standard, quality carpet at less than market rates. Once you do you can spend less money and get more thereby, essentially, evening the playing fields.
Research All the Carpet Stores and Dealers in Your Area
Spend a day going to carpet stores, talking with their sales reps, and taking a look at their showrooms. Keep in mind they are going to try and persuade you to buy now. No matter how much they try to temp you into making a quick decision (they are just doing their job, mind you, and my guys would do it too) resist it.
Your goal is to soak up as much knowledge as you can about the different types of carpet out there.
What do you like?
What do you not like?
Do any particular color stand more than they others?
Ask each sales representative there about the current trends and popular styles most people want.
Take note of all the fibers, cuts, and patterns you see.
You will see why this is important as you read on. When you know what the majority of other people are buying and why they are buying that particular brand or type of carpet you will be in a better position to find a great choice for your home AND at a significant discount.
Negotiate With Carpet Store Owners
Now that you know the market in your area you should be very familiar with top brands and prices. If you have gone to multiple stores it is likely that you have noticed how the price can vary from one location to the next.
Now, here is the next step. Carpet dealers always have merchandise they just want to move quickly at various parts of the year. They purchase carpet based on what they believe (from current and projected customer trends) and whatever is left they put on sale. They could have rolls of unpopular carpet that is great but that just did not sell. Carpet dealers want to have as little money tied up in inventory as possible so they will be willing to make a really attractive deal for you.
Go back after a couple weeks and take note of what did not sell. Tip: Find an employee there and ask him what specific carpet is not moving as well as they hoped.
Negotiate with the owner. You might notice that a carpet you liked which was going for $15 a square foot is now $10 a square foot. Talk with the owner and ask them if you can purchase it for $8 a square foot. There is a great chance you might get it for that price. These carpet dealers have literally hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of carpet sitting on their showroom floor or warehouse and they always have tremendous pressure on their backs to move it.
Buy Commercial Carpet
Find a carpet store or dealer that sells to large universities or businesses. Commercial carpet may not be the most aesthetically pleasing carpet in the world but it is actually great for people with small children or pets. It is five times more durable than residential carpet, done not hold moisture, and is manufactured to be be easily cleaned.
When universities or businesses place an order for carpet the stores that are supplying it will usually order way more than is actually needed. The leftover carpet that was not used will just be sitting there. You can get this for ultra low prices.
Piggy Back Off Large Orders
This is a great trick a homeowner can use but one that may take some time to implement.
Go to a local carpet dealer and ask him or her to contact you when a large order is placed and there are large rolls left over. When large remodels are done on large mansions, estates, or hotels way more carpet is ordered than needed. You can get a hold of some really high quality carpet for half the price it would normally charge doing it this way.
One catch though; you do not know when these large orders are going to be placed. They happen only a couple times a year. But if you are not in a rush and demonstrate some patience then you can find a great deal.
Following one or more of these three suggestions will put you into a great position to find quality carpet at really low prices. Research, a little legwork, and patience is the key. If you follow this advice then you can fully re-carpet your whole house at a price you can afford.
About the Author:
Written by John McNeil, an established Santa Rosa carpet dealer, who has been in the carpet industry for more than twenty years. Though a store owner himself, he has loves to write and educate consumers how they can get the best deals and save money on many home improvement projects. You can also find another article he wrote here about carpet maintenance tips which teaches people how to keep their carpets in the best shape possible.
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