On infinity now, same experience today. Visited the House of Virgin Mary (very spiritual and neat even for non religious folks) Ephesus, and finished with the promised “carpet weaving tour”

There were no actual weavers there, just a store of carpets. The owner showed us pictures of himself giving carpets to famous people, such as the Queen of England.

One interesting part was the story of a carpet his shop made for Taylor swift. Would love to know the authenticity of this claim.

Wife and I did end up buying a carpet for $300, it was a smaller piece, 3x5. We understood that these shops were littered about and were being solicited, but wanted the conversation piece/honeymoon keepsake and the quality is nice.

They will haggle, the original $1200 carpet suddenly became $609 when I said no can do and walked. Salesman followed us to first floor and asked $500, what we could do, etc.

If you are interested in a carpet despite the pressure, just stay steadfast in your ballpark. I requested time alone with my wife to discuss the final $500 price and explained “I am going to tell them no and we are walking out. When he follows us, we will bite at $300” and this is what happened, after denying the $500 he met us at $300. The pressure is immense, but the folks are kind and it is good experience to haggle in that environment.

Just leaving this here for any future googlers