Almost nobody in this trade publishes prices. Search “how much should an area rug cost” and you get ranges so wide they are useless — “anywhere from $100 to $10,000” — which is true in the same way that a car costs between $2,000 and $2 million.
So here are ours. Every number below is what we actually charge today, and a way to check anyone else's price using one piece of arithmetic.
The one calculation that makes rug prices comparable
Divide the price by the area in square metres. That is it. Rugs are sold in a confusing mix of feet, inches and centimetres, in sizes that never quite line up between shops, which is exactly why price comparison feels impossible. Price per square metre collapses all of that into one number you can put side by side.
To get the area: multiply the two centimetre measurements and divide by 10,000. A 200×300 cm rug is 6 m². A 300×400 is 12 m².
Run it on our own catalogue and it comes out flat:
| Size as listed | Area | Our price range | Typical | Per m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×6 ft runner (91×200 cm) | 1.8 m² | $99.99 – $110 | $109.99 | ~$60 |
| 3×10 ft runner (91×300 cm) | 2.7 m² | $164.99 – $179.99 | $164.99 | ~$60 |
| 3×13 ft runner (91×400 cm) | 3.6 m² | $199.99 – $239.99 | $219.99 | ~$60 |
| 5×7.5 ft (150×230 cm) | 3.5 m² | $164.99 – $199.99 | $199.99 | ~$58 |
| 6.5×10 ft (200×300 cm) | 6.0 m² | $199.99 – $420 | $329.99 | ~$55 |
| 8.2×11.5 ft (250×350 cm) | 8.8 m² | $314.99 – $620 | $495 | ~$57 |
| 10×13 ft (300×400 cm) | 12.0 m² | $419.99 – $800 | $659.99 | ~$55 |
$55 to $60 per square metre, across every size we carry. We did not design it that way as a marketing line — it is simply what happens when you price by what the rug costs to make and ship rather than by what the room it is going into looks like it can afford.
That matters when you shop elsewhere. A 9×12 at $1,400 is $115/m². At $2,400 it is $200/m². Those are ordinary showroom prices, and the rug is often the same category of machine-woven product. The number tells you how much of what you are paying is the building and the sales floor rather than the rug.
Why the range within one size is so wide
Look at the 10×13 row: $419.99 at the bottom, $800 at the top. Same size, nearly double the price. Three things account for essentially all of it.
- Density, measured in reeds or points. This is the real driver. A 1200-reed weave carries over three million points per square metre. Our denser lines — 1.5 million and 2 million point — pack more yarn into the same area, which you feel immediately as thickness and see as a crisper outline in a medallion. More yarn, more loom time, higher price. Nothing mysterious.
- Pile depth and yarn weight. A 10 mm pile uses more material than a shallower one.
- Pattern complexity. A dense all-over Kashan layout takes more loom setup than an open field with a simple border.
Things that do not justify a higher price, whatever a showroom tells you: the name of the design, a story about a region, the words “luxury” or “heirloom” on a swing tag, or a 70%-off sticker over a price that was never real.
What different budgets actually get you
Under $120. A runner or a small accent piece. In a living-room size at this price you are looking at a thin, loose weave that will flatten within a year or two. We sell doormat-size pieces from $33.99 and 3×6 runners from $109.99, and we would not pretend a 9×12 exists honestly at this number.
$200 – $350. The sweet spot for most rooms. A proper 6.5×10 at genuine 1200-reed density lands here. This is the budget that furnishes a real living room without compromising on the thing that matters, which is density.
$350 – $700. Large formats — 8.2×11.5 and 10×13 — or a smaller rug in one of the denser weaves. If you have an open-plan space, this is the realistic band, and it is still a fraction of what the same floor area costs in any hand-knotted rug.
$3,000 and up. Now you are in hand-knotted territory, and you should be: at that price you are buying a hand-made object with a working lifespan measured in generations rather than a floor covering. We cover the full trade-off in machine-made vs hand-knotted rugs. Our own hand-knotted Afghan carpets live at the Watt Avenue showroom and are shown by appointment, not listed online.
Three things that quietly change the real price
Shipping. A 10×13 rug is a large, heavy parcel, and freight on one can run $80 to $150. Always get the delivered price before comparing. Ours ships free across the US and Canada on orders over $110, which on a $659.99 rug is a material part of the comparison.
The rug pad you may not need. Standard advice is to budget $50 to $150 for a pad. For our rugs, from roughly 3 m² upwards, the cotton backing and the rug's own weight hold it in place and a pad is unnecessary. We do not sell pads, so we have no reason to tell you otherwise.
Returns. A rug you cannot return is cheap in the way a non-refundable flight is cheap. Colour and scale are genuinely hard to judge on a screen; a 30-day return window is part of the price, and if a seller does not offer one, factor that in.
About the size on the label
One thing you deserve to know before you compare any two rugs by size. Sizes in this trade are quoted at the loom. A cotton-backed rug draws in slightly as it is finished, so the piece listed as 300×400 cm — our 10×13 — measures closer to a 9×12 once it is on your floor. That is why customers who ask us for a 9×12 and customers who ask for a 10×13 are usually asking for the same rug, and why 6×9 and 6×10 both point at our 200×300.
We mention it because it is the most common source of confusion in rug buying, and because if an exact figure matters for your room, you should call and ask someone to put a tape across the actual rug rather than trust any label, ours included.
How to price-check any rug in about a minute
- Get the centimetre dimensions. Multiply them, divide by 10,000. That is the area in m².
- Divide the delivered price — including shipping — by that number.
- Ask what the reed count or point density is. If nobody can tell you, that is informative.
- Compare. Under about $70/m² for a dense machine-woven rug is a genuinely good price. Over $120/m² and you should be able to point at what you are getting for it.
Buying in Sacramento
If you are local, the fastest way to settle a price question is to stand on the rug. We are at 3423 Watt Avenue, open daily 10am to 7:30pm. Bring your room dimensions. Ask to see a 1200-reed and a 2-million-point piece in the same size next to each other — the price difference between them is the clearest explanation of rug pricing anyone can give you, and it takes ten seconds of standing on both.
One thing we should be straight about: we sell from stock only. We do not take custom orders, and the only finishing service we offer is overlocking the edge, on rugs bought from us. We do not wash, repair, reweave or restore rugs, and we do not arrange it through anyone else.
Common questions
How much should a 9x12 rug cost?
For a dense machine-woven rug, roughly $420 to $800 delivered — our own 300×400 cm pieces, which finish at about 9×12, typically sell at $659.99. Hand-knotted in that size starts around $3,000 and climbs steeply. If you are quoted $1,500 for a machine-woven 9×12, work out the per-square-metre figure before you agree.
Why are some area rugs so expensive?
Two legitimate reasons: hand labour, and density. A hand-knotted rug represents a year or more of one person's work. A high-density machine weave uses far more yarn and loom time than a cheap one. Everything beyond those two is retail overhead and positioning.
Are cheap rugs a waste of money?
Not inherently — but under about $40/m² you are usually buying a loose, thin weave that flattens quickly in traffic lanes. The cost per year of use ends up higher than a denser rug at twice the price. Density is the one specification worth paying for.
Do rug prices drop in a sale?
Real discounts exist and ours cap out around 10%. Anything advertised at 60–80% off, permanently, was priced for the sticker. Compare the discounted price per square metre against the numbers in the table above; that is the only check that works.
Is it cheaper to buy a rug online or in a showroom?
Online is usually cheaper, because a showroom's floor space and staff are in the price. The trade-off is real: you cannot judge colour and scale on a screen. The sensible version is to see the quality tier in person once, then buy the size you need with a return window.
What size rug do most living rooms need?
For a standard sofa-plus-chairs arrangement, 200×300 cm (listed 6.5×10 ft) is the common answer, and 250×350 for a larger or open-plan room. The usual mistake is going a size too small, which makes the whole room read cramped — it is worth measuring before deciding on budget rather than after.
