Where to Find Vintage Rugs

This post is a response to a reader question about where to find vintage rugs. I want to cover places to buy vintage rugs with two different answers:

Where to find vintage rugs online
Best places to find vintage rugs in person

I will go over the benefits and drawbacks of buying vintage rugs online and in person. Also, I will cover what to consider when shopping each way.

1. Buying Vintage Rugs Online

Vintage Rugs on Etsy

First off, my favorite place to find vintage rugs online is on Etsy. I’m going to share towards the end of this post some of my favorite sellers of vintage rugs on Etsy and tips for finding good sellers online.

There are also other places like Revival, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace. Other than Facebook Marketplace, there are groups that you can apply to inside of Facebook that are neighborhood groups that sell resale goods.

Try a search for “City + Garage Sale” on Facebook.

Where I live, there’s the Preston Hollow Facebook group for selling things. It’s called Preston Hollow garage sale. You can search these Facebook groups for rugs.

Challenge of Buying Vintage Rugs Online

Now, I’m going to talk about the challenge of buying vintage rugs online. If you buy them at some place like Facebook, you can see the rugs before you make the decision to buy.

If you’re strictly buying them online, the downside is that you really have to hate it to return it. It is hard to return because it is expensive and it’s big. Some of the sellers won’t take the rugs back.

2. Buying Vintage Rugs In Person

Places to buy vintage rugs in person can be flea markets, garage sales, and thrift stores.

Challenges of Buying Rugs in Person

The issue is that it takes a long time to find one that way for me. We have something called Roundtop which has a ton of vintage rugs. But, they are really expensive. For me, that is not going to be an option with a high price tag.

Tips for Finding Etsy Sellers

What to look for if you’re buying from somebody on Etsy? Before I share the people that I like, I will give you a guide of how to find sellers.

Tip #1: Star Sellers/Reviews

Look for Star sellers, or people who have at least 100 five-star reviews.

When you click on when you find a rug on Etsy that you like, click through to the seller’s store and see if they sell mostly rugs.

And if they do, they probably have a wide selection of rugs, and that’s a place that I would buy from.

Tip #2: Check Inventory Pictures

I’ve bought Oriental Rugs on Etsy that did not come from the US, making them hard to return. But, I was very happy with my purchase because I researched the seller.

I did check out the seller and read their reviews to look at how quickly they ship and how accurate the picture is. They usually have a lot of pictures of every angle and closeup photos, if it’s someone that’s carrying a lot of rugs.

Warning About Buying Vintage Rugs: Smaller Rugs

The issue with buying vintage rugs either online or in person is that houses tended to be smaller. These rugs are not typically as big as some of the rugs that you’re looking to purchase.

If you’re wondering what size rug you need, I did two previous posts about rugs: a guide on how to buy rugs and a guide on how to tell what size and material.