I think that's a culture clash. Persian culture is very big on bargaining. My father was an immigration lawyer and he told me that if he had a Persian client he would have to increase the price and allow himself to be bargained down to the normal price.

I'm with you, I prefer not to bargain but I don't think it's fair to equate bargaining cultures to swindlers.

I wonder if this inverse effect happens. Suppose someone from a bargaining culture is forced to deal with someone from a retail culture. Do they feel like they're being ripped off because they weren't given a chance to ask for a lower price?

Yeah, it's absolutely true.

I remember a local rug dealer who was "going out of business" for 20 years and was always running "liquidation" sales.

I've almost never seen rugs without some ridiculous markdown...at dedicated rug dealers. However, department stores tend to just sell them at closer to what the correct price is without all the fakery. I usually advise people to buy from those more "reputable" sellers because you won't play those games with them.

You'll notice I quoted the "sale" price in the link I provided (http://esalerugs.com/red-palace-rugs-kashan-persian-rug-2219...), you'll pretty much never find a rug listed for the original price. In this case the "original price" was $32k, which is absolutely absurd for that rug. People who buy at that price also probably own the Brooklyn Bridge and the Moon. The "online discount" of $13k is more like what you'd find as the starting price at most dedicated dealers. I'd expect to see that rug for maybe $8-10k at a department store. Hit on a big holiday sale and get some other discounts and you could easily walk away with that rug for maybe $4-5k.

You're expected to haggle. I once walked into a rug store, looked at a rug and the guy said it was $13,000. I said, "that's way too much! Can you knock something off?"

He said, "OK, for you, $3,000."

I probably could've gotten him down under $2,000 if I really wanted the rug.

It's pretty true of all furniture.

(stores regularly discount by 50%...)

I think it's because we can derive so much value from the stuff we use every day.

This is why I shop at Ikea.