Buying Carpet Online vs Flooring Specialist

This blog aims to help you decide on the best route to purchasing carpet, by discussing the pros and cons of either buying online or through a flooring company.

Considerations

Cost – as a rule buying a carpet online is slightly cheaper due to less overheads of a purely internet-based supplier. However, what you can buy cheaply online may not be of the same quality even if you appear to be getting a good deal. Most online retailers also charge hefty delivery charges which obviously increases the initial attractive price of the carpet.

Quality – Online retailers offer a vast range of choice and will provide samples. However, you will need to order a fair selection of samples to make a decent comparison, the samples tend to be small, and retailers generally charge for these.

Carpet Fitting – not an option with most online only retailers. There are some real considerations when choosing to buy online and source an independent fitter

• Check the delivery terms – most are ‘kerbside’ deliveries and therefore you will have to move the carpet into the house yourselves and store it until your chosen fitter can install it.

• If there is a fault in the carpet, which will only be apparent at the time of fitting - that is your responsibility with the company you bought it from, you will have to repackage and arrange collection/replacement and you may have to still pay the fitter for the time you booked initially while you sort out the problems and rebook.

Expertise and Personal Service – If you have installed carpet yourself before you can feel confident in buying online but this approach assumes you know exactly what you require, and every project will raise questions that may not be answered online.

• How much carpet do you need for the project? You may need to order more carpet to consider the pile direction for instance. You can easily mis measure and order the incorrect size.

• What type and quality of carpet best suit the areas?

Conclusion

Buying online definitely offers you the convenience of researching lots of different options from your armchair without having to take time to visit stores. If you are confident to order online and find an experienced fitter, and it all comes together smoothly, this can be a slightly cheaper option.

Whilst you may pay a little more by engaging a flooring specialist to supply and fit your carpets, there are clear benefits – you get expert advice, often with home consultation and samples, the scheduling of installation, delivery and storage are all taken care of and if there are any problems they are rectified promptly.