The mark-up the non-flooring stores put on their products is quite high compared to flooring stores. So feel free to browse and get ideas from the bigger stores, but I would put off my purchase and go to a flooring store instead.

Trap #2: Bringing Home Ridiculous Amounts Of Flooring Samples:

In my personal experience, this confused the customer more than anything. I'm not saying don't take some samples home and try to co-ordinate colors. But having 63 wood floor samples sprawled all over your floor is madness. See, you will NOT remember what you looked at. And your flooring shopping experience will be a nightmare. Here's a personal experience:

A lady I was helping select her new wood floor looked at every sample in the store. Literally. That's over a few hundred samples - I kid you not! After she was about to leave, I told her 'wait maam, I have something here out back, let me get it for you'. Now the sample I pulled was identical to the very first one she looked at an hour earlier and said 'it was too red'.

She bought it.

A good tip when looking at samples, always eliminate one before going to the next. So if you have two on the ground, when you come with the third ask yourself 'if I had to remove one from this planet, which would it be?'. That way, you're not confusing yourself.

Trap #3: Insisting on seeing samples 'in different lights':

Knock yourself out during the daytime. At night, when you're asleep, they all look black :-)

Trap #4: Unaware of Flooring Product Variation:

Many flooring products have a natural color variation between planks and tiles; particularly natural stone. Some have very light, others have extreme to random variation. They are meant to look this way! So be sure you know this before you buy. Ask the salesperson and if you're unsure, get several samples to get an idea of the range of variation.

Trap #5: Buying Sticker Price:

Never, EVER do this! You must learn how to negotiate with flooring salespeople or they will eat you alive. If you don't know how, I suggest you download your copy of Floor Buying Secrets. You'll win em' over in less than 3 minutes.

Trap #6: Not Reading Your Contract:

This isn't an excuse if you cancel your order for any reason and the flooring store whacks you with up to a 35% re-stocking fee of the total order amount! So if you cancel a $7500 order, kiss $2625 goodbye. Read it carefully before you sign, and if you're unsure, ask them directly if there's a re-stocking fee.

Trap #7: Not Registering Your Floor:

Many flooring products come with a manufacturers booklet certifying authenticity and ask you to register your floor with them. They do this in case any warranty issues surface later. If they have you on file, they can quickly take care of your request. I strongly recommend doing this.