IKEA Employee Reveals How They Trick Us Into Buying More Stuff

So we know when it comes to store layouts, psychology plays a big role. Signs like "Last Chance to Buy" and strategically placing the limes by the Coronas are tasty little tempters, and we don't mind succumbing even though we know what they're at. However, we never noticed IKEAs sneaky little trick to convince us to buy a LOT more stuff. Mental Floss spoke to IKEA employees across the globe to find out employees' biggest secrets, and they weren't afraid to dish the dirt. While we were intrigued to learn about secret passages and moving walls, the "open the wallet" section really struck a chord with us. In order to get us to buy stuff we "didn't know we wanted", IKEA litter cheap but practical items around the store, but always close together in these "open the wallet" sections. The idea is that once we decide to buy one of these items, we'll probably continue to pick up other stuff that we would have walked past if they had been sitting on their own. Lauren Collins wrote in the New Yorker: “There, an abundance of cheap goods—flowerpots, slippers, lint rollers—encourages the customer to make a purchase, any purchase, the thinking being that IKEA shoppers buy either nothing or a lot." An employee told Mental Floss that in his particular store, this area was located by the stairs on the second floor. He said: “It’s basically impulse buys. “It’s a lot of very cheap items, things that look practical, useful, something you didn’t realize you wanted.” “It’s a lot of very cheap items, things that look practical, useful, something you didn’t realize you wanted.” So the next time you're stuffing lint rollers and flower-shaped lip balms into your bag like a savage, take a long hard look at yourself. Do you REALLY need them? Or have you been a victim of IKEA's evil genius?