Search icon

Life

13th Oct 2020

IKEA to buy back unwanted furniture from customers to sell second hand in IKEA stores

Conor Heneghan

We can see this offer proving quite popular.

Furniture giant IKEA has announced a new initiative in which it will ‘Buy Back’ unwanted furniture from customers that it will then sell second hand in stores across the UK and Ireland.

The ‘Buy Back’ initiative is due to launch just under a month before Christmas on 27 November, the day on which ‘Black Friday’ falls this year.

As part of the initiative, customers selling back an item will receive an IKEA refund card to spend in store, which will have no expiry date in order to encourage customers to purchase items only when they’re really needed.

Depending on the condition of the furniture traded in, the voucher could be worth as much as 50% of the original price if deemed as good ‘as new’. Furniture considered ‘very good’ and ‘well-used’ will be worth 40% and 30% respectively (see details below).

  • As new – no scratches: 50% of the original price
  • Very good – minor scratches: 40% of original price
  • Well-used – several scratches: 30% of original price

Returned items will then be resold as second-hand in the As-Is Area of stores (previously known as Bargain Corner). Anything that cannot be resold will be recycled or donated to local community projects.

Products that are eligible for Buy Back include:

  • Dressers
  • Office drawer cabinets
  • Small structures with drawers
  • Display storage and sideboards
  • Bookcases and shelf units
  • Small tables
  • Multimedia furniture
  • Cabinets
  • Dining tables and desks
  • Chairs and stools without upholstery
  • Chests of drawers
  • Children’s products, excluding baby items and PAX accessories.

Customers who wish to sell back their old IKEA furniture simply need to visit IKEA.co.uk and submit items for consideration by filling out a simple online offer request.

The tool will automatically generate a preliminary offer and customers will then be invited to bring the fully assembled product and preliminary offer to the Returns & Exchanges desk in their nearest store, where they will then receive an IKEA refund card to spend in store.

IKEA says the initiative is just one way in which it is working towards its goal of becoming a fully circular and climate positive business by 2030.

Commenting on the Buy Back initiative, Hege Sæbjørnsen, Country Sustainability Manager at IKEA UK & Ireland, said: “The IKEA vision has always been to create a better everyday life for many people, which right now means making sustainable living easy and affordable for everyone. Being circular is a good business opportunity as well as a responsibility, and the climate crisis requires us all to radically rethink our consumption habits.

“Currently, 45% of total global carbon emissions come from the way the world produces and uses everyday products, so Buy Back represents an opportunity to address unsustainable consumption and its impact on climate change.”

Topics:

IKEA