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Ikea Takes On Craigslist With Classifieds Site For Its Used Furniture (arstechnica.com) 40

Posted by BeauHD from the circular-economy dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Financial Times: Ikea is taking on the likes of eBay, Craigslist, and Gumtree with a peer-to-peer marketplace for customers to sell secondhand furniture to each other. Ikea Preowned will be tested in Madrid and Oslo until the end of the year with the aim of rolling out the buying and selling platform globally, according to Jesper Brodin, chief executive of Ingka, the main operator of Ikea stores. [...] Ikea has had a small offering under which it buys used furniture from customers and resells it in store. But the new platform is more ambitious, aiming to tackle the secondhand market for customers selling directly to each other -- an area where Brodin estimates Ikea has a higher market share than in new furniture sales. Customers enter their product, their own pictures, and a selling price, while Ikea's own artificial intelligence-enabled database brings in its own promotional images and measurements. The buyer collects the furniture directly from the seller, who has the option of receiving money or a voucher from Ikea with a 15 percent bonus.

"Very often there is a monopoly or oligopoly on platforms that operate," said Brodin, talking about eBay or digital classified ad services such as Gumtree in the UK and Finn in Norway. Finn has 8,700 items from Ikea listed in Oslo alone. Early offerings on Ikea Preowned include large items such as sofas for up to $670 (600 euros) and wardrobes for $500 (450 euros) as well as smaller items such as a toilet roll holder for $4.50 (4 euros). Listings are free, but Brodin said Ikea could eventually charge "a symbolic fee, a humble fee." He added: "We're going to verify the full scope including the economics. If a lot of people use the offer to get a discount with Ikea -- it's a good way to reconnect with customers. I am very curious. I think it makes business sense." Ikea has previously tested selling its new furniture on third-party platforms such as Alibaba's Tmall in China, but the Preowned platform marks its first foray into secondhand marketplaces. It also dovetails with the retailer's wish to become "circular and climate positive" by 2030.
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Ikea Takes On Craigslist With Classifieds Site For Its Used Furniture More

Ikea Takes On Craigslist With Classifieds Site For Its Used Furniture

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  • Used Ikea seems like a bad idea (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Monday August 26, 2024 @04:01PM (#64736970)

    I have owned a lot of stuff from them over the years, but veneered particle board held together with wooden pegs and metal pins isn't exactly robust.

    I had an all-metal desk from them that made many moves, but the idea that Ikea has lots of furniture that could survive a move intact after a few years of use is difficult to accept. That there's enough to support a 2nd-hand ecosystem shocks me a bit.

    • I'd figure at least a few people buy Ikea stuff and then never get around to actually assembling it. There's also folks who are on very limited budgets and don't really mind that a bit of TLC and Elmer's wood glue might be needed for some second-hand furniture.

      • I'd figure at least a few people buy Ikea stuff and then never get around to actually assembling it.

        That's even worse - where are you going to find all the bits and pieces they forgot to include in the kit long after they stopped selling the product?

    • I agree. The majority of products I've bought from Ikea don't survive a move. What is Ikea going to do with people buying something in decent condition from another person but the furniture then falls apart on their way home?

    • They seem to have some sturdier pieces, but most of what they sell is the fast fashion version of furniture. If you have particle board ikea, you are doing above average really, a lot of it is literally honeycomb cardboard now. My universal weight test reigns supreme again - lift whatever thing you are considering, and you can pretty much 99% equate weight to quality.

      If you're one of those ppl who want something cheap, fast, and disposable, and want to replace it every few years anyway, that cardboard furni

      • My universal weight test reigns supreme again - lift whatever thing you are considering, and you can pretty much 99% equate weight to quality.

        My parents owned a flourishing antiques store for decades. The best furniture was light weight, because real wood is not heavy. Exceptions to this rule include unusual wood choices, such as mahogany, or pieces with lots of glass. Incidentally, glass helped determine the age, since pre-1900s poured glass has bubbles that stretch as the glass "flows" downward.

        • Define 'heavy', I guess. There's two sides to this.

          First, what you compare something against. In particular, I was comparing wooden furniture against cardboard furniture; in general, I compare any x product against any y product in the same category.

          Second, weight depends on the type of wood. Hardwoods, in general, are heavier than softwoods, yet are better suited for furniture, because they take abuse better, because they are, well, hard. Balsa, a common modelmaking "hardwood" is about 160kg/m3; pine, a re

        • " since pre-1900s poured glass has bubbles that stretch as the glass "flows" downward. "

          No it doesn't you knob, it was just built to terrible standards because it was manufactured by 12 year old kids .

          • " since pre-1900s poured glass has bubbles that stretch as the glass "flows" downward. "

            No it doesn't you knob, it was just built to terrible standards because it was manufactured by 12 year old kids .

            Tell the world that know don't know antique furniture, without actually saying it. Well done!

            • Glass flowing, while once a popular theory, has been debunked by now. Old glass is non-uniform because the manufacturing methods were not there yet. All of the irregularities in the glass were already there on the day of manufacture.

              The main supposed evidence of the flow, medieval church window glasses being thicker on the bottom edge, is contradicted by plenty of old the same window glasses being thicker on the upper edge. Afaik the particular thickness issue of said glass is caused by the manufacturing me

              • Glass flowing, while once a popular theory, has been debunked by now.

                Err no - it's pretty good at flowing when it is hot so during manufacture the bubbles can still be stretched by flow when pouring. Once it is room temperature it still flows but the time scale for any noticeable effects would be on the order of several 100k years or more meaning that any glass product showing signs of cold flow was not made by homosapiens.

        • >because real wood is not heavy

          Depends on the wood. Balsa or ironwood? Maybe pine?

          I've moved plenty of 100% solid wood furniture that was heavy.

      • My universal weight test reigns supreme again - lift whatever thing you are considering, and you can pretty much 99% equate weight to quality.

        Yes, you can use weight to select particle board over cardboard but when you move up to plywood the weight drops again so some of the high quality stuff they have (or ate least used to) that is made of plywood - or even real wood - will be lighter than the particle board though still heavier than the cardboard.

    • You buy two of the same item and glue together the remaining working halves.

    • IKEA sells furniture in a fairly broad range of quality/price points, including furniture that is largely or entirely made of solid wood. They also have the best engineering for flat-pack furniture that can be self-assembled, and the way pieces are held together has improved massively over the years, with really clever systems where most of the joints are metal-on-metal so they're durable and easy to both build and disassemble. I recently saw a flat-pack cabinet from walmart being assembled and it was an ab
    • Not my experience.

      I am still using several Billy bookcases that I bought back in 1972 when there were only two IKEA stores in the entire world.

      Those bookcases have been through 3 country-to-country moves and 6 house moves.

  • Site to buy/sell missing/extra Ikea parts?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Rinnon ( 1474161 )

      Site to buy/sell missing/extra Ikea parts?

      I was thinking the same thing. If this Ikea marketplace can use the so-called AI-database to not only link the product's instruction manual but also sell replacement parts it might actually provide some value. Not sure that's the desire though, given that I imagine Ikea doesn't want to make it TOO much easier to buy used and not buy a new product directly from them.

    • Ikea does that already, for the smaller parts free and some larger parts. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/customer-service/spare-parts/
  • I think most ikea stuff disintegrates by the time it's done being used. It doesn't even survive being moved very well, let alone have a second life in someone else's place. I mean, if it works, and people like it, great, but this isn't exactly sturdy goods... so color me skeptical.

    • I have an ikea bed and dressers that made 3 moves, and a table that made two. We just sold the dressers. There's a market as long as you take care of it and use moving blankets and all that. The person *receiving* the dressers called afterward to ask how to get the drawers un-jammed, but that was their fault for just shoving them in without hooking the rails properly as they were taking them away. Some people get a lot of life from ikea, and some don't.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mjwx ( 966435 )

        I have an ikea bed and dressers that made 3 moves, and a table that made two. We just sold the dressers. There's a market as long as you take care of it and use moving blankets and all that. The person *receiving* the dressers called afterward to ask how to get the drawers un-jammed, but that was their fault for just shoving them in without hooking the rails properly as they were taking them away. Some people get a lot of life from ikea, and some don't.

        This,

        I've an IKEA bed that's survived a few moves, it's technically 2nd hand as I bought it off the owner of the house I was renting in when I moved out. It's a good bed and I got it for £60.

        Even IKEAs cheap stuff lasts if you take care of it, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has a set of ancient Billy bookcases. Also if you lack the basic skills on how to fix a wobbly desk or wardrobe, you need to hand in your man card.

  • I sold a "vintage" IKEA Expedit shelf (vinyl record lovers want this one) on Craigslist for 75% of what the equivalent new Kallax sells for. I got lots of inquiries and it sold quickly. Putting the post up and managing it was stupid easy as always.

    Good luck to IKEA, but this sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

    • Good luck to IKEA, but this sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

      Must be location dependent. Here in central FL it seems like Facebook marketplace absolutely murdered Craigslist. The place is like a ghost town now. Can't say I'm too thrilled about the situation either, because Facebook marketplace is such a disorganized mess and it's absolutely overflowing with shitposts and scams. So yeah, the problem is definitely real.

      Catch is though, I doubt Ikea can fix the laziness that causes people to just post on the cesspool that is Facebook in the first place, so that's wh

      • That's interesting. I'm in the San Diego area and got 512 hits for "Ikea" just now vs. 124 in the Orlando area. The Orlando metro area is about 2/3 the population of San Diego, so at first blush it does look low.

        I avoid Facebook Marketplace as both a buyer and seller. Craigslist buyers are pretty oddball people a lot of the time (one dude texted me a picture of his ankle a few days ago), but I haven't had any major issues and stuff sells fast if priced fairly.
    • The problem is that ikea didn't make any money off of that.
  • With just a few possible exceptions, isn't most Ikea furniture rather cheap and flimsy?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sconeu ( 64226 )

      [DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING IS OPINION ONLY]

      Depends upon your definition of "Cheap".

      Cheap as in meh? Yes.
      Cheap as in inexpensive? Hell no.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by taustin ( 171655 )

      Don't use particleboard as firewood. Between the glue and usually plastic-y veneer, you can get all sorts of toxic fumes, and apparently, depending on moisture content and particle size, it can also explode.

  • IKEA seems to dislike the ongoing trade in its products after they have dropped them from their line. Some web sites have popped up to buy/sell certain popular lines of furniture after IKEA has discontinued them. And their response to continuing thems even on a catalog only basis has been dismal. In other words: No way. Strange behavior from a company that is in the business of actually selling stuff.

    At any rate, this could be an attempt to get that after market trade under control. Or kill it altogether.

  • If there's ever anything from Ikea I need, I would just check Craigslist, etc, for the model first.

    Usually people selling mint condition for a fraction of the price, almost never had to go directly to Ikea.

    Seems sensible to run this market themselves, but there can't be any question that they will eventually monetize it?

  • "Ikea has had a small offering under which it buys used furniture from customers and resells it in store" I was wondering where I could sell my once particle board dust piles and various broken pieces of what was once furniture.

  • ......Craigslist sells more than sex? AMAZING!

  • Used Ikea furniture is also known as particle board scrap.

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