If you pass by the ‘as-is’ section of any American Ikea store, you might now find a vintage table from the 1980s.
The company recently started accepting older products into its Buy Back & Resell program, which gives customers store credit for returning used items and then offering them for sale to other customers. Since launching as a pilot in the US five years ago, the program – still the only one of its kind at a major furniture retailer – has steadily expanded, underscoring the demand for circular options.
The program “is our opportunity to get our products back to our customers’ stores to keep them out of the landfill,” said Mardi Ditze, sustainability manager for Ikea US.
[Photo: Ikea]
US stores recently began recalling an additional 700 SKUs through the program, from vintage furniture to glassware. Last year, customers returned 14,700 products, compared to 8,000 in 2023. Most were resold within 48 to 72 hours.
The brand’s resale program is also growing globally. Ingka Group, the largest Ikea franchise with stores in 31 countries, purchased almost 690,000 used Ikea products for resale last year. Part of the appeal, especially in today’s economy, is the fact that the second-hand products have a built-in discount.
“We have always focused on creating value for money for customers, and this strengthens our low-price offering,” said Karen Pflug, Chief Sustainability Officer of Ingka Group. “Our research shows that even though we feel like we’re affordable, it can still be a barrier for some people. So secondhand offers a whole new level of affordability.”
[Photo: Ikea]
Selling used products does not cannibalize the company’s sales of new products. Instead, it helps bring in new customers who are looking for cheaper options. Customers who bring in their own used products to resell typically spend more than the value of the voucher they receive for the return.
“In our experience, when a customer comes in and has successfully completed a buyback transaction and has a store credit in hand, they’re probably thinking about what their next purchase will be,” Ditze says. “That transaction could happen as early as that day, and that gift card is applied to the purchase they wanted to make.”
Ikea also offers a peer-to-peer resale option in a handful of countries, and there are plans to do so as well expand this year. Customers looking to resell scan their product with the Ikea app and then automatically receive price recommendations, dimensions, descriptions, assembly instructions and professional product photos for their listing, eliminating some of the hassle of posting an ad yourself on another platform like eBay or Facebook Marketplace. Sellers will also receive cash or a 15% digital refund card to use at Ikea.
Left: a page from a 1979 Ikea catalog showing the Billy bookcase. Right: a newer version of the Billy, ca. 2022. [Photos: Ikea]
The work is part of Ikea’s larger effort to become a circular company, meaning it keeps products and materials in use for as long as possible, switching to recycled and renewable materials and eliminating waste across its supply chain. Inter Ikea, the brand’s design arm, is also starting to redesign products for longevity. For example, the classic Billy bookcase now has more resilient materials and snap fasteners instead of nails on the back, so it disassembled and reassembled more quickly– and can be resold and moved more easily.
Ikea has also long offered free parts to repair products if a screw is lost, and sofa covers to keep furniture in use longer if it gets stained. Some stores in Europe have tested repair programs for resold items. Ikea is actively looking for new recycling options for products that wear out completely or if they cannot be easily resold for hygienic reasons. For example, the company invested in a mattress recycling startup, which can harvest parts from springs to foam for use in new mattresses. And by 2030, Ikea aims to have a third of the wood in its products recycled.
“Part of that is creating a closed loop flow for ourselves as raw materials come in,” Pflug says. “But the other one is just doing the right thing from a circular economy perspective.”
[Photo: Ikea]
In the field of resale, Ikea is taking advantage of the momentum that already existed. In Europe, Pflug says Ikea products make up about 9% of the second-hand furniture market. But the company’s efforts could help more people take the time to give things a second life instead of throwing them away. Other brands could take the same approach.
“Customers are already seeing the value of our products, but also of second-hand furniture in general, and are doing the same themselves,” says Pflug. “So if you want to be a part of that conversation and a part of that market, you have to make sure you’re accessible and affordable and remove the barriers and pain points for people to do it. I think that’s where you’ll get the demand.”
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