Ikea launches eBay-style platform for customers to resell their used furniture

In brief: Swedish giant Ikea has launched an online marketplace that allows people to sell their used Ikea furniture. The website is currently being tested in two European locations until the end of the year, with plans for a global rollout to follow.

Ikea Preowned is currently being tested in Madrid and Oslo, reports the Financial Times. The platform works in a similar fashion as eBay or Craigslist: users enter their product, upload their own photos, and set a selling price. Buyers then collect the furniture directly from sellers, who have the option of receiving money or an Ikea voucher with a 15% bonus added.

As the site is only for the company's furniture, Ikea Preowned's AI can detect the photos that are uploaded and add the original product images and measurements, allowing potential buyers to see both Ikea's official photos and those from the seller.

Unlike similar selling platforms, Ikea currently doesn't charge people to list their items, but it sounds like that may change. Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ikea parent company Ingka Group, said the company could charge a "symbolic fee, a humble fee" in the future.

Brodin says that a monopoly or oligopoly exists on reseller platforms. One such service, Norway's Finn, has 8,700 items from Ikea listed in Oslo alone. While Ikea has tested selling its furniture on third-party platforms in the past, this marks its entry into the secondhand marketplace.

Ikea has increasingly been embracing the modern tech world in recent times. It announced a new gaming furniture line called the Brännboll collection in April. The collection consists of some very colorful items that wouldn't look out of place in a student's dorm room from the 1990s. The firm has also partnered with Asus on the affordable ROG furniture line.

In November, Ikea announced that it would be launching three new smart sensors for remote home monitoring and control in 2024: Parasoll, Vallhorn, and Badring. It also launched the first Bluetooth speaker with Spotify Tap in 2022.

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Ikea launches eBay-style platform for customers to resell their used furniture

Could be great for college bound people or those getting into their first apartment and need some kind of furnishing....

But I'm not one that would want secondhand Ikea furniture in my place. I've had Ikea type furniture in the past and anything that's used on a regular basis tends to be pretty much in throw away condition after a handful of years - especially if you have little kids. Or if the piece of furniture has been moved a few times (thinking of shelves or desks) it becomes wobbly, loose and parts tend to break.

Maybe things have changed with Ikea furniture over the past decade since I last owned some, but based on my experiences in the past I wouldn't want anything from them second hand.

I would never buy used furniture unless it was solid wood or solid plastic. I'm not sitting or sleeping on someone's gremlin filled cushion or mattress