apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I hear lots of talk about this "as-is" section at IKEA, but I've never been able to find it. Do all IKEAs have one? Is it also in/near the same part of the store? I really want to check it out, it sounds like a thrift store, but with things I'd actually WANT to buy.

i've been waiting for an expedit or trofast system to come up in the schaumburg location. any sightings?

I have been to many IKEAs across the country and the quality of the AS-IS section depends entirely on where you are. In Chicago and Austin it is great but all of the AS-IS sections on the East Coast are full of stuff that is super beat-up/trashed. I imagine this is because of the immense amount of traffic and overall abuse of the merchandise (plus all the good stuff probably disappears as soon as it is put out).

Sparkle: The AS-IS section is always adjacent to the warehouse part of the store.

We bought a brown Gilbert chair in the Ikea as-is dept for my mother -- wasn't anything wrong with it that we could see but it only cost $30 instead of $49. It's great, no problems. Now I want to buy four for my own house but I'll probably have to pay full price, LOL.

I bought two solid wood plank gateleg tables originally $100 each for $50 each. Absolutely nothing was wrong with them, I think they were meant to be outdoor furniture and they were out of season. One of the myriad of people eyeing them while I was considering buying said, "there is at least $50 of wood there!"

Best part was they came fully assembled!

It's the perfect place to get ikea hacks. I've also gotten wood there that was at one time furniture

is there more to the store than this? it is great for deals

Here in Toronto the as-is sections are awesome - I'd say about 75% of our IKEA stuff at home is from as-is... and its all been in great condition. Usually its the stuff that's just been assembled and returned because people didn't like it. And its always at least 50% off. We always make our first stop at the as-is and then go through the store backwards. Weird, I know...

Most recent purchase was a nice white Jakob swivel chair for less than 1/2 price. Also got an extra cover for my Stockholm Blad chair for only $5.

I don't know what the as-is stocking schedule/cycle is, but pickings always seem to be best late in the week (before the weekend rush, presumably) and thinnest on Monday. So if you have the option of shopping during the week, that's a consideration. One of my favorite items is the spare/offcut shelving/counters/pieces/etc. Super cheap, lots of uses - I got a piece the size of a large desktop for a couple dollars. Also miscellaneous textiles for repurposing.

ooh, as is rocks. 2 bar stools (that are no longer made, sadly, they are classy) with some scratches that are a) invisible b) who cares - they'll get scratched up anyway. lots of table top materials for desks. all of our desks are from boards from as-is new legs. cheap and any size you want.

at least in toronto. :-)

As-Is Edmonton is also awesome, but you have to make regular trips to catch the good stuff. Like Suewanda, the majority of our Ikea stuff is As-Is. It's like an adventure and can really spark your imagination for hacking busted items into something new.

The real trick is sometimes you can get the floor staff to mark something down a bit more with a bit of fancy talking.

I got my couch there (about $150 off) and a dresser (very cheap) or two. I'm in Philly so I have both the Conshy and the South Philly store as options.

One suggestion: bring a catalog so you can figure out what the stuff in the boxes is. Also, someone spatially good can figure out if that dent/scratch is going to be on the inside or outside of the piece of furniture.

Burbank's as-is section is decent, but it really depends on your luck. I've gotten awesome deals there and I've also seen a whole lot of nothing. But I always check it when I go, just to be sure.

I came very close to buying my media cabinet (Magiker TV bench, I think it's called) out of the as-is section rather than out of the warehouse. The as-is one was about $40 cheaper and had no visible flaws or blemishes.

I ended up buying the new, flat-pack one instead. It was much, much easier to transport than was the pre-assembled one. I'm certain I would have knocked out at least one shelf and probably shattered the glass door had I tried to move this six-legged, wheel-less piece of furniture intact through the store and the parking garage to the van.

I don't think I'd hesitate with (a) stuff that comes pre-assembled anyway, like side chairs, one-piece tables, or barstools; or (b) stuff that's marked way, way down, to the point where the hassle of moving it in its assembled state is worth the savings.

Stoughton's as-is section isn't too great, a lot of the actual furniture looks like it's been in a house filled with children for 10 years! But you can find lots of little things, my mom got almost a full set of pots and pans for my first apartment, they had just been in a display kitchen before hand but they were super cheap!

I got a great as-is bedside table not at IKEA, but a Pottery Barn outlet. It was $175 originally and I bought it for $25 plus the cost of a scratch cover-up marker.

I had been looking for a small chaise to fit my odd shaped LR. The only stuff that would fit was $$$$ OMG!

So imagine my delight to see an Ektorp Chaise in the AS-IS! Woo Hoo! Hmm only $30 off...But wait, turn it over...it's frame is scrap! @#^$#!!!

Now, right next to it, looking forlorn, is the add-on side of an Ektorp L shaped sofa. Just that, no legs, all the cushions (it's 3 wide) but no cover (of course), and canted slightly because the open end hooks onto the main sofa so it isn't made to sit on the floor. Hmm, turn it over...pristine! Hmmmm... I can add a block here, and here, and put the whole dem t'ing on big casters! How much is this puppy? $56.60?!? Did someone switch a sticker? Nope...MINE!

Go back and get a cover set for the 4 cushion Ektorp (hey, I can sew the end up and still have an extra cushion cover)

Total around $120 for the chaise of my dreams!

in a fairly magic moment, when my wife and I were first decorating our apartment, we walked around ikea and picked up smaller things, while making plans to save up for the larger ticket item, a record shelf. on the way out, we saw the scratch and dent, and by chance, there was the record shelf we had just been dreaming of. at a third of the price.

Selena, it seems every time I hit As-Is Schaumberg there's at least one Expedit system in great-to-pristine condition (I bought my 4x4 flat-packed, but my 2x4 from As-Is). They're definitely out there, but most of them are already assembled. Actually great for the bigger units, but does require a truck or monster SUV for transport home (or Ikea delivery).

My favorite find isn't a furniture piece at all. About a year ago I found a round, black and white bird tessellation silkscreened on stretch canvas and snapped it up from an As-Is shelf because I loved the graphic look. We hadn't seen it anywhere else in the store, and there was nothing wrong with it, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? It prompted all sorts of curious questions from other shoppers on the way to the register. I brought it home to my bright orange office, where it hung happily until the arrival of the fall catalog and was finally named - the Pjatteryd, hailed as a "new" item. $79.95. Considering the three bucks I spent on it, it looks better than ever.

Several years ago I once purchased a 6'x9'wool berber rug from the as-is section at Ikea Elizabeth in NJ. Its problem was a large grey-brown dirt stain on it. I think the rug cost $50 normal price was around $200 and it cost me $35 to have it cleaned. So for $85 I got a $200 rug.

Heather, consistently enjoy your posts. Thank you. A question not directly to Ikea's As-Is department but to the Vinstra piece you bought: Does it have a lip around the top surface or is the top surface flat? It's hard to tell from the photo and my local Ikea doesn't have a floor model out. I'd love to know before I take the plunge. Thanks in advance!