As the largest retailer in the world, IKEA has stores in 38 countries around the globe. In an interesting new study, Idealo UK performed a cost comparison to determine the cheapest and most expensive places to buy from the big blue box. Check out some of their findings after the jump…
To create their price comparison, Idealo UK looked at 40 IKEA products which can be found in 33 different countries. They also compared prices both with and without VAT, since that additional charge isn't included in US products purchased in US stores (a point that actually makes a big difference).
Cheapest IKEA prices: Poland
Mos expensive Ikea prices: Australia
The United States is the third cheapest country for buying IKEA's products. But, as the study points out, this is a bit misleading. "Taxes for the USA aren't included in the IKEA pricing, as there is no federal sales tax in the United States. So unless you're shopping IKEA in Portland, Oregon (no state or local sales tax), this ranking is too high ... Based on the average sales tax (state and local) rate for 15 U.S. IKEA locations (7.02%), the U.S. IKEA price in our comparison would rank 14th, between France & Hungary." In fact, shoppers in Portland, Oregon — with their 0% sales tax — are paying the lowest price in the US for their Pax wardrobes and Billy bookcases. And they're third cheapest in the whole world.
Check out more of the Worldwide IKEA Price Comparison at Idealo UK.
(Image: Shutterstock)
Which Wall Color Gives the Best Sleep?
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Z2 iPod Dock and Wi...
Soda Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
I always knew we were getting screwed in Canada. I just bought the Raskog cart and it was $20 more in Canada than in the US AND we have a 13% tax rate.
It's pretty ridiculous that we pay two to three times more for many IKEA products here in Australia than in the US. I can understand a slight difference - we're an isolated country with a smaller population but it really does seem disproportionate. Unfortunately there are very few options to buy furniture within a similar price range here. I dream of the day we have stores like Anthropologie, Crate and Barrel and West Elm in Australia!!!
There are a couple of Ikea stores in Jersey, (Elizabeth and Paramus = easy distances from NYC The Elizabeth store even offers a free round trip shuttle bus on weekends) Everything in these two stores seems very cheap.
I shop at Ikea in both the UK and the USA. I notice that prices on different items vary. Some are cheaper in the UK, some in the USA. I always assumed that it was because of different production & shipping costs.
My long experience of prices in the UK vs the USA (not limited to Ikea) is that things cost the same in dollars as in pounds - something that's $100 in the US is £100 in the UK. Since the pound is worth around $1.60 now,that means we pay half again as much in the UK. Only some of this is explained by VAT.
Price really depends on the item. Some items are way cheaper in the US or my surrounding countries than where I live, while other items will be significantly cheaper in my country.
Goodness, it's not Ireland being ripped off..... for a change.
Ikea uses wood from old growth forests. Not a good thing to do, and I refuse to support them until they stop. Read the L A Time article below.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/02/local/la-me-gs-true-cost-ikea-logging-oldgrowth-forests-20120601
The largest retailer in the world is Wal-Mart. Maybe you meant the world's largest furniture retailer, which is indeed Ikea.
Living in Germany not too far from The Netherlands and Belgium, it was always worth to compare prices. And they differ a lot!
But IKEA just recently put a stop on this. I cannot look any more at any product information on any other IKEA site than the German one. You have to register to get to all the product details, but it won't let me register in any other country and is always sending me back to my German account!! This is absolutely outrageous!
I'm so furious about that, I wanted to send an email to their headquarter. But guess, what? No headquarter email address anywhere on the internet!
I'm done with them! Until there is free access again to any IKEA website in the world.
@Mollyheyer: Have you tried checking out the Ikea website through an IP anonymizer?
Cheeky geeky ERICAUERBACH!
@KASSGOOD, plus the one in Brooklyn is even easier from Manhattan with the water ferry.
Price really depends on the item. Man, that's the wisest thing I've read on this site in years.
Does IKEA own AT?
@NIC M - I have always suspected this. For the price range, in Australia, where else can beat Ikea? Four years ago, we went to a furniture store to order our two couches, add our choice of fabric plus delivery it increased by 50%. This year, we may have to go Ikea.
Outside of Australia, consumers have so many choices and not just Interiors, even Supermarkets. What is the Australia's fascination with limiting the population's choices? This is why I shop online from overseas more and more. More choices, greater savings and better service.
@mollyheyer
I discovered the same thing, and it is truly annoying. After some frustrating correspondence with Ikea, I figured out a work-around. I have two separate accounts with Ikea, using two different email addresses. One account opens my UK Ikea and the other opens the US Ikea.
In Australia, your best option is to go second hand. I tell this to my parents who live there all the time - Mid Century Modern is not fashionable there, and therefore SO CHEAP. Go to your local Salvos or Vinnies stores before going to IKEA. Even if you bid on furniture on ebay or look on gumtree.com.au you will get great quality items (not necessarily mcm, if you don't like that) SO CHEAP compared to IKEA. Not everything has to be new.
Yeah... there is no Ikea here in Guatemala, but I believe that if there was, it would be a pricey place to go to. It happens with every foreign chain/brand, no matter if it is considered affordable in other countries.
@ERICAUERBACH, thanks for this tip! I've tried hidemyass and it worked!. Halfway. I could get to all product information (which is great!) but I could not check the availability at a given store. Which makes planning purchases in another country impossible.
I think, that's exactly why IKEA did this. IKEA protectionism.
You can't even check availability in your own country, if you are not logged into your account.
@DULCIBELLA, email addresses I have some but no physical addresses and telephone numbers (they asked for that as far as I remember). I presume, the 'frustrating correspondence' you had with their customer service, not with the headquarter?
@Mollyheyer -- I can't see availability on the German site without logging in, but I still can on the Netherlands and Belgium sites.
Try browsing to the sites directly: the national Ikea sites are located at http://www.ikea.com/xx/yy/ (fake link!) where xx is the country code and yy is the language code. So the Netherlands is http://www.ikea.com/nl/nl/ and Belgium (in French) is http://www.ikea.com/be/fr/.
If you still can't get availability on those sites, I'd consider logging out and clearing cookies on your browser.
No login required for the Hong Kong site. And its in English.
So... it's time for me to move back to Portland.
IKEA is not the "largest retailer in the world." It doesn't even make it into the top 25.
http://www.licensemag.com/licensemag/Retail/Top-25-Global-Retailers/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/524652
Nic M wrote: "It's pretty ridiculous that we pay two to three times more for many IKEA products here in Australia than in the US."
Prices are ultimately set by how much a particular market is willing to pay.
@mollyheyer – huh? I can access any ikea site without the problem you speak of. Just go to ikea.com, and a list of country sites will pop up. I just went to Benelux, Deutschland, España, etc, and all prices/availability worked fine.
@Googerber - Sure, in theory I'd rather buy second-hand than go to IKEA. But by the time you trawl websites and find what you want, with no reliable measurements, then contact the seller, then the thing is sold so you start again, then you find it again but it's in a suburb half an hour away and you don't have a ute (truck) and it won't fit in your car....you get the picture. Sometimes you just want to go to IKEA. (Oh, and I hate MCM.)
@Jdoey - That's a pretty simplistic way of looking at it, frankly. Prices are also set by how much market competition there is. In Australia, there is not enough, which is a situation that IKEA milks (understandably).
First world problems and all that, but yes, it is irritating to pay triple for your IKEA.
Charlie26 wrote: "That's a pretty simplistic way of looking at it, frankly."
No, it is not a "simplistic way of looking at it," it is a financial, economical and business fact.
"Prices are also set by how much market competition there is. In Australia, there is not enough, which is a situation that IKEA milks (understandably)."
Read my remark again. It said *ultimately* prices are determined by how much a market is willing to pay. That statement doesn't preclude other factors that can determine pricing.
And as it relates to IKEA, I doubt very much that there is not a reasonable level of competition to put a check on pricing. Whether people take advantage of them or not is another matter.
@Jdoey - Your original comment was:
"Nic M wrote: "It's pretty ridiculous that we pay two to three times more for many IKEA products here in Australia than in the US."
Prices are ultimately set by how much a particular market is willing to pay"
What's your point? Your statement is a truism. Of course businesses charge as much as they can, in order to maximise their profits without pricing themselves out of the market. *My* point is that 'how much a particular market is willing to pay' is, in turn, dependent on how much competition there is.
You can 'doubt' all you want, but since people don't love paying twice as much for the same item, I think it's pretty clear that there is not enough competition to 'put a check on pricing'.
@mollyheyer
I am in Germany and have no problem accessing Ikea websites with price information from other countries - I just did it now to check before writing this! Just search for Ikea.be or Ikea.nl (or whatever)
@googerber I live in Australia and mid century furniture is hugely popular and has been for several years. I'd love to know where to find these mid century bargains, because I've been trawling all the op shops in my area for years and I've yet to find a gem....
As for Ikea-the prices over here are over double what people pay in the US. The explanation given was because it costs so much to ship the products here. Interesting explanation seeing that a fair proportion of their products are manafactured in Indonesia which is one of our closest neighbouring countries... Who wants to pay double the price for items which are, lets face it, of questionable quality?
As a resident of Kansas City I'd argue that buying Ikea in KC is PRETTY DAMN EXPENSIVE. Especially because the nearest IKEA is in Minnesota and their shipping is exorbitant. Tried to order about $300 worth of furniture and it was going to cost $350 to ship!! That's paying twice as much for half the stuff! So if you live in a non IKEA state, I'd say you pay the most.
@KrissyDiggs, my sister told me about a service in Halifax, Nova Scotia that goes to Ikea in Montréal, Québec to buy things for people. If you've got friends/family with a van, or could rent one, you might be able to split with people and save on shipping that way.
My friends and I carpool to Ikea in Burlington, Ontario for shopping trips and I make my mother take me to the one 10 minutes away from her house in Toronto nearly every time I visit.
If it weren't for the border crossing pains, I guess we could go to the Detroit store. With our dollar higher than the US one at the moment, the temptation is great. A Nils dining chair costs $109 in Canada and $80 in the US. *boggle*
@CRAZYLADY
@SAUCEFIEND
I tried it your way, CRAZYLADY, and yes, I could get to all product details. It didn't even ask me once to log in. They must have changed that because until yesterday it was impossible to do it this way. (I'm glad I was not the only one who had these problems)
But still, I cannot check the availability of a product in any given shop in another country. Let's say Ikea.nl, are those pillows available at Ikea in Heerlen. I click ok and nothing shows up. This local availability check I can do for my country only (here Germany). As said already, today without being asked to log in.
So, they have changed back something today. Hopefully they'll change back the rest, too.
charlie26 wrote: "What's your point? Your statement is a truism. Of course businesses charge as much as they can, in order to maximise their profits without pricing themselves out of the market."
You just stated my point, yet somehow you feel that precludes other factors. Logically it does not. Again, the keyword was ultimately.
It's strange to see so many people acting as if shopping at IKEA is somehow necessary. Lets face it, much of their furniture and furnishings are boring and very bland and that's coming from someone that likes modern over everything else.
Their quality in many areas is also getting worse. Their "metal" picture frames, for example, have a plastic wrap sticker to simulate the metal in a metal frame. It doesn't get much cheaper and tackier than that. It doesn't even look like metal.
And one last time for those complaining about having to pay more than we do here in America, let it go already. Prices will always be different in different countries as will the availability of different products. It's naive and fruitless to complain about it.
Woohoo!!!! I love Portland, OR IKEA!!!
@Jdoey: It's 'naive and fruitless' to miss the entire focus of an article. It's not about whether you like IKEA or not, it's about relative pricing. Of course the people negatively affected are going to give it some thought. We don't need a lesson on basic supply and demand from you, thanks.