IKEA Is Launching a Furniture Buyback Program

Written by

Inigo Del Castillo
Inigo Del Castillo
Inigo is a content writer at Apartment Therapy and previously for Lost At E Minor. A few years ago, he wrote an article about baby bats, which was so cute, Buzzfeed took a screenshot of the headline and cover image, then made a listicle about weird but adorable things. He…read more
published Oct 15, 2020
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Soon, if you want to dispose of your old IKEA furniture, your best bet at selling the items won’t be at a yard sale, but rather at IKEA itself.

As part of its commitment to becoming more sustainable, the Swedish retailer is about to offer customers in the UK and Ireland a Buy Back initiative wherein customers can trade their used furniture in exchange for store vouchers.

Some of the eligible items include bookcases and shelf units, dressers, dining tables and desks, office drawers, chairs and stools without upholstery, as well as some children’s products.

The value of the store vouchers will be based on the condition of the used furniture. For instance, “as new” products can claim up to 50 percent of the original price, those in “very good” condition can fetch 40 percent, and “well-worn” pieces—such as those with scratches—will get vouchers worth 30 percent of the item’s original value.

To participate in the initiative, go to the IKEA website and fill up an online offer request. You’ll then receive a preliminary offer, and if you accept, you’ll be asked to head over to the Returns and Exchanges desk at your nearest IKEA where you’ll be given a voucher with no expiry date.

The pre-loved products will then either be sold in the store’s As-Is section, while those that can’t be resold will be recycled.

“Sustainability is the defining issue of our time and IKEA is committed to being part of the solution to promote sustainable consumption and combat climate change,” said Peter Jelkeby, the country retail manager and chief sustainability officer for IKEA in the UK and Ireland. 

He added: “With the launch of Buy Back we are giving a second life to many more IKEA products and creating more easy and affordable solutions to help people live more sustainably. It is an exciting step forward in our journey towards becoming a fully circular and climate positive business by 2030.”

The initiative will launch on November 27 across all IKEA stores in the UK and Ireland—and hopefully, in other countries soon thereafter.