3 IKEA Pieces You Should Never Buy New, According to a Craigslist Surfer
Anyone who knows me knows I’m hopelessly obsessed with IKEA. I’ve outfitted entire apartments with products from the wonderland-like store. My favorite piece (and the most renter-friendly IKEA item of all time) is a blue RASKOG utility cart that I use for yarn storage. As my homes—ones both rented and owned—have come and gone, IKEA products have dutifully shuffled in and out of my house. Some have gone to friends, some have gone to family, and some have gone into the dumpster. (Looking at you, bowed shelf that couldn’t handle the weight of all my board games.)
I do have two IKEA pieces that have stayed with me for nearly 15 years. They’re bookshelves I bought when I moved to Chicago: Four flat wooden shelves held up by an industrial-style metal frame. They stuck it out through a ridiculous amount of apartments and across interstate moves—and soon, they’ll be coming back with me to Chicago.
The fact they’ve lasted this many years (and moves) says a lot about the quality and longevity of IKEA products. Some pieces in particular will last forever if you take good care of them—which is why you can often find many decent IKEA pieces on Craigslist.
As a Craigslist surfer, I see a few specific products over and over again. That’s probably for two reasons: One, they’re cheap, and two, they’re easy to let go of. Somehow, they always seem to stay in fair shape. Ahead, find three IKEA items you should never buy in the store, because you can trust you’ll find them in good-enough shape on Craigslist.
These trusty box-shaped shelves never really get too scratched up, likely because people slide little fabric or plastic drawers into the cubbies. Plus, the thick outside frame is pretty sturdy. It’s supported by the inner framework, so you can put a television on top of it for years, for example, and not notice any damage. The BILLY bookcase is a common Craigslist find, too. I know before I got my currently glorious bookshelves, I bought a couple of BILLYs as starter bookshelves in my first apartment. When I moved on, those BILLYs went straight to Craigslist.
A cursory look at IKEA products on Craigslist in three major U.S. cities (Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles) reveals an abundance of IKEA cabinets and drawers for sale. You’ll no doubt see MALM dressers in all shapes and sizes, from ones with three drawers to six. In theory, you could get a natural birch wardrobe in Chicago, a white dresser in LA, or a shiny black armoire in New York, all less than sticker price.
New dining room and living room furniture tends to come in sets. That means a lot of first-time renters will unload their gently used IKEA seating on Craigslist as soon as they upgrade their space or furniture to something matchy-matchy. You’re bound to find scores of IKEA dining room chairs, desk chairs, foldable chairs, kids’ chairs, stools, and even couches, loveseats, and lounge chairs on Craigslist. No seat is more common, however, than the PELLO armchair. It’s easily identifiable as IKEA, even for IKEA novices. Give a secondhand one a good scrubbing and you’ll have a new place to sit for under $20.