Ikea launching online marketplace for second-hand goods

Ikea is launching an online marketplace designed to help its customers buy and sell used furniture, the business confirmed to The Australian.

As soon as next year, Ikea will allow online customers to browse and ‘reserve’ used items, which they can then go to a store to collect, through a new ‘As-is’ marketplace.

According to Ikea Australia’s sustainability manager Mellisa Hamilton, the business wants its products to be reused, repaired, reassembled and recycled – and to create a more cost-effective way for people to do their part to help the planet.

“We’ve [learned] from our customer insights [that customers think] to make an individual action to support the people and the planet, it tends to be more expensive and at a premium,” Hamilton told The Australian.

“But I think in terms of this action or this initiative is actually more looking at why pay full price for something new when I could get something just as functional just as beautiful?”

The launch comes after the business began allowing customers to ‘return’ used goods to the retailer for store credit – a program which was piloted in the UK in 2019, before being expanded across Sweden, Australia and the US.

During the ten day trial period in Australia last year, the business received around 10,000 returned products and around 85 per cent of them were resold within that same period.

“You had a lot of people that were willing to give away furniture, but a lot of people that also wanted to buy second-hand furniture as well,” said Hamilton.

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