IKEA launches buyback scheme

IKEA ANNOUNCES IT WILL BUY BACK CUSTOMERS’ OLD AND UNWANTED FURNITURE

·        The new initiative – called ‘Buy Back’– will see IKEA stores in the UK and Ireland offer to buy back unwanted IKEA furniture from customers

·        The furniture will be resold in stores as second hand items, giving a second life to IKEA products and creating easy and affordable solutions to help people live more sustainably

·        Launches in UK and Ireland stores in time for Black Friday (27^th November) to encourage customers to think about what they don’t need rather than what they do need 

·        The initiative is just one way in which IKEA is working towards its goal of becoming a fully circular and climate positive business by 2030^[1]

Tuesday 13^th October 2020: IKEA has today announced that it will be encouraging its customers to sell back their unwanted IKEA furniture to the home furnishing retailer’s stores in the UK and Ireland. In return, customers will receive a voucher to spend at IKEA when they really need something. The furniture sold back to IKEA will then be available to buy as second hand items in stores, to customers who can give them a new home. 

The introduction of Buy Back into stores in the UK and Ireland from 27^th November coincides with one of the busiest shopping periods of the year in the lead up to Black Friday. By making sustainable living more simple and accessible, IKEA hopes that the initiative will help its customers take a stand against excessive consumption this Black Friday and in the years to come. 

Customers selling back an item will receive an IKEA refund card to spend in store, which will have no expiry date in order to encourage customers to purchase items only when they’re really needed. Depending on the condition of the furniture traded in, the voucher could be worth as much as 50 percent of the original price: 

• As new – no scratches: 50% of the original price
• Very good – minor scratches: 40% of original price
• Well-used – several scratches: 30% of original price

Items will then be resold as second-hand in the As-Is Area of stores (previously known as Bargain Corner). Anything that cannot be resold will be recycled. 

Peter Jelkeby, Country Retail Manager and Chief Sustainability Officer IKEA UK & Ireland, commented: “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. 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.”

Hege Sæbjørnsen, Country Sustainability Manager at IKEA UK & Ireland, added: “The IKEA vision has always been to create a better everyday life for the many people, which right now means making sustainable living easy and affordable for everyone. Being circular is a good business opportunity as well as a responsibility, and the climate crisis requires us all to radically rethink our consumption habits. 

“Currently, 45 percent of total global carbon emissions come from the way the world produces and uses everyday products^[2], so Buy Back represents an opportunity to address unsustainable consumption and its impact on climate change.”  

Products that are eligible for Buy Back include: Dressers, office drawer cabinets, small structures with drawers, display storage and sideboards; Bookcases and shelf units; Small tables; Multimedia furniture; Cabinets; Dining tables and desks; Chairs and stools without upholstery; Chests of drawers; Children’s products excluding baby items and PAX accessories. 

Customers wanting to sell back their old IKEA furniture simply need to visit IKEA.co.uk and submit items for consideration by filling out a simple online offer request. The tool will automatically generate a preliminary offer and customers will then be invited to bring the fully assembled product and preliminary offer to the Returns & Exchanges desk in their nearest store, where they will then receive an IKEA refund card to spend in store. The refund card will have no expiry date in order to encourage customers to only purchase new items when they really need something.