Ikea will buy back its furniture in bid for sustainability

The world’s biggest furniture chain will buy back furniture you no longer need, want, or have room for.

Ikea will give you up to 50% of the price you originally paid them for it. Not in cash, but vouchers to buy more furniture from them.

The second-hand items will then be polished up and put on sale in a “recycled” section of the store for others to buy.

The scheme only applies to non-upholstered furniture, so if you wish to sell your old Ikea bookcase you should take it fully assembled to the returns section of any Ikea store where it will be checked for scratches and the value decided.

Several scratches will see the voucher-value drop from 50% to 30%. Anything that is too damaged to be resold will be taken and recycled.

The company has been making efforts to become more environmentally friendly, and after successfully conducting trials on the viability of selling used and patched-up furniture in their stores a year ago in Scotland decided to launch Buy Back worldwide.

Peter Jelkeby, retail manager of Ikea in the UK, said: “With the launch of Buy Back we are giving a second life to Ikea products and creating 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.”

A “circular” business is one which reuses or recycles materials and products in order to be environmentally friendly.

The Buy Back scheme will be launched in 27 countries on Black Friday, Nov 27.

Black Friday is originally an annual American day when many retailers offer discounts on their products. It happens on the day following Thanksgiving and can be a rowdy affair as shoppers try to snag a bargain.

Industry watchers say Black Friday has been losing its relevance with shoppers in recent years, and this year the pandemic is expected to wipe out the physical bargain-hunting experience.