Ikea wants to open online marketplace for used furniture
Ikea wants to launch an online platform for trading in used furniture by the end of the year. The furniture store does not intend to make much money from this.
(Image: Ikea Deutschland / André Grohe)
Swedish furniture retailer Ikea is planning to enter the online used furniture business. This was reported by the Financial Times (FT) on Monday. Ikea wants to set up the online platform Ikea Preowned for this purpose, which will be used to process sales and from which Ikea hopes to earn money.
According to the FT, the Ikea Preowned online platform will initially be tested in the cities of Madrid and Oslo. This is to take place before the end of the year. If successful, the Swedish furniture retailer plans to expand the online platform gradually to entire countries worldwide.
There is a simple phenomenon behind the project: the online trade in used furniture is booming. Ikea manager Jesper Brodin told the FT that more used Ikea furniture is now traded than new furniture in Ikea stores. Ikea wants to participate in this and at the same time strengthen its online presence.
Online trading platform for used furniture
However, Ikea does not want to make a lot of money from this. Initially, the marketplace will be free of charge. Only then does the company want to charge a "symbolic" fee for placing an offer, according to the FT report. Ikea's online marketplace is largely based on other trading platforms such as eBay or Craigslist. The seller creates an offer with a picture, text and asking price. The information is then supplemented by artificial intelligence with data on the products from the Ikea database.
The seller can also decide whether they want to be paid with money or an Ikea shopping voucher. If they choose the voucher as payment, Ikea adds 15 percent of the sales price on top. The buyer collects the furniture directly from the seller. Ikea therefore only offers the sales platform, but does not trade in used furniture itself.
However, the used furniture trade is not new at Ikea. The furniture store already offers its customers the opportunity to buy back old Ikea furniture. This furniture is then offered as used goods in Ikea stores.
(olb)
