this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2023
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All IKEA furniture I've bought has lasted a long time, but the meme is wrong, the reason it even exists is you can't buy better quality furniture for the same price, at least not by very much, it will cost a lot more if you want amazing quality.
Keyword there is "find"
If your hobby is trawling second hand and antique stores, yard sales, estate sales and online classifieds looking for just the perfect high quality but affordable end tables that match your decor. Then go on with your bad self, I bet your house looks sweet.
I can go onto the Ikea website, find some cabinets that will do the job, I can check the measurements, pick my color, click a few buttons and they arrive at my house in a few days.
I bought most of my furniture used and got some really good pieces at great prices.
After a certain point though, I’m fed up of spending ages searching online and having to instantly jump on good deals. And if you’re not careful, you also end up with a load of random furniture that doesn’t fit together.
Depending on the item, it’s quite literally not worth my time searching for a good used piece. As in, if I was charging an hourly wage for searching/collecting, overall I’d be net negative.
And thats assuming you also have a vehicle to move it and the seller doesnt dick you around at all.
Yeah, getting fucked about by sellers was also one of the worst parts. I’ve arranged to collect stuff before, then gotten a message saying they’ve sold it to someone else.
Having sold stuff on marketplaces myself, if you agree to something then stick with it, even if you get a better offer.
You could always rent a truck for a few hours. Though that does raise the effective coat you paid for it, but not by much.
Wait till you rent the truck, turn up at their house to collect the item and they tell you they just sold it. But you can have your deposit back...
Yep. I've found high quality old furniture at estate sales, but it's never matched my decor.
I'm not gonna complain about paying $50 for a couch made back in the 1960s that still feels brand new, though. Even if it's dark purple.
Thats when you go to the hardware store, get a 1L tin mixed up in the same purple and paint some other shit in your place so it looks like its by design.
Yeah and you can find second-hand IKEA furniture for even cheaper.
If you can find 2nd hand stuff that you like for cheap then go nuts.
I've got a garage full of 2nd hand stuff that I can't even give away on FB marketplace because nobody likes the look of it.
IKEA has never been poor quality. It serves its purpose in the market and people seem to like the designs.
I've found that this is the problem. The good quality stuff is great and yes it will last multiple generations. However the styling will be long out of date before even the end of the first generation. My parents had old extremely well made furniture that they spent a lot of money in when they first got married. 30 years later the styling was out of date, my mom wanted a change, and they practically couldn't even give the furniture away because nobody wanted the old style. So now my dad has a guest room in the basement using that furniture.
If you're adamant about that, then I guess this largely depends on where you live. Outside of one lucky find in a furniture charity shop I haven't had that luxury, not to mention that you don't get to choose what furniture you're getting there.
America is huge and you might have to drive very far to get that second hand item. Also not everyone has a pickup truck to go get bulky heavy furniture you can't take apart to easily transport to your place. And bedbugs are an issue in some places, especially major cities. It's possible for some but not everyone.
I agree with most of your complaints, but if transport is an issue, go to Home Depot or Lowes. You can rent a truck or van for $20 a day.
You absolutely cannot rent the truck at Home Depot for $20/day. It's $20 for the first 75 minutes. Then you gotta pay for gas.
I agree mostly, but that adds to the cost and it means taking time out of your day to go get the truck, go get the furniture, drop furniture off at your place, then take the truck back. It's an added inconvenience most people don't want to deal with.
I mean facebook marketplace and craigslist you're just as likely to find furniture that's already from IKEA or some similar retailer, anything better will likely cost way more unless someone really wants to get rid of it.
Also it should be no surprise that used IKEA furniture will also be way cheaper.
I see you are in Germany, like myself, I tried other options momax, XXLutz and some others with very bad results. Yes, there are other more local brands but they are considerably expensive in comparison. Ikea has provided reliable and compact furniture, easy to move when changing apartments. Most of the second hand furniture I find is actually Ikea stuff in decent condition. I'm open to trying again with other brands and will do but my experience with Ikea has not been bad as described by the meme
But that is just my opinion.
Because that would be an apples to oranges comparison, even if it had any basis in reality.
Not sure why you're being downvoted, maybe it's because you keep replying second-hand without giving more information on that? Where are you looking? How are you finding it?
Yeah... about that.
This is representative of what I find when I look for anything second hand: https://lansing.craigslist.org/fuo/d/alma-beautiful-barn-wood-accent-table/7646902627.html
Note that this is about an hour drive each way.