[nelaboras]

I think by trying to find evil in their scheme you miss the pretty obvious business logic:

- IKEA will only accept things in decent-ish condition and will (if necessary) refurbish and resell them.

- you get a voucher, not cash

So an assumption that they try to kill the second hand market seems absurd - on the contrary they become a marketplace for good-condition second hand products AND get people into the store with a voucher in hand (which means they might spend even more to buy something and like many vouchers may also end up unclaimed).

So no nefariousness here, just good business sense. Nonetheless having used options in the store, allowing you to decide to take that shelf new for 130 or that used one for 70 seems to me as a net gain for everyone.

[TeMPOraL]

This does look like it could kill the second-hand market, though. A voucher ties you to spending it on more IKEA, and if enough people exchange their used furniture for vouchers instead of selling it themselves, it'll discourage people from looking for the used furniture outside of IKEA - seeing second-hand IKEA furniture on sale you'll be asking yourself whether it's a lemon, because if it wasn't, then presumably the owner would sell it back to IKEA instead.

"Good business sense" seems to rarely correlate with benefits for society these days, so it's wise to be skeptical.

[sumedh]

> then presumably the owner would sell it back to IKEA instead.

Why? If you get a better price in the second hand market and someone will pick it up from your home, why would you sell it back to Ikea.

[mauvehaus]

The hassle of listing stuff on Craigslist or your local equivalent? Especially at the moment, a quick guaranteed transaction at a reputable place sounds a lot more appealing than having some random come over (or flake out), anguish over whether they actually want to buy or not, and maybe try to negotiate price on something you've already listed for $15.

[TeMPOraL]

Exactly. My wife and I are big into reuse, trying to donate, give away or sell all the things someone could use, instead of throwing them away. Experience is varied. Sometimes we do wish the process wouldn't have to involve dealing with actual people. We've been literally told to commit suicide, only because we didn't have time to make more photos of a thing freely given away, over the ones we posted on the group. Also, putting even a ridiculously small price tag on something not only doesn't scare problem people away - it brings out more of them.

[throwaway0a5e]

The kind of people who tend to buy furniture first hand don't tend to like having to interact with the kind of people who tend to buy furniture (let alone cheap furniture) second hand if you catch my drift.

Also convenience.

[ghaff]

With very rare exceptions, I can't be bothered selling used stuff these days. I'd much rather just put something out for someone to take away or take a reduced amount for a no-hassle transaction like selling to Amazon.

[fogihujy]

It looks more like being an attempt at getting a slice of the second-hand market and not to kill it.

[m463]

They are nefarious. They lower the price of umbrellas when it rains!