[bestham]

In Sweden it is free to sell IKEA items on Blocket, the Swedish equivalent to Craigslist. The fee for the listing of IKEA items is paid for by IKEA. I believe that IKEA are well aware that they have to cater for a 2nd hand market and find solutions to the "last mile" problem in order to be taken seriously when talking about sustainability. They are on it. If they succeed is another matter.

[mongol]

That is an interesting move. High resale value usually also translates to higher first sale value. Compare with cars, for example. For something like furniture, the expectation is that they should last quite long. If IKEA can promote that they indeed do, it provides an edge when people are looking to buy new.

[anticristi]

I honestly don't buy the "we want more sustainability" BS. They clearly want to increase rotation of furniture, so that the first hand market -- where Ikea makes real money -- increases.

An honest ad would be scripted as follows: "Tired of your yellow lamp? Buy a shiny new blue one and get rid of the yellow one without feeling guilty."

[kalleboo]

I know people who work at IKEA and while I can't speak for the whole company there are a lot of people where who really care, and in structure it's a Swedish family-owned company that doesn't have to follow the whims of shareholders, and they don't pay competitively enough to attract the really ruthless career-climbing MBA-types.

[TotempaaltJ]

IKEA has been investing in sustainability for longer than most companies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA#Environmental_performance

I guess it's easier to do good without shareholders.

[Ensorceled]

In North America, IKEA is considered your "starter" furniture and then you graduate to better stuff once you've "settled in" with career, family etc.

So usually you are replacing IKEA with something that is not IKEA.

People who can't afford to upgrade from IKEA also don't waste money changing lamp colours.

[tonyedgecombe]

I honestly don't buy the "we want more sustainability" BS.

Ikea are an interesting company with a strong reputation to look after. I suspect you are being slightly too cynical.

[singhrac]

I agree with this - when I purchase furniture, I often think about how I will offload it - whether I expect to lose 20%, 50%, or 100% of its value in 1-2 years. It's just not possible to buy and use up everything when you move apartments every year or two.

[howlgarnish]

Having sold off various types of old furniture on various Craigslist equivalents, it's kind of amazing how much faster anything with "IKEA UMLÅUT" in the title sells than anything else. Like McD's, they're known quantities, the buyer knows exactly what they're getting and what it's worth.

[mitchdoogle]

I think the design/look of the furniture is a contributor as well. Most of the stuff on CL in the same price range is, in my opinion, not as tasteful.