Just a general curiosity question.
When I was younger we used to goto IKEA regularly, however the 'flat pack' thing & the poor quality of the stuff we bought from there meant we stopped. The furniture was OK for a couple of years but fell apart.
I haven't been there in years. Is it still popular?
"still plenty of people in there."
how do you know they haven't left since then?
.
Have you been to an IKEA? I swear last time I was in one there were people still lost in there and couldn’t find their way out. Holy shit, those places are deliberately designed to trap people in there forever.
There is no such thing as just popping down to IKEA to quickly grab something, because I can assure you that the thing you are looking for, regardless of what it is, will be at the furthest point in the maze from the door.
IKEA stores are 4 dimensional inside.
I think I married the only man alive with an inbuilt IKEA GPS. Only yesterday he said "We'll just duck into IKEA - will only take a few minutes" and sure enough, with his uncanny knack of knowing which "shortcut" doorways to take, we were less than 10 minutes. Me, on the other hand… I'd be lost within seconds, and never seen again.
@ChocStrawberries: Yep. I can get into any part of Ikea, market hall or display hall, and to the checkouts within 5 minutes. Entry point, secret doorways, these are key. The hardest bit to get to quickly is the Kitchen bit in the display hall, they seem to have done that on purpose, but it's still do-able in the 5 minutes.
@ChocStrawberries: They had them catalogues with built in pregnancy testers. All you had to do is rip out that page and pee over the marked spot. If you got both lines you were getting the nursery stuff discount.
Implementation was of course a perpetual Tik Tok hit.
Damn it. First time I went I was lost for like 30 mins trying to find the exit.
Off topic, but what's the story behind your avatar?
"They're NEVER going to leave"
Ingvar Kamprad (ghost)
Yes, it’s reasonably decent quality for reasonable money. Not cheap, not expensive for majority of items.
That was from 11 years ago…
The meatballs haven't been the same since…
And in the Czech Republic…
so they claimed….
The meatballs certainly tasted different after that news broke…
I go every Friday. Iykyk ;)
I don't know. Why?
50% off food for members
Thanks, I didn't know that!
Wow that’s a good deal! It’s already well priced as is.
good to know
OZbargain page here - what I'm not aware is after you buy your half price meal, you also get $25 voucher for purchase of $100+ in store for pretty much almost anything. The more reason to go there on Friday.
Ikea?? You must be well off, if you’re on a tight budget Kmart is much cheaper (and crappier)
I'd argue eBay is the true bargain man's option for furniture, cheaper (not to mention promo codes, cashback etc) and most things include shipping which is huge if you don't have a car
and the great thing about ebay is you don't know just how junky it is until it arrives
eBay? I'd say the true bargain connoisseur is the guy driving around the suburbs looking for any kerbside furniture. I was doing that when I was poor, so, last week.
one step up from the curb side pickup is the Salvos stores furniture shops.
decent stores in Noble Park, Abbotsford, Ferntree Gully and Cheltenham.
not knocking the curb side. we got some great back yard couches for our student rental places.
Temu has left the chat.
… however the 'flat pack' thing & the poor quality of the stuff we bought from there meant we stopped.
your not the only one
I don't go there as often as when the kids were small enough to use the free childcare.
Ey up lad, I know Yorkshiremen are s'posd to be cheap, but no sense in buyin' a $5 Lack table, then complaining it is made of cardboard.
They sell better stuff too. You want a solid set of drawers for the workshop, the ones sold in the kitchen section will do the job, while the ones sold for a kid's bedroom will fall apart. The former costs 8X as much though.
Those Lack tables are $25 now.
Among other things the free childcare has been shut down, at least in the Perth store. Prices are up and the quality and alure of the products have gone down. Don't get me started on the awful and clunky version of loyalty points (keys) that replaced the simple and effective $10 voucher for members every couple of months.
IKEA's quality hasn't changed, it is just your taste in quality products improved over time. IKEA products are mainly aimed at young people, perfect when you move into a small apartment or place at that age.
This is what I'm thinking…. I'm just getting old!
Ikea do sell good stuff, but it's pretty expensive compared to their cheap stuff. And cheap stuff is fine. It's not like anything any of us are going to buy anywhere is going to be a valuable antique for our grandchildren to inherit. Though if you kept it pristine in the box for 100 years it may actually be a collectable antique, if it is original and rare.
Ironically, most of the furniture on my community street bounty pages are people throwing out their deceased parents' antique furniture.
Yes, it's sad the amount of well built antique/vintage furniture that is being thrown away because the style and/or colour is no longer desirable.
@kiitos: Or no one recognises that it is an antique. And some antiques are worthless, you see it on Antiques Roadshow, something could be 120 years old but worth just 20 quid, less than what Ikea would sell an equivalent new item for. And then there's fake antiques, and then just shoddily made tables and stuff that aren't 100 years old but people assume could be antiques. There's so much worthless junk out there in the world, probably why people keep finding valuable antiques in garage sales and junk shops.
@AustriaBargain: yup you really have to be an expert to find the good stuff. or rather to know what you have found is the good stuff.
A friend makes a little side cash finding decent pieces and restoring them.
but she enjoys the process more than the income.
@kiitos: People are sussed about so called antiques/vintage furniture, it either hasnt been cared for and looks low quality, or is suspected of being a modern fake
They do have good (practical) stuff and I don't expect them to last 100 years yet most of the furniture that I bought when I was a uni student didn't last that long. Good thing I managed to get rid of most of them via their buy-back scheme.
Ikea and free street furniture was the way when first moving out of home.
I think the quality has improved a lot overall and their flat pack assembly stuff has gotten heaps better. That being said, wouldn't consider any of it "good" quality
Some of IKEA products are very decent. Got a large office desk, computer chair, TV unit - very happy. Much better quality than Officeworks desks or chairs.
Tableware is simple but good.
Best ziplock bags ever.
im in my 40s making above median income and still buy from Ikea, Aldi and Kmart…
im happy that my taste hasn't improved…
Goto 10
Do People Still Goto IKEA Like They Used to?
by horse and cart?
Ikea keeps the 2.5 year old entertained for hours when we need something to do in bad weather.
My local IKEA's carpark is always full. Loads of people buying new furniture. There's a new generation of young buyers moving out of home every year, and chances are they're shopping at IKEA.
Still gets busy
i bought most of my furniture 5 years ago from IKEA. recently got a new house and bought some items.
to my surprise, i returned/exchanged almost 5 out of 10 items. carpets having uneven thread, buffet/side board have sooo many scratches, computer table uneven when you mount it on stand. surprised about this lack of quality control.
never again. its no longer a value proposition.
It never was…
Think of the alternatives for furniture.
Super Amart? Not all bad, but some stuff is really dubious quality.
Freedom et al? Massively overpriced, unaffordable at normal price.
IKEA strikes a good balance for people who don't want to spend a fortune and want it to last a few years. They also have stuff for every room if the house, so if you're moving out for the first time, just immigrated, or moved too far interstate to ship all your stuff you can buy everything at once.
Their kitchenware punches above its weight for sure. Sturdy, long lasting and affordable.
kitchenware
Do you mean pots and pans or something else?
Various things, I'm a fan of the cutting boards, strainers, cutlery and containers. A simple ladle I bought there was so obviously superior to a TK max one that I decided to make them my primary source for cooking stuff.
Obviously for chef knives and long-lasting quality cookware - the stuff it's worth spending a lot on when you can - their stuff isn't going to compare to premium products. But for the basics of food preparation they're very good.
Their plates/bowls/cups are not to my tastes though.
Hell yeah. I have driven with my daughter the 200+km to our closest IKEA just to have lunch. The one in Tempe is packed out on weekends, both in the store and in the restaurant sections. I just wish there were more of them and ones that were closer.
Interesting feedback.
We bought my kids furniture there when they were small, the beds didn't last & the tallboys were thin & cheap wood, didn't last. These days we buy 'solid stuff' that's not flatpack, the price is about the same but its quality… we wouldn't shop there again (lol, not to mention the way they 'funnel' you around.
To the parents with little ones, I TOTALLY get why you go there :)
If I need anything I prefer to just do online order and click and collect. Free service of more than $50.
I check FB for Ikea shelf as it can be really cheap or free.
When I was younger we used to goto IKEA regularly, however the 'flat pack' thing & the poor quality of the stuff we bought from there meant we stopped. The furniture was OK for a couple of years but fell apart.
Still the same
I haven't been there in years. Is it still popular?
Its still as popular as it was back when you went.
IKEA has a market, you have moved on from that.
I like to go there for breakfast sometimes
Prices have risen with Covid, etc. but they are trying to gradually bring them down.
The Billy shelves and doors I bought coming to 2 decades ago (in a few more years) and still holding up well and are full of books and look brand new.
We stopped buying around eight years ago after buying a kids wardrobe due to getting rid of furniture in the house and over the last four years, and getting many free Kallax shelves, many in almost brand new condition on Marketplace.
I much prefer IKEA furniture due to their lightness and ability to move easily by disassembling; we've given away just about all of our solid wood furniture.
They continue to rise in revenue per year, so yes, it prob more popular now than ever with population growth.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/264433/annual-sales-of-i…
I find the quality OK, mostly. It used to be better, when they sourced their stuff from all over the world. I've put together heaps of Expedit, now "Kallax" over the years, and have noticed the chipboard they use is now this really chunky stuff, sometimes it's hard to determine which is the official hole, and which is just a hole in the awful chipboard. The dowels snap, too.
Same with Billy bookcases. I've got a bunch that are Birch veneered, now anything that is "wood" is just plastic contact stuff stretched over.
There's still some really good stuff though. Their linen sheets and doona covers (and curtains) are superb. I got a Mandal bed which was actual joinery, didn't get to bed until 2am and still hadn't made the drawers. It was like assembling an aeroplane wing. Years on, it's still solid as a rock. Their lights are fantastic, the range changes constantly and it's fun.
Maybe we just bought the wrong range.
The kid's storage we bought there was excellent, solid as a rock & will probably be going for years. The bedside tables and tallboys were horrible thin chipboard that predictably fell apart quickly and were repaired (dad job list) repeatedly.
I haven't experienced any kids' stuff, maybe it's made more cheaply. The Landskroner couch range is solid-as, buttoned leather, really nice, I got a footstool and it hasn't deteriorated at all. I've got Ikea right through my house and notice the recent Besta stuff is more cheaply/lightly made, but it's actually staying solid too (to my surprise).
Ikea is very expensive for the quality.
Yes, love IKEA. Great quality / price ratio and their after-sale support is second to none.
Lol this is great, the duality of this comment and the person directly above you complaining about it being expensive for the quality.
With free power you should be able to turn the arts industry around?
I have a slight suspicion the Rinehart riverside Federation-style Mansion isn't stocked with IKEA furniture
Happy IKEA user here. They make good bed frames, sofas, desks, bedside tables, and bookcases. Have lasted me years/decades. Just make sure you choose products made of solid timber or metal, and not those particle board/laminate/wood composite materials that are equivalent to painted cardboard.
My solid metal IKEA bed frame is now 15 years old, cost $210 originally, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s solid and tight and still looks sleek and modern. I updated the slats to the current Lonset model a few years ago and it’s as comfortable as ever. Recently changed to a IKEA mattress too.
Have heaps of IKEA stuff that's 10+ years old and nothing we've ever bought from them has ever fallen apart. Just don't buy the bargain basement stuff and try not to let kids on it ( we are DINK's so easy for us).
yeah true, if you treat it well, it stays nearly as new for 10+ years. It's pretty good quality after all, at least for the price.
Yeah I’m not sure how people are treating their furniture or what they’re doing with it. I bought a ton of IKEA stuff to furnish my new apartment in 2007 and when I moved to a new apartment in 2017, I left it all in the old apartment and rented it out furnished as a corporate apartment. All the IKEA stuff in there is still fine now. It’s not like I specifically bought only the quality stuff as well, I bought what was cheap and cheerful and it’s all still ok.
I’m not intending to pass it on to my grandkids and the fact that 15+ years on, they’re still kicking along is fine by me.
IKEA! What's that?
in Perth on the weekends it's near impossible to park at IKEA, especially in winter. Not much else to do there I suppose lol
Not really, now I ask friends who are visiting if I need a small shop or do delivery orders. For context, IKEA I used to go is about 65km + tolls each way for me so the cost to drive in up and down is about $50 (fuel + tolls)
I do have fair bit of stuff from them I got the for house in early days of moving in. They're not bad and the 1 year change of mind returns is a plus. I however have outgrown their over complicated flat pack designs with my busy life… I once bought a cot for the kid and took me over 4 hours to put together with the drawers and when mrs didn't like how inflexible it was I had to put it back in the box which took another 4-5 hrs and drive back to the store which was painful… (I since got a different cot that took literally 5 mins to setup and disassemble and using that to this day… easy as!)
Where else do you shop for affordable furniture?
The cost of delivery easily destroys any of those free second hand wardrobe bargains.
Melbourne based and I hate going there but do like their furniture.
Just did a whole renovation and replaced a fair bit of furniture with ikea stuff, ended up just ordering it all online sight unseen.
By the time I go to ikea, find what I want, pull the ute into the loading bay, strap it all down I'll easily waste half a day.
IKEA’s quality as significant declined over the last 2 decades and particularly in the last decade.
In by-gone years you could rely on at least decent solid manufactured wood products like particle board or laminated wood making up the materials. Today a significant portion of their products that require boards now use a product which is a sandwich of 2 thin layers of particle board surrounding a cardboard honeycomb centre. These boards have the absolute minimal structural integrity so the product can sell but fail, warp and bend quickly.
Similarly the surface finishing has diminished in quality. You used to get decent plastic laminate surfaces. Those have now be replaced with paper foils. These foils delaminate quickly or result in ‘patches’ of discolouration when the foil wears.
They have even resorted to using this sandwich material for flimsy desktops. The quality is terrible.
All this can been seen in the ‘materials’ section on the product web pages.
I will buy second hand IKEA products but all the new stuff I have bought has been returned in days. I give it a try and give up and return it in days. There is no value there even at the low prices.
I've moved on a lot from Ikea quality, but at the same time:
I've found that Super A-mart furniture is OK, its usually timber veneer which means solid (cheaper) acacia timber with a thin layer 2-3mm thick of another timber on the outside to give it whatever look they are going for. This is distinct from Ikea which is at the cheaper end MDF/particleboard with a laminate veneer. You couldn't sand A-mart stuff down and restore it like classic timber furniture, but a lot of the stuff from Harvey Norman etc you can't sand down either. They do have a high end solid timber range but that's not what they sell for the most part.
The real sweet spot that I've discovered is picking up Super Amart furniture on marketplace. My standing offer is 20-30% of RRP and almost always the sellers accept this. Their silverwood range is the most popular and they have been selling it for a long time (10 years), so any given fortnight you can pick up pretty much the entire collection from various sellers. In a larger market e.g. Sydney or Melbourne you could probably kit out an entire living room or bedroom with a weekend because every item is available on marketplace.
I'd love to have a Nik Scali level house but having paid 20-30% off RRP from amart, it might come with a few scratches etc but then I get nice enough, better than Ikea furniture and don't care very much what the kids do to it.
Looks like you have some serious Chinese phobia.
I don’t think market operates in that way anymore. Almost every manufacturer is using factories based in China, Vietnam, and Malaysia for furniture. It’s mainly to maximize their profits.
Nick Scali has much better designs and quality in comparison to HN and no comparison with ikea cheap quality crap.
I guess the difference with Nik Scali is that it’s Chinese owned pretending to be Italian. I do agree their designs are probably better to HN amd of course quality 10x better than IKEA though.
IKEA is fine for its price, which is really around Amart or Fantastic Furniture, but is generally better quality and their returns are very generous. Not all their products are winners, but the evergreen things like Billy generally last. If you look around IKEA hacks and reviews, you'll find the good ones.
Shopping at Ikea is a deeply unpleasant experience, especially at weekends, but we still go there occasionally. They do sell some decent stuff, although it's few and far between. I needed a stand/table for my home office PC and the only product that fitted the space and was reasonably priced was from Ikea - with the added benefit of not being made in China.
Not anymore. One of the main reasons we went there in the past was for cheap and decent food. Sometimes, we went there just for dining. However, I think after COVID, the quality and variety of food have gone down significantly, while prices have gone up. So these days, we don’t go to the restaurant anymore, even if we visit Ikea.
I've also noticed recently that they don't keep a lot of stock anymore. Since we don't go there often, we only visit when we have multiple things to buy. However, often half of the items we want are out of stock or not there when we go to pick the item up, so now I don't go unless there is more than 5 items of the thing I want is in stock, which makes our visits even more infrequent.
At Ikea you actually need to know what you are getting. If you are buying a cheap sofa it is better than the same cheap stuff at discounters.
If you are going to pay $1k for a sofa you might get something better elsewhere. It is how they make money, by getting you confident in their quality and upsell.
I mean they got single bank of kitchen cabinets for like $4k
Never go into that hellscape. I'll gladly order online for certain items or maybe stuff which isn't made from particle board, they have a few made out of pine which will hold up well enough (e.g. hemnes,havsta)
Mooseballs spiked with proper horse meat!
As an arch VEGAN I break my own rule to sample them! Yum!
Wtf is an Arch Vegan?
Generally a meat hater but some think any animal products are tabu.
Others are so (profanity) to see a quack they think that it helps.
Personally I hate any smell of a butcher, sausages are out but hey real horse meat can actually taste nice.
IKEA is great - Not sure why people think it's low quality. The furniture I've bought from them has lasted for 10+ years and was at least 2-5x cheaper than comparative stuff.
Easily one of the best value for $ places around for furniture and small knick knacks.
We treat our furniture pretty lightly. Many moves and furniture still ok.
One great thing about Ikea is their customer/after sales support. Earlier this year, I needed new castors for my ancient Markus office chair as the original ones had stopped rolling. I went onto their website and ordered new castors, at no charge to me. They were delivered less than 5 days later - airmailed from Slovakia. All free.
That's great service.
Having worked in Ikea customer service I can tell you they do have some of the most generous aftersales/returns policy. What other store gives you a whole year to return your goods no questions asked? And as long as you have proof of purchase they will get you any replacement part you need. Most of the times if we don't have the spare part at the back we'll literally open up a new box just to get it for you.
We hardly go to IKEA anymore. Their prices gone up, up and away. The whole idea was to get reasonable quality products on reasonable prices. But it’s not worth anymore.
Have not been in there for a while. When I do it is to buy a bottles for home made sauces or a piece of furniture I consider disposable (bought a temporary crappy office desk that I can throw away/give away once house is built). Prices are cheap, but that is also reflected in the quality.
I used to years ago but now that ive seen this thread, i just realised i havent bought anything from ikea in a while. Ive certainley bought plenty of furniture in the last few years (moving into new home) but none of it is from ikea, maybe 1 lamp.
IKEA metod cabinetry system is fantastic.
We are thinking of doing our kitchen using IKEA cabinets and other sets. Has anyone had any experience with their quality and longetivity for the kitchen or bathroom?
I was in one last week on a weekday, still plenty of people in there.