The Swedish furniture giant Ikea enters the second-hand trade sector by launching Ikea Preowned, a digital marketplace designed to allow the direct buying and selling of second-hand furniture between private individuals. The innovation, designed to compete with industry giants such as Vinted, eBay and Facebook Marketplace, will officially debut in the coming months in the United Kingdom. Access to the service will be reserved for members of the Ikea Family loyalty program, offering customers a platform dedicated to dialogue and exchange at a local level.
Ikea Preowned features and bonuses for users
The new platform is based on the ease of identification of products in the catalogue. The peer-to-peer model, already successfully tested in Spain and Norway, automates the creation of adverts. When a user lists an item for sale, the system generates a card with pre-populated descriptions and price suggestions. As regards the economic settlement, the seller who chooses to receive payment via Ikea gift card receives a 15% bonus on the value of the transaction. The buyer, however, pays a protection fee of 5% on the total, intended to cover the costs of managing the transaction in a similar way to the commissions applied by Vinted.
The situation in Italy and market prospects
Currently in Italy there is no active digital platform of this type for direct transactions between consumers. The only active option in Italian stores remains the Circularity Corner, a physical section dedicated exclusively to the sale of display, returned or refurbished items managed by store staff.
The objective declared by Ikea concerns achieving a positive climate impact by 2030, reducing waste production and encouraging reuse. The initiative intercepts a rapidly expanding business: according to findings by Straits Research, the global value of the used furniture market will reach 75 billion dollars by 2032, guaranteeing an annual growth rate of 8%.
