Pre-loved Ikea goods will be available for sale on a new online marketplace

A huge change is coming to Ikea that will lift the lid on one of the Swedish furniture giant’s best-kept secrets.

Ikea is launching an online platform to sell second hand goods. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA NewsWire

Ikea is launching an online marketplace in Australia to sell its goods second hand.

The “As Is” platform will be piloted in early 2022, enabling the store’s members to browse preloved Ikea goods online.

Shoppers will be able to reserve items they want, before heading to the store to collect them.

The move to sell second hand goods online is part of the Swedish furniture giant’s efforts to encourage a more sustainable life at home.

“It’s basically an extension of our in-store circular hubs, which is something new for Ikea,” a spokeswoman said.

Ikea members will soon be able to buy preloved goods online. Picture: Paul Jeffers / NCA NewsWire

The in-store hubs are being rolled out nationally, enabling customers to shop for affordable and sustainable products in the one place.

There, eligible Ikea second hand goods can be returned for a refund card, and customers can shop for preloved products, returns, display items and discontinued goods, collect free spare parts and repair existing items.

“The instore circular hubs and the online marketplace are a way to keep Ikea products in use for as long as possible, promoting systems of reuse and sharing in a circular economy,” the company said.

The pilot of the online platform will eventually be rolled out nationally.

The online platform pilot will be launched early next year. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA NewsWire

For customers buying second hand Ikea goods from the store and soon also online, they will never pay more than 50 per cent of the original price, the store says.

Ikea, an official partner of COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference currently underway, has already launched the platform in Canada.

Globally, the company will soon launch its Green Friday campaign, encouraging people to save more than money by asking customers to bring back preloved Ikea products.

“Last year was phenomenal — we had 10,000 products back, but we sold almost all of those items at the same time, so the demand from customers to actually buy as well as sell their preloved items is quite phenomenal,” a spokeswoman said.

Originally published as Pre-loved Ikea goods will be available for sale on a new online marketplace