IKEA will buy your used furniture to make sustainable living 'more simple and accessible'

The Swedish furniture giant IKEA plans to buy back people's old home furnishings in a push for recycling. Next month, the company will launch its "Buy Back" scheme so customers can bring in their unwanted Billy bookcases and certain other pieces from their furniture lines. In exchange for their old pieces, customers will receive vouchers worth up to 50 percent of the original price. These vouchers can be spent at IKEA stores. The firm cleverly planned the launch of their scheme to coincide with Black Friday, the hallmark celebration of fast fashion, consumerism, and capitalism. The offer will run in 26 countries other than the United States, BBC News reports.

IKEA stated, "By making sustainable living more simple and accessible, Ikea hopes that the initiative will help its customers take a stand against excessive consumption this Black Friday and in the years to come." The company was referring to November 27, when retailers across the world will offer high discounts on their products. While customers who return products in stellar condition with no conditions, that is, those marked "as new," will get 50 percent of the original price back in IKEA vouchers. "Very good" items with minor scratches will fetch coupons worth 40 percent of the original price, and "well used" furniture pieces will get coupons worth 30 percent.

To receive these coupons, customers must log their items. They will then be given an estimate of their value. Finally, the items must be handed over, fully assembled, to the returns desk where they will be checked. This is when the final value will be agreed upon. The offer is applicable on items typically without upholstery, such as the famous Billy bookcases, chairs, stools, desks, and dining tables. According to IKEA, anything that cannot be resold will be duly recycled. The program is bound to bring up some interesting finds; the Swedish firm first began producing furniture in 1948 and some items have become collectibles over the years. In fact, auction websites carry a number of IKEA designs from previous decades. Some of these items are on sale for thousands of dollars.

IKEA, which hopes to become "a fully circular and climate positive business by 2030," will soon have dedicated areas in all their stores where customers can return their old furniture and find repaired or refurbished furniture. The firm has already been testing out furniture reselling in Edinburgh and Glasgow for over a year now. Earlier this month, they announced that they plan to open 50 stores worldwide, adding to the 445 stores they currently run.