Ikea prepares UK secondhand marketplace to let loyalty members trade used furniture

Ikea is preparing to bring its secondhand ambitions further into the UK market, with a new platform designed to let members of its loyalty scheme buy and sell preowned items directly with one another. The retailer said the site should arrive within the next few months and will focus on local trade in used Ikea furniture and homeware.

Ikea moves into a crowded resale market

The plan places the Swedish furniture giant in direct competition with established online resale players including eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Vinted. According to reporting by The Guardian Business, Ikea’s UK launch follows experiments with online secondhand marketplaces in Spain and Norway, showing the company is testing the model beyond its traditional retail operation before widening it further. The original report is available here: The Guardian Business report on Ikea’s UK secondhand site.

The move also builds on an earlier step taken in the UK. Ikea began buying and selling used items in some of its stores five years ago, so the new platform would extend a resale offering that has already been used in a physical retail setting. What changes now is the digital layer: rather than relying only on in-store trade-ins or resale, Ikea wants to create a system where people can connect directly online.

A company spokesperson said the aim is to make handing on familiar Ikea pieces as straightforward as possible. The retailer wants the platform to be a trusted and lively place where Ikea Family members can trade with one another quickly and easily. Ikea also said more details about the UK version will be announced in the coming months.

How the Spanish trial points to the UK launch

The clearest clues about how the British site may work come from Ikea’s Spanish platform. There, sellers are helped by product listings that are already filled in and by suggested prices provided by the company. Ikea also offers an additional 15% if sellers choose to receive payment as an Ikea gift card rather than cash.

Buyers in Spain are also asked to pay a protection fee. From January next year, that fee will be 5% and is intended to cover costs connected to the sale. The structure is similar to the approach used by Vinted, which has become one of the most prominent names in online resale.

One example from Spain shows the kind of pricing Ikea is working with. A Poäng armchair is being offered there for €56, which is about half the cost of buying a new one. That kind of discount helps explain why secondhand home furnishings are becoming more attractive to shoppers who want branded products at lower prices.

Why Ikea is betting on resale now

Ikea is entering this market at a time when secondhand shopping is moving firmly into the mainstream. British consumers are increasingly using resale platforms, which has helped drive growth at Vinted, Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and more specialist sites such as Vinterior. Vinted, which started as a clothes resale service, has been expanding into homewares and electronics, broadening the competition Ikea now faces.

The pressure is not limited to large online marketplaces. eBay recently bought UK fashion seller Depop for $1.2bn, underlining how valuable the resale sector has become. Preloved items now account for about a tenth of global fashion sales, which suggests a durable shift in consumer habits rather than a passing trend.

That wider shift has encouraged more retailers to move into used goods. Currys and AO both sell preloved items, and AO strengthened its position further after buying MusicMagpie in 2024. At the same time, the growth of resale has added strain on charity retailers, including the British Heart Foundation, which has closed stores as costs have risen.

Climate goals and the next phase for Ikea

Ikea’s secondhand plans are not only about trading on consumer demand. The company says the move also supports its environmental ambitions, including a pledge to become climate positive by 2030. Part of that goal is an aim for all products to be made from renewable, recyclable and recycled materials.

That makes resale a useful fit for a business trying to present itself as both lower cost and more sustainable. By making it easier for customers to pass on sofas, chairs and other items already in circulation, Ikea can extend the life of its products while giving members a way to recover some value from items they no longer need.

For the UK market, the next step is the launch itself. The company has said it will provide more information in the coming months, but the outline is already clear: loyalty members, local transactions and a direct challenge to the biggest names in online secondhand retail.