r/IKEA • u/marstrada • 10h ago
General RANT- IKEA isn't affordable anymore
For anyone saying that it is the US tariffs, I lived in EU and now in USA. It isn't just the tariffs. IKEA has increased the prices a lot! I just checked furniture I bought in EU during 2021 and many pieces are x4 now. USA is like 10-20% more expensive probably due to tariffs. But the majority of the increase is IKEA and not tariffs.
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u/SnooChickens302 2h ago
Most of the products at IKEA have their price set at a range of 15-50% GM (top of the line has way higher GM). Material cost, transportation, land pricing, development, etc is all factored in and so the prices are stable internally, but it’s volatile environment that is reflecting the perceived non-affordable pricing..
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u/FriedCactus07 3h ago
That's why I either hunt on craigslist or check the "as is" section of Ikea for a good deal
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u/junkbaguette 3h ago
We just go there to eat now haha
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u/Anshumansri 2h ago
Loool we atill do that but we find it most of the time quite difficult to leave without buying something.
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u/akera099 3h ago
I mean it is the tariffs. Everything Ikea in Canada is cheaper than in the US. That never happened before.
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u/Brave-Temperature495 4h ago
If I can find a piece on sale that isn’t god awful ugly it’s still affordable sometimes.
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u/CGeorges89 4h ago
They do this 200% price increase and then a press release how they are decreasing their prices by 50% because ikea should be affordable for everybody. Then they also enshittify all their products on the excuse of "sustenability"....sustensbility of their profits maybe
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u/Gherry- 4h ago
At the same time the quality of IKEA furniture went down.
I have an 8 years old Billy and a new one and the difference is night and day. Way lighter, cheaper and worse than the original.
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u/cinnabarslither 3h ago
Yes. Thank you. My circa 2012 Billys are beautiful birch wood veneer. Now the finishes are completely plastic and horrifyingly ugly. Apparently they started applying the contact paper in 2023 to save money. At this point, there is no reason not to have Wayfair shelving landed on front porch with free shipping. It's a travesty.
Also, they discontinued the Malm dressers instead of just redesigning them. The new Storklintas also have a hideous plastic finish. I was hoping to get another Malm/Storklinta white oak veneer dresser to match the one I have.
I'm not opposed to fake finishes on inexpenive furniture, but Ikea doesn't seem to know how to do them convincingly.
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u/Lomi713 5h ago
I bought a bunch of these nice, durable metal and plastic but colorful chairs for around $25 each back in 2020 and I was hoping to maybe grab a few more. They are now like almost $60 each and you can only get white right now I think
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u/ImAllSetThanks IKEA Fan 1h ago
I've owned probably four Helmets in my lifetime and currently have a white one bought in 2020. I've never paid more than $30-35 for it. I was so excited when I saw the yellow one last year.. until I saw the $70 price tag.
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u/HeavenDraven 5h ago
I bought a bunch of bedroom furniture (mainly Platsa) for my daughter in 2020.
I was a while away from needing to put it together, it was a few months before Christmas, and my sister (who has a 7 seater car so helped me get this stuff) wondered what on Earth I was doing.
Simple answer was that I'd previously picked out some of the furniture, only to find Ikea had discontinued it, and I wanted this choice bought and ready to go before anything else was discontinued - plus, I had the spare cash to hand, and if there was another lockdown, I didn't know when there was going to be a point where we could get it all, and I'd have the money available.
My sister kinda got the reasoning, especially when the discontinuation was mentioned - she'd picked out the same discontinued set for her son, just to not be able to find it when she wanted to buy it - but didn't like the idea of storing everything.
As it turned out, I basically had the last laugh. Looked at the online page for the wardrobe in the December - less than 2 months later - to find the price had shot up from the £130 I paid for a wardrobe, to neatly £200.
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u/popphilosophy 6h ago
I was at a U.S. ikea the other day for the first time in a while and the price increases were noticeable. Also the lack of foot traffic. The store seemed “sad”.
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u/ImAllSetThanks IKEA Fan 1h ago
I always used to say "only suckers go to IKEA on the weekends." I was forced to go on a weekend earlier this year, and was devastated to see how empty that place was on a Saturday.
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u/cinnabarslither 3h ago
Same! Portland OR store. You usually have to fight crowds. And they just didn't seem to have that much stuff. They had just completed a store redesign, but it was starker and more minimalist than before.
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u/RollingBarCart IKEA Fan 6h ago
Sweden tariff is 15%, unless steel or aluminum. Pure greed and politics.
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u/PumpkinMyPumpkin 6h ago edited 3h ago
The tariff depends on the country of origin - most IKEA stuff comes from places like China, it won’t be the Swedish tariff. Since IKEA sources from different countries the tariff will vary by product - the tax on something made in Vietnam will be different than the one made in China and so on.
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u/Buusey 6h ago
Not just tariffs but supply chain disruptions because of the war with Iran
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u/TeaAndLakes 5h ago
These excuses for ikea’s own price hikes are so funny. I was shopping to furnish an apartment months before the Iran shit started and I was gobsmacked not just by the prices at ikea but the quality collapse as well. They used to carry affordable wooden furniture; it was not fancy and it was often unfinished, but you could buy solid wood pieces if that’s what you wanted. It’s all cardboard and laminated materials now, for higher prices than unfinished pine options used to be. I ended up buying a lot of stuff on Amazon, which carries a lot of pine and rubberwood options that look a lot like what ikea doesn’t sell anymore …and at ikea’s former prices.
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u/Separate_Ad_6614 6h ago
I live in Europe. Not only are the prices insanely higher, but also the quality is so bad now… I have an old PAX-wardrobe that is 10 years old. Solid wood, very good quality. And now I also have an additional new one.. it feels like it’s made out of paper, even tho it costs double
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u/theLightSlide 4m ago
I recently bought vintage PAX wardrobes from 2003 and they were not solid wood. You’re joking? The cabinets were very heavy chipboard. The drawers were solid, however, those were optional, they weren’t all solid wood.
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u/lindemer 6h ago
Pax was not made of solid wood 10 years ago. They started using hollow middles (don't know the technical term) way before then
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u/Evening_Marketing645 6h ago
In Canada the prices have gone back down. They’re mostly back to what they were before the pandemic
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u/e_anna_o 6h ago
With a decrease in quality though :(
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u/akera099 3h ago
Yes the quality decrease is actually insane. Before it was cheap but sturdy, now it's just cheap. Everything I bought in the last few months has been returned because they were already damaged in their packaging. Finishes chip when looking at them.
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u/cinnabarslither 3h ago
Amazon/Wayfair/Overstock quality is now giving Ikea a run for its money (but of course, prices are up for all retailers).
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u/luke9036 6h ago
The prices of their new couches are on par with West Elm, Crate & Barrel or other “designer stores”.
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u/ellastory 6h ago
When was the last time you checked the price of a couch from one of those stores? They’re astronomically more expensive than
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u/OmegaCoolBoi 6h ago
That sucks. Here in Czechia it's the opposite, they just decided to make a bunch of items cheaper. They didn't even advertise it or anything, they just did it. I don't really understand the rationale behind that but I'm not complaining.
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u/One-Chemist-6131 6h ago
I've found Ikea to be overpriced for quite some time. I hunt secondhand instead for solid wood furniture and it's less than what I would spend at Ikea.
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u/Banana-9 7h ago
I dunno what it means. I just moved in with my gf and the whole house (ikea) cost ~1300 euro
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u/huldress 7h ago
It's honestly really aggravating that it is almost impossible to have this discussion with a dozen or so people justifying expenses because everywhere else is expensive. Some of the pricing is absolutely outrageous for what you get.
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u/GarriganGate 5h ago
That’s a different discussion. If certain items are not performing well or providing enough value for their price tag, then that’s a completely different conversation than ikea has raised its prices way too much and is no longer affordable
Relatively, ikea is still an affordable brand and is really the only affordable brand still making their own products and designs. There’s a cost of living and wide spread inflation happening across the globe, so trying to blame a brand for raising its prices when everyone else has too is the definition of being uninformed.
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u/Cobbler_Far 7h ago
I stopped buying things from them a few years ago. I have found better quality offerings for less on Home Depot of all places!
Lately I’ve been grabbing real wood furniture off Facebook marketplace and just redoing it to suit my needs.
Easier to get home (we are 3 hours from Ikea), better construction, and way cheaper. Triple win in my book!
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u/OfficialUberZ 7h ago
Yeah I have found some steals on marketplace, my bookshelves were $20 AUD each and with a sand, stain and seal were looking like new again and unlike IKEA, actually have structural integrity.
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u/Fit-Property3774 7h ago
They’re reduced quality so much too. Spend $300 on some shelves that are freaking particle board and $5 worth of plastic to connect the parts.
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u/OfficialUberZ 6h ago
I had a small bookshelf from IKEA a year or so back and the shelf was sagging and started to crack, and the shelf, had books on it… couldn’t even hold the thing it gets its namesake from…
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u/Ithiaca 8h ago
Keep an eye on things, changes are coming, especially to the European stores for Ikea.
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u/Ithiaca 7h ago
IKEA launched a €1.2 billion ($1.39 billion) price-cut initiative across its European markets on September 1, 2026, to help consumers deal with rising living costs and declining consumer confidence.
Key Details of the Price Reductions
- Investment Amount: €1.2 billion total funded by Ingka Group, other IKEA franchisees, and Inter IKEA Group (along with a separate €70 million allocation for Asia and North America).
- Price Drop Range: Average reductions of 15% to 25% (and up to 28%–29% on select high-demand items).
- Affected Products: Over 1,500 products across Europe, including signature items like the BILLY bookcase, KALLAX shelving units, POÄNG armchairs, HEMNES furniture, and BESTÅ media units.
- Market-Specific Examples:
- United Kingdom: The BILLY bookcase dropped by 28%, and Kallax units saw notable cuts.
- Germany: Over 1,500 items reduced by an average of 20% (including the Bestå TV bench down 27%).
- Italy: Hundreds of products reduced by an average of 22%.
- Underlying Strategy: The move follows two consecutive years of declining revenue and lower operating profits. IKEA is absorbing lower profit margins and cutting supply-chain and packaging costs (such as a 70% packaging reduction for the Pax system) to drive customer foot traffic and affordability.
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u/GarriganGate 8h ago
Let me ask you a serious question. I’d love a responses
Do you think tariffs are the only thing that can influence prices? Have you considered how much inflation the world has seen in the past few years? Have you seen how much more expensive shipping, raw materials, and labour is from the past 5-10 years?
It’s not just the tariffs. It’s rising costs for the globe.
Also, please make a list of furniture and decor companies that have lower prices than ikea. I imagine your list will be short, and full of companies that are drop shipping items you yourself could buy off of Alibaba for even less.
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u/69420bigfatty69420 7h ago
Wayfair, Amazon, Home Depot, Target, Lowe’s, Walmart all are cheaper across the board these days
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u/GarriganGate 7h ago edited 7h ago
- Who mostly all supply the same exact trash as each other, which I stated.
All of which is available directly from China yourself. IKEA is the only one added to that list that designs and creates their own things, which for the most part you can only buy from ikea.
Plenty of things ikea sells cheaper than these brands. Again, with an actual distinct look that creates consumer appeal. Utensils, dishware, etc.
Even furniture speaking, ikea has a variety of products that range in price. Something like the LACK is incredibly cheap and beats out the other companies. They also do higher end stuff like the Stockholm collection
Obviously with companies that sell thousands of products, it depends on what you’re comparing to. But since ikea creates and sell their own products and those other companies buy from existing designs, you are generally comparing apples to oranges, not apples to apples.
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u/69420bigfatty69420 4h ago
Most ikea stuff that’s cheap is absolutely garbage tier quality too. You can get full wood furniture from the spots I mentioned for substantially less than what Ikea charges for shitty pinewood furniture - which is basically the only wood options they offer now.
Everything else is trash MDF that gets thinner & smaller every year, while nearly double the price they charged just 4-5 years ago.
I like IKEA, but at this point it’s better to just buy it secondhand. Quality is better on their older products and you’re probably saving $ too.
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u/GarriganGate 4h ago
Comparing used to new is absolutely a wild thing to say when it comes to discussing pricing in the market
We all know things used to be made better, and typically were more expensive.
IKEA’s cheap stuff is absolutely cheap quality, but it’s also priced at an incredibly cheap price. Theirs is no where that you’re going to get something of the looks of a lack coffee table or Billy bookshelf for its price anywhere else.
Their more expensive stuff is just fine quality, and provides a strong balance between price point and aesthetics. Stylish furniture with premium quality is usually resided in much more expensive options than IKEA offers. And while style is subjective, I firmly believe Walmart, target, Home Depot and more have no near that same level, and once again, are all selling the same exact white labelled product.
To each their own, not everyone needs to like ikea. But there’s a reason why they are what they are, the designs they have produced for decades are still beloved to this day and they continue to make wide spread successes, which is again, not something these other companies can say.
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u/virtual_adam 8h ago
As someone who works in a similar big retailer it’s not the tariffs.
You can look up how much companies have publicly admitted they got tariff refunds vs their revenue for that time (the original tariffs were for exactly a year before the courts cancelled them) and you’ll see tariffs are a tiny fraction of revenue, meaning if you bought something at ikea for $100 even high tariffs could have been $5.
Everyone imports, everyone imports from the same countries, so you would expect places like wayfair and random Amazon 6 letter companies to have the same price increases as ikea. Thats not what’s happening
IMO what is happening is ikea saw a 25% drop in profits last year, they report again in a few weeks, it feels like they’re using the North American markets to make back on the profits while keeping prices low in Europe
Energy and shipping prices are up worldwide, but somehow that doesn’t increase the price to get things from China to Europe
Similar to drug companies, they’re treating the American consumer as a cash cow
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u/Debinthedez 8h ago
I am a Brit but live in California. I well remember going to the very first Ikea probably in the late eighties, it was such an innovative store.
That was a long time ago, and for the most part, I feel that Ikea can still deliver on prices, but it's changing for sure. And not just pricing, but quality. Here's an example. In 2017 I bought Hemnes 3 drawer dresser and it was $199. My sis was visiting so I know it was $199 and exactly when I got it. Jump ahead to 2024, I think it was $299 as it is still today. But there's the thing. I have the dresser from 2017 and use it daily. Th enew dresser is not anywhere near as good quality wise. The wood is way thinner, it feels cheap tbh. My 2017 dresser is sturdy and just a much better piece overall.
I also had Tarno, the outdoor bistro table and 2 chairs. Not only is it a lot more expensive now, shrinkflation has occured as the table is considerably smaller. I know this because I got one years after my initial purchase, there's a slat less. And its way cheaper and not sturdy like the original Tarno.
I still love going to Ikea and I suspect I always will. But with price increases I buy way less and I know that with the probelms we are having with the ridiculous cost of diesel esp here in Californa, prices will go up considerably soon.
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u/alisonlou 8h ago
I'm still reeling from the $159 delivery charge they wanted for an $80 cart of household odds and ends. They only offer direct delivery by truck from their warehouse in my area/state.
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u/DayInternational3123 8h ago
I agree it’s just not the tariffs. IKEA has made some poor decisions financially and now they are raising prices and shrinking its workforce. In the last 3 to 4 years decisions they have made are hurting them.
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u/DACula 8h ago
I recently furnished a house with a combination of Ikea and Crate & Barrel (a big furniture store chain in the US). Some comparisons :
The Linea 66 inch solid wood dresser at Crate & Barrel is $2,800. White glove delivery for Crate and Barrel was an additional $270, but let's disregard that for a second.
The Storemolla 8 drawer dresser at Ikea is $650. Let's add $150 for assembly and delivery, and it still comes down to $800. The Linea wouldn't fit through my door, so the delivery personnel took it back. Had to order the Storemolla from Ikea. It's definitely lighter, but functionally almost identical and almost the same size at less than 1/3rd of the price. Other big furniture stores are priced the same as Crate.
I had compared their dining tables as well and comparable ones at Ikea were less than half the price of those at big American furniture stores selling solid wood furniture.
Ikea definitely was cheaper. In 2015 I furnished an entire 1 bed apartment in $1,100 without the couch which was from a local store. It would definitely be at least double that price right now. The alternatives to Ikea are Wayfair and other online stores where you can't even see the product before buying. As for quality, I've been happy with what I've got so far. All the Ikea furniture that I have bought since 2015 and haven't sold is still intact and being used.
I think It's unfair to call Ikea expensive without comparing it to the alternatives. It's inflation and macro economic factors that have caused Ikea to jack up prices.
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u/pickleylily 1h ago
I also find the prices reasonable for what you get. I buy something from IKEA at least 1-2 times per month and have yet to have to return anything EVER in the past 16 years because of quality issues. I’m a bit surprised by how many people have had that experience.
To me, it’s the same IKEA I’ve always known. Not every product is for me, but I can always find what I’m looking for in my price range and I’m not disappointed with what I get.
I’m in Canada. I don’t know if that makes a difference. I only shop second hand or IKEA. Anything I’ve touched from other furniture stores either looks & feels incredibly cheap or is wildly expensive.
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u/wonderings 7h ago
I don't know why, but a lot of wayfair products feel untrustworthy to me and i think theyre supposed to be the alternative to ikea. A lot of the products have bad reviews or no reviews at all, and some products seem really low quality despite being very expensive. I'm sure some products are fine, but ikea still beats wayfair for me even with the price increases, though i have an ikea i can drive to in about an hour and don't need to pay for delivery. A combination of quality furniture and some ikea is best imo
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u/Mike_Y_1210 8h ago
Well of course ikea is going to be cheaper than crate and barrel but that's not the point of the post. The point is that Ikea used to be priced appropriately for what it is but generally no longer is.
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u/DACula 8h ago
You just completely missed the point. Compared to all other alternatives, Ikea still provides good value. It is more expensive, but still priced appropriately.
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u/Mike_Y_1210 7h ago
I understood the point of your comment, but you're arguing something different than what the post is about. They aren't comparing ikea vs crate and barrel or whatever other store, they are comparing ikea now vs ikea pre-covid/pre-tarrifs.
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u/redlude97 7h ago
What is the affordable similar quality furniture then? Nothing is affordable now this is a economy issue
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u/hamatehllama 8h ago
WTF do your antisemitism have to do with a Swedish furniture company? You really have the strangest hobby writing hate on the internet.
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u/Ok-Instruction-7368 8h ago
Ive bought an IKEA rug here in toronto for 112 in just a week it had a 10 dollars price increase, and thats just crazy!!!
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u/pickleylily 1h ago
Something to note is that some stores have slightly different pricing. So maybe you bought it in the store for $112, but the listed price was $122 because that’s what most stores sell it for. I ran into this when I was looking for a shelf. It was $99 online/some locations, and $129 at my local store. We asked the employee and he said that prices can vary from location to location.
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u/CheeseWheels38 8h ago
This is like 66 percent more in the US than in Canada or Europe.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IKEA/s/uf0j1DLUBr
which is totally insane for a country that is known as the world's consumer paradise.
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u/sladanaalex 8h ago
I work for Ikea and get a discount but wouldn’t buy furniture there just because of the quality.You can still buy small accessories in kitchen and some storage boxes but not anything else really.People assume before enter my home that I have some Ikea but nope.Here in Sweden we have a store called Mio and on sales they have better quality so I go there.
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u/AkkalaTechLab 9h ago edited 9h ago
I live in Northern Vermont. my closest IKEA is in Montreal, and I’m honestly so grateful for that because I’ve noticed that after converting to USD the prices are so much cheaper than at the American marketplace. I recently bought the parts to make a NÄMMÄRO sectional- $65 CAD/$45 USD per base piece. Meanwhile the SAME EXACT part on the US website is $70 USD!! 40% cheaper to buy it in Canada. It’s insane.
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u/bed_activist 9h ago
I haven’t been to IKEA (Burbank, CA) in a year and went there last week and was like wtf?!?!? The prices are insane compared to even a year ago. On everything. And the quality turned to shit too. What a disappointment.
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u/faizimam 9h ago
Compared to what?because seems to me other stores have increased prices as much or even more.
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u/GarriganGate 8h ago
This is what people don’t understand.
IKEA is still the cheaper of the scale for home furniture, decor and more. Despite being the only company on the cheaper scale manufacturing their own designed work. Walmart, Home Depot and more quite literally just find generic things from Chinese manufacturers and drop ship them.
Designing and engineering your own work is something a lot of the higher end companies do, with prices 3-8x what ikea sells at.
Prices have gone up for everyone. It’s not just he tariffs, fuel, oil, wood, labour, plastic, fabrics and pretty much all other inputs in manufacturing and production have increased greatly in the past 6-10 years. IKEA is not immune to rising costs.
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u/Vast-Document-6560 9h ago
I bought new kitchen for 6k
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u/chaosmtb 8h ago
All my kitchen cabinets have made in United States on them too! No tariff for that. The axstad doors are Italy. Prob less tariffs than “Chyna” the main target of tariff. IKEA kitchen is so good for diyer
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u/Timely_Challenge_670 9h ago edited 9h ago
Have you priced out a shipping container from Maersk recently? The cost or diesel and insurance has increased astronomically thanks to the idiots in Russia and the US. On top of that, raw input costs are up because it’s basically impossible to get wood from most of Eastern Europe now.
Who knew that voting and geopolitics had consequences?
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u/bright-avocado90 9h ago
Unfortunately the cost of everything that goes into the products has increased, which increases the final cost to the customer. This includes raw materials and transportation. With diesel continuing to rise, transportation costs are skyrocketing as well. I don’t think ikea is alone in increasing their costs, but as someone else pointed out, I think they’re still more affordable than other retailers like crate and barrel where you’re getting similar materials and quality
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u/znobrizzo 9h ago
Just the other day we compared a bookcase that was 200$ in EU and 350$ is USA. Inflation happens everywhere, but when compared to other stores, you can still find a lot of affordable options.
Also, illegal deforestation is harder nowadays, so that will also have a toll on the industry. As a Romanian, I know specific factories that were producing pieces for IKEA that poached a lot, but the poachers were caught and now they have to work with the real costs.
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u/Magicians-Judge Unverified Co-Worker 9h ago
And I’ll tell ya that every one of us coworkers who’ve worked there longer than a couple years hates it. Every price increase means less affordability for the average person, and we know that the quality of the product has gone down. I have this conversation with my shopkeepers all the time. It’s a bit annoying to constantly hear customers complain about it but I understand it too. I’d argue we are still more affordable than many furniture retailers (though Walmart and Target probably hover around the similar prices). Things just have not been the same, store visitation wise, since Covid. IKEA has to increase prices to make up for the lack of bodies in the stores. I’ve worked at my store approaching 10 years and the difference in all aspects of the job in comparison to when I started is startling.
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u/Wildebeest_Pancake 9h ago
The mattresses have dipped massively in quality while getting more expensive than competitors. Spring mattresses don't even have foam side walls for the most expensive options. My old Haugsvar was $399 had a firm memory foam surface and good support on all sides. Recently went to buy a new mattress and was disappointed with their whole range.
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u/bb-8-r2d2 9h ago
While there are expections, I’d say on average its about 20% more expensive in EU, which I dont think is that bad, considering everything is more expensive now + prices were much worse in 2022/2023
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u/lovesfanfiction 9h ago edited 9h ago
If you haven’t seen the price of a LACK table recently 😩. I basically outfitted my house in the normal LACK side tables for $4.99 ages ago. Now they have a mini LACK for $9.99 and the normal LACK is $17 at IKEA Renton*. Just crazy.
Edit: caps, store location
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u/Noctew 9h ago
Normal inflation would have increased prices over 50% over the past 20 years. If you compensate for this, some products (Ektorp) have become more expensive (30%), some have stayed about the same (PAX, -14%) and some have become a lot cheaper (BILLY, -50%). Yes, some are now using cheaper materials, but it is not like it is ultra noticable once they are assembled.
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u/FrezoreR 9h ago
Isn't it that most everything have become less affordable, Ikea included of course.
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u/harda_toenail 10h ago
Still the cheapest kitchen vs anything else that’s near the quality.
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u/plump-lamp 9h ago
Idk those chicken strips are straight trash but expensive
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u/fakemoose 9h ago
I think they meant the actual kitchen cabinets like to build a kitchen. Not the food from the IKEA restaurant.
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u/plump-lamp 9h ago
Ah. Well in that case meh... I have a full ikea kitchen and the bodyn fronts in gray show every stain and hold stains easy. Wouldn't do that again
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u/harda_toenail 7h ago
I lived with the grey for 7 years at my last house. Clean them. They’ll look new again. Much better to clean than stained wood
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u/RedditRage 8h ago edited 2h ago
Obviously not ideal in effort and cost involved, but why not just put a sealant over them?
edit: you know what, people can just sod off. I was just giving a suggestion. I highly recommend just ripping out your stupid kitchen and putting another 25K into a new one because of some stupid stains you made. How pathetic.
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u/plump-lamp 8h ago
Why should I have to do that for a 25k plus kitchen....
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u/RedditRage 2h ago
I think you should tear it out and spent another 25K on a new one then. Hell, make it 50K. Maybe then you'd stop crying about the stains you made.
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u/Ambitious_Low4134 10h ago
Has somebody that’s been working at Ikea the past seven years I could really confirm this, started working at Ikea at the end of 2019 through the pandemic and into modern day and man Could I tell you the difference in price.
Not only that well I won’t say which store I work at I work at at one of the bigger Ikea’s in the United States. The amount of crowds we got in summer 2020 compared the summer 25 is significant.
I still like the products I have purchased from Ikea The affordability should definitely be brought up I remember when a 4 x 2 Cal used to cost $65 bucks compared to now.
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u/5ft_of_fire 9h ago
As a co worker, I agree. Less crowded, more expensive, and shorter store hours. I miss having access to the breakfast ( stores that changed opening hours to 11am don't have it now). I look at the current prices of items I bought years ago and wince.
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u/Still_Quail_5719 10h ago
A lot of the forests that IKEA utilized for wood for their furniture were in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. The prices first started going up due to Covid supply disruptions, followed by the war in Ukraine, and now the Steaight of Hormuz energy prices.
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u/ElectricFeet 9h ago
Yup, this of one of the main reasons, in Europe, at least. The prices of lumber have gone through the roof since Russia’s invasion. Just getting hold of baltic birch in Europe has become almost impossible.
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u/kidcharliemagne 10h ago
Yo really? I’m Ukrainian and always had an unreasonable love for IKEA. Didn’t know the furniture was made out of my homeland!
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u/yaddiyadda_ 10h ago
Everything has gone up.
The good stuff at IKEA was never cheap (re: the PS line) and I think college students could still swing a Billy bookcase and a lack coffee table.
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u/Substantial-Today166 10h ago
ikea has not been classed as affordable in the last 20 years not even in its home country of sweden
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u/MediatingInstigator 10h ago
Huh? What else is more affordable in Sweden?
Of course they are considered affordable.
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u/Substantial-Today166 8h ago
they are loads of smaller stores that sell cheaper furniture too
me and many of my friends whent to poland to buy ikea kitchens and even furniture
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u/plantjeee 10h ago
As a company, even if you're not struck by increased fuel costs, supply cost or any other cost imaginable, you leave stupid amounts of money on the table by cracking up your price by 20%, because every single person is so attuned to 'everhthing is more expensive these days'
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u/dawne_breaker 10h ago
Check the prices of everything. Everything is more expensive now. Because AI, war, manufactured scarcity, billionaires and horrible economic policy. This is the new reality. We’re poor again. 🥳
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u/FlecktarnSWE 10h ago
Yeah nah. It's 100% the US fault. Did nothing to stop the war in Ukraine. Lost the war with Iran. Causing havock with it's former friends. Trump is under Putins foot and you have to pay for it.
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u/caj_account Pork free meatballs are needed 9h ago
Ukraine war started in 2014 because of USA.
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u/amontpetit 8h ago
Show your work
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u/caj_account Pork free meatballs are needed 8h ago
Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014
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u/amontpetit 8h ago
Not disputing that: How is that the USA’s fault?
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u/caj_account Pork free meatballs are needed 8h ago
Russia said they would invade if USA keeps expanding nato.
Also orange revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Revolution
I hope you understand the Ukrainians are just pawns and paying the price with deaths. In a war Ukraine can never win.
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u/amontpetit 8h ago
So it’s Russia’s fault.
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u/caj_account Pork free meatballs are needed 8h ago
Lol. Russia is not a weak ass bitch of a country like everyone else lol. Only 4 countries have demonstrated they can go against the USA.
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u/silverbatwing 10h ago
Not just tariffs. The “not war” were having with Iran is ratcheting up oil prices.
Oil is gas and diesel.
The USA ships most things with diesel.
All of this was avoidable.
All of this is maga/trump/republicans fault.
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u/prank_mark 10h ago
Don't forget IKEA uses glued wood panels, and glue is made from oil. And wood is also fuel, so that's more expensive now as well.
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u/QuestGalaxy 10h ago
I mean, putin is also to blame. Him fucking about in Ukraine has also brought up prices. But yeah, trump and putin are the main causes right now. Before them, Covid did some damage too.
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u/Belle_Requin [CA 🇨🇦] Kivik for life 9h ago
Does it become a chicken and egg argument there? Putin moved into Ukraine in part because of Trump stalling aid to Ukraine- so it was Trump's behaviour that gave Putin a great window to invade. But I also don't disbelieve that Trump is a witless Russian asset who is too stupid to know he's a Russian asset.
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u/Glittering-Benefit68 10h ago
While quality decreased. Checked out Friheten. I got one in 2003, when they still used cotton. Fabric is now plastic. I moved several times with Billy bookcases. They one I got in 2023 is so flimsy, I doubt it will survive one move.
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u/Bitter-Angle639 10h ago
And the quality also goes down sadly... idk what's happening internally but I hope it's not greed.. Ingvar made a revolutionary company and it'd be sad to see it go down
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u/Illustrious-Role320 10h ago
Margins go down due to costs increasing. Quality needs to go down to fit the new margin targets. What was solid wood is now hollow boards. What was metal is now plastic. And all in the name of innovation and sustainability. As you say, you can see the decline since Ingvar passed away.
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u/regassert6 Former Co-Worker 10h ago
Let's play a game. Pick something non IKEA that you purchased 5 and a half years ago. How much is the same thing now?
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u/queensheba2025 10h ago
This. EVERYTHING costs more. Even cat litter. Freaking donuts. It all costs more.
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u/nicetrybb Unverified Co-Worker 10h ago edited 10h ago
I’m sick of seeing posts like this. The cost of EVERYTHING HAS GONE UP EVERYWHERE.
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u/Minimum-Divide2589 9h ago
While this is true,, IKEA has noticeably gone up the most.
A lot of things have gone up 1.5 to 2 at the max but a lot of ikea items are now x4. That’s more increase than cars or homes or anything in my buying view.
Cost has gone up and quality has gone waaaaaaay down.
I don’t think people would be as bitter about paying more if the quality was still there. That kind of increase should come with a better product but it doesn’t so people are understandably frustrated.
After ingvar died, quality started to decrease, prices started to increase, and staple products made of quality materials began being phased out.
There are of course still “affordable” things at ikea but the quality isn’t there anymore, not for everything but for a lot of things.
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u/nicetrybb Unverified Co-Worker 9h ago
While I do agree with you, I wouldn’t say “IKEA has noticeably gone up the most.” The most??? Out of everything in the world? Lol I highly doubt that…
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u/Minimum-Divide2589 8h ago
No, of course not of everything in the world, but everything within my small world of purchases (things that I’ve considered or looked into buying) - that kind of everything.
Fair critique, should’ve been clearer.
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u/Catnip_Farmer 3h ago
Amazon has gone up way more than Ikea.
I recently had to abandon ship with amazon and the prices at Ikea (in Canada anyway) are astonishingly low by comparison.
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u/NightmareWokeUp Unverified Co-Worker 25m ago
Geheralization is always bad, out prices have gone down this FY quite significantly. Lowest price products are often sold at a loss anyways