Ikea aims to compete with eBay with launch of secondhand online marketplace

• Ikea has launched a marketplace for customers to buy pre-owned items, Financial Times reported.
• The pilot program will be tested in Madrid and Oslo through the end of the year.
• The launch aims to help Ikea compete with resale sites like eBay, Gumtree, and Finn.

Now, you can pay to reassemble someone's pre-owned Ikea furniture thanks to a new secondhand marketplace launched by the home furnishings giant.

The Financial Times reported that Ikea is launching its pilot marketplace, Ikea Preowned, to compete with resale sites like eBay in the United States and Gumtree and Finn internationally.

So far, only customers in Madrid and Oslo can access the pre-owned offerings, but the company could expand beyond its test markets in the new year, per FT.

"This has been a dream in the making for a while," Jesper Brodin, chief executive of Ingka, the main operator of Ikea stores, told FT. "We are in a place in Ikea where we can do more advanced and cool stuff. There is an incredible confidence in the company evolving on digital."

Sellers list their pre-owned Ikea products on the marketplace with their own photos and listing price, and the site's AI-enabled database automatically populates details like dimensions and promotional images into the listing, FT reported.

"With this marketplace we want to enable people to connect and support each other to fulfil the needs and dreams of a home and have access to an even more affordable IKEA range," a spokesperson for Ikea told Business Insider.

The spokesperson added: "The global second-hand furniture market is growing rapidly, with a projected annual growth rate of 6.4% in 2024. Already today, 10% of the second-hand home furnishing market is made up by IKEA products. With the platform that we are testing in Madrid and Oslo, we have the possibilities to simplify and enhance the experience for both the seller and the buyer."

For now, listings on the marketplace are free, but Brodin told the outlet that Ikea may charge a "symbolic" fee in the future. Sellers listing pre-owned items on the marketplace can receive cash payments or an Ikea voucher with a 15% bonus, per FT.

"We're going to verify the full scope including the economics ," Brodin said. "If a lot of people use the offer to get a discount with Ikea — it's a good way to reconnect with customers. I am very curious. I think it makes business sense."