4 ms·

I don't like buying IKEA furniture for two reasons: 1 - With a handful of exceptions, IKEA furniture looks like... IKEA furniture! It reminds Henry Ford and hi

by pif 10y ago

I don't like buying IKEA furniture for two reasons: 1 - With a handful of exceptions, IKEA furniture looks like... IKEA furniture! It reminds Henry Ford and his "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." 2 - Most important, while I appreciate its hack-ability, it's important for me to get quickly an idea of the budget involved. I understand that there's no standard IKEA wardrobe, because you can assemble it as you like, but when I see an exposed example I'd like to know the price of the whole thing as it is. If I don't know how much it will cost, more or less, I can't decide whether to buy there or elsewhere, thus I'm not ready to dive into the detailed calculations of N shelves and X hooks.

cyxxon 10y ago
Regarding your point 2 - have you been to an Ikea recently? They always put up prices for the way it is assembled in the showroom, so you see something cost €324, of which the main corpus is 156, the added part on the left is 68, etc., broken down into the boxes you actually have to buy. So you should get a pretty good feeling for what your version of the furniture will cost. Amd about the look, well, that's just subjective taste, isn't it? I actually like the clean lines of their, and almost everything in my apartment is Ikea. From time to time I visit other furniture stores, because my girlfriend likes browsing there, but I never really find anything I would want in my little world at home. Seems like a typical case of YMMV...
- Hydraulix989 10y ago
  IKEA furniture here in Silicon Valley means that you're a tech intern living in a starter apartment (and you're spending all your money on rent instead of anything else). College kids have to practically give away all of their surplus IKEA furniture at the end of every summer (along with their unused bicycles) once their Facebook internships end because everyone is selling and nobody is buying. I'm always amused when someone thinks they can sell their Galant for nearly full price on Craigslist in August.
- pif 10y ago
  > Regarding your point 2 - have you been to an Ikea recently? No, I haven't. Thanks for the update! > about the look, well, that's just subjective taste, isn't it? I think I wasn't clear enough. I don't complain about quality/look: what I don't like is the standardisation! As soon as you see something from IKEA, you know it's from IKEA.
  - qq66 10y ago
    For many, that standardization is a feature rather than bug. I really like that I can mix and match anything and have it look visually consistent. I am a big fan of the products although I build them slightly nonstandard (extra lag screws, wood glue on all surfaces, VHB tape to affix to wall).
    - pif 10y ago
      It's called "collection". What I dislike of IKEA is having just one collection. Take this as an example: http://www.lefablier.com/en/collections/ http://www.lefablier.com/en/collections/ I understand that's a completely different world, but the idea is that you can have consistency in your whole house without giving up the possibility of choosing what fits your taste more.
mmjaa 10y ago
I don't buy IKEA because I'm sick of seeing my living room in other peoples houses.
usrusr 10y ago
I'm genuinely surprised by your #2, because predictable pricing is the number one reason for me to rarely consider anything other than Ikea. It might be a cultural thing, maybe the difference between Ikea and other alternatives goes along a very different line where you live. Here, conventional furniture stores are still pretty much selling at highly individualized prices, where they pull some random fantasy "regular price" out of thin air and leave it to short term campaigns and the discretion of individual salespersons to dazzle the customer with huge discounts. But if their "regular price" is so much of a fantasy that discounts >50% are the norm, how do I know the 60% discount is a reasonable deal and not something that will still make them laugh at me behind my back, for not driving it down to 90%? I very much prefer paying a predictable margin of which I know that it makes them rich by selling volume over paying a black box margin that might be twice as high as the next guy's because I did not achieve as good a cultural fit with my assigned salesperson, or because they already hit their volume goals for today and are now aiming for the margin bonus. It's annoying enough that I have to play these games with naturally individual transactions like when buying a used car, but for factory new mass produced items like furniture I'll gladly skip on the haggling game.
- HelloNurse 10y ago
  Chains of sofa stores in Italy follow this pattern to the point that ads are slightly ironic about their discounts and/or try to divert attention towards good craftsmanship, quality, etc. Stores of expensive or custom furniture are completely different, with genuine market pressures keeping prices and quotes in check.

by pif 10y ago

cyxxon 10y ago

Regarding your point 2 - have you been to an Ikea recently? They always put up prices for the way it is assembled in the showroom, so you see something cost €324, of which the main corpus is 156, the added part on the left is 68, etc., broken down into the boxes you actually have to buy. So you should get a pretty good feeling for what your version of the furniture will cost. Amd about the look, well, that's just subjective taste, isn't it? I actually like the clean lines of their, and almost everything in my apartment is Ikea. From time to time I visit other furniture stores, because my girlfriend likes browsing there, but I never really find anything I would want in my little world at home. Seems like a typical case of YMMV...

Hydraulix989 10y ago
IKEA furniture here in Silicon Valley means that you're a tech intern living in a starter apartment (and you're spending all your money on rent instead of anything else). College kids have to practically give away all of their surplus IKEA furniture at the end of every summer (along with their unused bicycles) once their Facebook internships end because everyone is selling and nobody is buying. I'm always amused when someone thinks they can sell their Galant for nearly full price on Craigslist in August.
pif 10y ago
> Regarding your point 2 - have you been to an Ikea recently? No, I haven't. Thanks for the update! > about the look, well, that's just subjective taste, isn't it? I think I wasn't clear enough. I don't complain about quality/look: what I don't like is the standardisation! As soon as you see something from IKEA, you know it's from IKEA.
- qq66 10y ago
  For many, that standardization is a feature rather than bug. I really like that I can mix and match anything and have it look visually consistent. I am a big fan of the products although I build them slightly nonstandard (extra lag screws, wood glue on all surfaces, VHB tape to affix to wall).
  - pif 10y ago
    It's called "collection". What I dislike of IKEA is having just one collection. Take this as an example: http://www.lefablier.com/en/collections/ http://www.lefablier.com/en/collections/ I understand that's a completely different world, but the idea is that you can have consistency in your whole house without giving up the possibility of choosing what fits your taste more.

mmjaa 10y ago

I don't buy IKEA because I'm sick of seeing my living room in other peoples houses.

usrusr 10y ago

I'm genuinely surprised by your #2, because predictable pricing is the number one reason for me to rarely consider anything other than Ikea. It might be a cultural thing, maybe the difference between Ikea and other alternatives goes along a very different line where you live. Here, conventional furniture stores are still pretty much selling at highly individualized prices, where they pull some random fantasy "regular price" out of thin air and leave it to short term campaigns and the discretion of individual salespersons to dazzle the customer with huge discounts. But if their "regular price" is so much of a fantasy that discounts >50% are the norm, how do I know the 60% discount is a reasonable deal and not something that will still make them laugh at me behind my back, for not driving it down to 90%? I very much prefer paying a predictable margin of which I know that it makes them rich by selling volume over paying a black box margin that might be twice as high as the next guy's because I did not achieve as good a cultural fit with my assigned salesperson, or because they already hit their volume goals for today and are now aiming for the margin bonus. It's annoying enough that I have to play these games with naturally individual transactions like when buying a used car, but for factory new mass produced items like furniture I'll gladly skip on the haggling game.

HelloNurse 10y ago
Chains of sofa stores in Italy follow this pattern to the point that ads are slightly ironic about their discounts and/or try to divert attention towards good craftsmanship, quality, etc. Stores of expensive or custom furniture are completely different, with genuine market pressures keeping prices and quotes in check.