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My friend does exactly this between IKEA and Ebay. Here in Australia, IKEA does not ship (not sure if they do else where) so she buys a heap of items at the Ik

My friend does exactly this between IKEA and Ebay. Here in Australia, IKEA does not ship (not sure if they do else where) so she buys a heap of items at the Ikea stores and flips them online. She's been doing it for years and does pretty well at it. Here in Australia, IKEA stores are few and far between so her arbitrage is a huge value add for a lot of her customers since IKEA cannot (won't?) ship and traveling X KM's to pickup an item isn't an option for most. Personally, I'd rather buy X item from another retailer that has a product similar to the Ikea equivalent rather than use a middle man but. People really want to buy IKEA goods rather than the alternative. I can't see how this gentleman's equivalent will stand up in the long run but till then since Walmart's goods are less unique and more importantly, much more accessible. But still he's exploiting an OK market for now. The self help angle he's now peddling makes me suspicious that his income hasn't scaled as well as he would like now his business has grown. He's now got 11 employee's and a much larger footprint. His business overheads would have significantly increased and dropping from $150k to $60k a year for his salary would indicate his business Net has either diminished or hasn't grown as expected. Hence, peddling self help to generate additional income and exposure for his business.

mr337 9y ago
Here in US people are doing that with IKEA. The closest IKEA is about 2.5 hours way and you can put in a order through them and they make a weekly trip to buy your item and you can pickup it up locally.
- FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
  Ah, thank you for the comment. I'm guessing IKEA don't ship any where in that case and that isn't specific to just Australia. Paying some one else for the luxury and buying it through an online medium like eBay is a pretty decent alternative to a 2.5 hour drive.
  - Symbiote 9y ago
    Ikea in several European countries delivers. Britain for example, since it's in English: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/customer-service/faq/dispatch-and-delivery/#1364308958943 http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/customer-service/faq/dispatch-and-...
  - goodJobWalrus 9y ago
    It delivers in Canada. Both small items by post, and large items (furniture) for $100 flat.
    - Scoundreller 9y ago
      At least in Southern Ontario, it's $100 if you pick all of the items yourself. It's $20 for them to pick it. Both well worth it when you're furnishing a new place and purchasing 4-digits worth of stuff. Ikea does "show-rooming" right.
  - nickonline 9y ago
    Ikea has started delivery in Australia as well. http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/customer_service/ikea_services/home_delivery.html http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/customer_service/ikea_services/...
    - will_hughes 9y ago
      Their home delivery option still requires you to go in store, take the item(s) you want off the shelves, pay for it, take it over to the delivery counter and then negotiate with them on delivery availability. You can't do it online or over the phone, and even in-store they won't tell you availability of slots or reserve you a slot while you go pick up the stuff. Their customer service in this aspect is dreadful. It's only marginally better than when they partnered with a local delivery company (Kings, at the Rhodes store) who were even worse - not delivering on the day I'd paid (extra) for, and then having the nerve to try and charge me for storage when I said they'd have to deliver it the next weekend.
  - mcphage 9y ago
    > I'm guessing IKEA don't ship any where in that case They do ship, but only within a small radius of their stores.
  - 59nadir 9y ago
    IKEA in Bulgaria deliver and it's extremely affordable. Given that we've only had stuff delivered twice I can't vouch for how well they do it, but we haven't had any issues. Edit: They deliver to the whole country, but if you're not in Sofia you're gonna pay more. Given that Bulgaria is like a small state in the US that'd probably be the scale I'd expect in the US, but I'd bet that you have more IKEA stores in your average US state than Bulgaria has country-wide.
- jsight 9y ago
  There is a service like that in Charleston, SC as well. I have often wondered if these businesses are actually associated with IKEA in some way. It seems to be a strange business to be independently run, especially when there are quite a few of them out there.
siquick 9y ago
IKEA are stepping up their home delivery game in Australia, hope your friend knows about this. https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/retail/ikea-online-shopping-in-sydney/ https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/retail/ikea-onlin... Online shopping is already available in Tasmania, the Northern Territory, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.
- FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
  Oh nice, thank you for the heads up. I'll let her know. I was unaware, she may be across it though. I gave the impression that she exclusively deals with IKEA products but from what I understand it's more diversified than that but, I'd suggest it's still her bread and butter.
  - SyneRyder 9y ago
    Looks like online ordering / home delivery is available in Western Australia and South Australia too (which apparently are not part of the eastern coast IKEA network). Delivery cost is $19.75, which is still crazy if you just want one $5 USB powered lamp... but less crazy if you're ordering several items at once. Not that I checked eBay and noticed a lot of people selling IKEA USB lamps or anything ;) Looks like there's no IKEA in New Zealand though. Hopefully your friend can still make her fortune selling across the Tasman and providing a great service to Kiwis!
dragonwriter 9y ago
>Here in Australia, IKEA does not ship (not sure if they do else where) They definitely have a delivery service in the US. http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/service-offer/delivery/ http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/service-offer/delivery/
cc439 9y ago
I used to think IKEA was insane for running such a "20th Century" business model for shipping their products. The fact that you cannot purchase anything from IKEA's website and have it delivered without incurring a $129 delivery fee is crazy when taken at face value. However, I've come to understand why they have limited their delivery service. Their flat pack products are their profit centers and the packaging that makes them so efficient to store in their storefront warehouses is simply not suited for shipping via 3rd parties (UPS, FedEx, etc). As an extreme example, consider their cardboard honeycomb + laminate furniture (the Hemnes stuff). It takes almost nothing to punch through the flat surfaces of those products if the force is concentrated on a small area and the box offers zero protection (padding) to prevent this. Even the higher end products are packaged as tightly as possible with sensitive surfaces directly touching the box they're packed in. While it's insane to charge $129 for get a pack of their excellently priced "ancillary" products shipped (kitchen utensils, cheap LED lightbulbs), those products are priced desirably in order to get you in the store. If IKEA sold those online with a modern shipping model, they'd forgo the chance of getting you to buy something that is actually profitable. IKEA can't redesign the packaging for their flat pack products without impacting the efficiency of their in-store inventory and they can't ship their existing packages without ironclad damage-free guarantees from the big logistics companies. Even if they get a guarantee that the logistics company eats the cost of any damaged good, it would still negatively impact customer satisfaction when, for example, the bed they ordered for their new house shows up damaged and needs to be returned/reordered. Every time I've bought IKEA furniture, it's been for an immediate need, and I'm not going to be happy when I have nowhere to sit for 2-5 days because UPS crushed my package.
- FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
  Unsure why you're being down voted. Your comment seems pretty accurate to me. Having broken and damaged flat packed goods I've bought from IKEA personally. I would guess another provider with this be UPS or Australia Post could be even less trusted than I.
- itronitron 9y ago
  That sounds about right, and I doubt that their warehouse people are fully equipped to package IKEA goods properly for shipping. When I have had orders shipped from IKEA online they have typically been poorly packaged, with pieces close to falling out of the boxes.
philliphaydon 9y ago
Ikea here in singapore just started doing delivery 2 months ago.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  IKEA in china has always done delivery and even assembly. They wouldn’t sell much of anything otherwise as many don’t have cars and there is only so much you can do with a taxi. Surprised Singapore isn’t similar.
- toomanybeersies 9y ago
  Given that nobody in Singapore has a car, how exactly did people get their furniture home previously?
  - SyneRyder 9y ago
    Was TaskRabbit popular in Singapore for that kind of delivery (and assembly)? I know IKEA bought TaskRabbit a month ago: https://www.recode.net/2017/9/28/16377528/ikea-acquisition-taskrabbit-shopping-home-contract-labor https://www.recode.net/2017/9/28/16377528/ikea-acquisition-t...
- philliphaydon 9y ago
  Sorry I should have being more specific. Delivery via the website. If you purchase in store hey do delivery, but the queues can be an hour on the weekends. They have services like GoGoVan to get some bulky items home cheaper.

mr337 9y ago

Here in US people are doing that with IKEA. The closest IKEA is about 2.5 hours way and you can put in a order through them and they make a weekly trip to buy your item and you can pickup it up locally.

FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
Ah, thank you for the comment. I'm guessing IKEA don't ship any where in that case and that isn't specific to just Australia. Paying some one else for the luxury and buying it through an online medium like eBay is a pretty decent alternative to a 2.5 hour drive.
- Symbiote 9y ago
  Ikea in several European countries delivers. Britain for example, since it's in English: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/customer-service/faq/dispatch-and-delivery/#1364308958943 http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/customer-service/faq/dispatch-and-...
- goodJobWalrus 9y ago
  It delivers in Canada. Both small items by post, and large items (furniture) for $100 flat.
  - Scoundreller 9y ago
    At least in Southern Ontario, it's $100 if you pick all of the items yourself. It's $20 for them to pick it. Both well worth it when you're furnishing a new place and purchasing 4-digits worth of stuff. Ikea does "show-rooming" right.
- nickonline 9y ago
  Ikea has started delivery in Australia as well. http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/customer_service/ikea_services/home_delivery.html http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/customer_service/ikea_services/...
  - will_hughes 9y ago
    Their home delivery option still requires you to go in store, take the item(s) you want off the shelves, pay for it, take it over to the delivery counter and then negotiate with them on delivery availability. You can't do it online or over the phone, and even in-store they won't tell you availability of slots or reserve you a slot while you go pick up the stuff. Their customer service in this aspect is dreadful. It's only marginally better than when they partnered with a local delivery company (Kings, at the Rhodes store) who were even worse - not delivering on the day I'd paid (extra) for, and then having the nerve to try and charge me for storage when I said they'd have to deliver it the next weekend.
- mcphage 9y ago
  > I'm guessing IKEA don't ship any where in that case They do ship, but only within a small radius of their stores.
- 59nadir 9y ago
  IKEA in Bulgaria deliver and it's extremely affordable. Given that we've only had stuff delivered twice I can't vouch for how well they do it, but we haven't had any issues. Edit: They deliver to the whole country, but if you're not in Sofia you're gonna pay more. Given that Bulgaria is like a small state in the US that'd probably be the scale I'd expect in the US, but I'd bet that you have more IKEA stores in your average US state than Bulgaria has country-wide.
jsight 9y ago
There is a service like that in Charleston, SC as well. I have often wondered if these businesses are actually associated with IKEA in some way. It seems to be a strange business to be independently run, especially when there are quite a few of them out there.

siquick 9y ago

IKEA are stepping up their home delivery game in Australia, hope your friend knows about this. https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/retail/ikea-online-shopping-in-sydney/ https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/retail/ikea-onlin... Online shopping is already available in Tasmania, the Northern Territory, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.

FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
Oh nice, thank you for the heads up. I'll let her know. I was unaware, she may be across it though. I gave the impression that she exclusively deals with IKEA products but from what I understand it's more diversified than that but, I'd suggest it's still her bread and butter.
- SyneRyder 9y ago
  Looks like online ordering / home delivery is available in Western Australia and South Australia too (which apparently are not part of the eastern coast IKEA network). Delivery cost is $19.75, which is still crazy if you just want one $5 USB powered lamp... but less crazy if you're ordering several items at once. Not that I checked eBay and noticed a lot of people selling IKEA USB lamps or anything ;) Looks like there's no IKEA in New Zealand though. Hopefully your friend can still make her fortune selling across the Tasman and providing a great service to Kiwis!

dragonwriter 9y ago

>Here in Australia, IKEA does not ship (not sure if they do else where) They definitely have a delivery service in the US. http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/service-offer/delivery/ http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/service-offer/delivery/

cc439 9y ago

I used to think IKEA was insane for running such a "20th Century" business model for shipping their products. The fact that you cannot purchase anything from IKEA's website and have it delivered without incurring a $129 delivery fee is crazy when taken at face value. However, I've come to understand why they have limited their delivery service. Their flat pack products are their profit centers and the packaging that makes them so efficient to store in their storefront warehouses is simply not suited for shipping via 3rd parties (UPS, FedEx, etc). As an extreme example, consider their cardboard honeycomb + laminate furniture (the Hemnes stuff). It takes almost nothing to punch through the flat surfaces of those products if the force is concentrated on a small area and the box offers zero protection (padding) to prevent this. Even the higher end products are packaged as tightly as possible with sensitive surfaces directly touching the box they're packed in. While it's insane to charge $129 for get a pack of their excellently priced "ancillary" products shipped (kitchen utensils, cheap LED lightbulbs), those products are priced desirably in order to get you in the store. If IKEA sold those online with a modern shipping model, they'd forgo the chance of getting you to buy something that is actually profitable. IKEA can't redesign the packaging for their flat pack products without impacting the efficiency of their in-store inventory and they can't ship their existing packages without ironclad damage-free guarantees from the big logistics companies. Even if they get a guarantee that the logistics company eats the cost of any damaged good, it would still negatively impact customer satisfaction when, for example, the bed they ordered for their new house shows up damaged and needs to be returned/reordered. Every time I've bought IKEA furniture, it's been for an immediate need, and I'm not going to be happy when I have nowhere to sit for 2-5 days because UPS crushed my package.

FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
Unsure why you're being down voted. Your comment seems pretty accurate to me. Having broken and damaged flat packed goods I've bought from IKEA personally. I would guess another provider with this be UPS or Australia Post could be even less trusted than I.
itronitron 9y ago
That sounds about right, and I doubt that their warehouse people are fully equipped to package IKEA goods properly for shipping. When I have had orders shipped from IKEA online they have typically been poorly packaged, with pieces close to falling out of the boxes.

philliphaydon 9y ago

Ikea here in singapore just started doing delivery 2 months ago.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago
IKEA in china has always done delivery and even assembly. They wouldn’t sell much of anything otherwise as many don’t have cars and there is only so much you can do with a taxi. Surprised Singapore isn’t similar.
toomanybeersies 9y ago
Given that nobody in Singapore has a car, how exactly did people get their furniture home previously?
- SyneRyder 9y ago
  Was TaskRabbit popular in Singapore for that kind of delivery (and assembly)? I know IKEA bought TaskRabbit a month ago: https://www.recode.net/2017/9/28/16377528/ikea-acquisition-taskrabbit-shopping-home-contract-labor https://www.recode.net/2017/9/28/16377528/ikea-acquisition-t...
philliphaydon 9y ago
Sorry I should have being more specific. Delivery via the website. If you purchase in store hey do delivery, but the queues can be an hour on the weekends. They have services like GoGoVan to get some bulky items home cheaper.