> So just to be clear: I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not, probably leaning towards good, but with a bunch of considerations in mind: selling their things

> So just to be clear: I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not, probably leaning towards good, but with a bunch of considerations in mind: selling their things second hand or even giving away is what people also have been doing already. In case of selling they get back money, with IKEA they'll get back vouchers, limited to 50%. I think you underestimate two things here: (1) people would much rather go to IKEA to return an item than to sell on craigslist, and (2) people would trust IKEA much more when buying a refurbished item, rather than buying used from craigslist. The fact that it is IKEA itself that is doing this and making it easier for consumers can drastically increase both the pool of items that are being re-used, and the amount of people that will consider buying used items. > To state the obvious: that is not at all what this is about and as far as I can tell I also never gave that impression in my comment. It's about teaching people about the value of durability, i.e. convincing people they do not have to buy a new bed or desk every x years. Now how do you achive that? I honestly don't know for sure. But seeing that previous generations had no (or much less) problems with that, it means it's something which is teacheable, so I'd start with that. As a push back agains consumerism, educate the young ones and explain them there are cases where it is possible to buy one thing for a lifetime (or so), that there is nothing wrong with buying second had goods, etc. The previous generations had a very different life. Fewer people were moving across the country, and fewer people were moving to different continents. People would stay in one place and work for the same company for decades. This is simply not the reality of today. Many people do not stay in the same place for more than a few years, and the distances they are moving are larger than ever before. Furniture has adapted to this new reality, and unless that reality changes again, it will not go back to the way it used to be. When you move across country it is impractical to take furniture along with you. Worse, it is straight up bad for the environment. Renting a truck and driving 3000 miles to lug around a table, a bed and a desk is a horrible idea from an environmentalist point of view. It is much better to avoid that transportation cost and give away your furniture locally for re-use, and get somebody else's furniture at your destination. This is exactly what IKEA is trying to accomplish here.