Because that 2 lifetimes table doesnt cost $800 thats what grandma paid for it in the 50s when buying a 4 bedroom house for $30,000 and working at the mill for 50 years was normal.
It also weighs 3 tons and given that you live in a shitty 1 bedroom apartment and have to move every 6 months to an even smaller shoebox that costs an increasing % of your income every damn time, Its probably for the best that your shit is disposable.
Everyone should get into woodworking, because then you can just make your own and it’ll be twice as expensive and shittier than IKEA’s version.
You had me in the first half…
Have you seen the price of finished wood these days. It’ll probably be cheaper (although possibly more fatal) to buy a forest, cut your own trees down and build your own sawmill.
Seize the means, comrade!
In time of climate change you don’t want to own a forest, unless you own a fire department, an insekt repellent company and a water plant to water them when there’s a drought. Pump and dump is the way to go. Buy two table, store one on top of each other and sell it when inflation doubled it’s price, so basically 6 months.
Never mind the space, tools and time required anyway
Most of which aren’t really compatible with living in a city, even if you’re in a house and not an apartment. We needed an entire garage stall for my husband’s tools, which significantly affected what houses we could buy and how close to the city center we could live. It’s a lifestyle choice, not something you just pick up on a whim.
I built a shoe rack during the pandemic. It actually turned out great, it’s way better than something from IKEA. It was indeed 2-3x the cost of an equivalent thing from IKEA if you consider all the tools and stuff I had to buy though.
I feel personally attacked.
Yep Anon never went furnishing shopping. $800 will get you a large wardrobe at IKEA. Anything equivalent will be far more than double the cost if you want it made from real wood and new.
I moved out of our house and if I wanted some furniture and beds for the kids do I spend $450 total for all 3 of us to have a bed or do I spend $2k when I’m trying to get shit settled down?
And yes, to your point, I’ve moved twice since then and that would have been a nightmare. And 5 years later the bed still is fine
All IKEA furniture I’ve bought has lasted a long time, but the meme is wrong, the reason it even exists is you can’t buy better quality furniture for the same price, at least not by very much, it will cost a lot more if you want amazing quality.
Agreed, yet to find any ikea (or any non-ikea being fair) fail to hold whatever items i put into them… Sounds like you (OP, not person i am replying to), might ve storing something strange in them to fail often enough to complain about ALL ikea furniture…
Flat pack furniture traditionally had the relationship for being crap, in particular for missing pieces like a screw here or there, but when Ikea came along they did things properly. That was the reason they got so popular, they were so much better than the competition, and they forced others to up their game. I think they were the first to actually include extra screws, to cover the occassions when they weren’t there, but these days their quality assurance is so good they just include the exact right amount every time.
They also have a little depot that you can go to to get extra screws and bits of wooden dowel and stuff.
You can go in tell them you need a type 4 screw from set 10.34.82.14 and they go oh yes that’s a Peürïng, and give you it.
For some reason they also ask how many you need.
I’ve done that once, and honestly wrote I needed four screws. A few days later I got an envelope with like, 20 screws. I get it, but still found it a bit funny.
It was their way to say: screw you!
I have a Billy bookcase that’s like 20 years old, if not more. It’s been there all my life, as far as I can recall.
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Keyword there is “find”
If your hobby is trawling second hand and antique stores, yard sales, estate sales and online classifieds looking for just the perfect high quality but affordable end tables that match your decor. Then go on with your bad self, I bet your house looks sweet.
I can go onto the Ikea website, find some cabinets that will do the job, I can check the measurements, pick my color, click a few buttons and they arrive at my house in a few days.
I bought most of my furniture used and got some really good pieces at great prices.
After a certain point though, I’m fed up of spending ages searching online and having to instantly jump on good deals. And if you’re not careful, you also end up with a load of random furniture that doesn’t fit together.
Depending on the item, it’s quite literally not worth my time searching for a good used piece. As in, if I was charging an hourly wage for searching/collecting, overall I’d be net negative.
And thats assuming you also have a vehicle to move it and the seller doesnt dick you around at all.
Yeah, getting fucked about by sellers was also one of the worst parts. I’ve arranged to collect stuff before, then gotten a message saying they’ve sold it to someone else.
Having sold stuff on marketplaces myself, if you agree to something then stick with it, even if you get a better offer.
You could always rent a truck for a few hours. Though that does raise the effective coat you paid for it, but not by much.
Wait till you rent the truck, turn up at their house to collect the item and they tell you they just sold it. But you can have your deposit back…
Yep. I’ve found high quality old furniture at estate sales, but it’s never matched my decor.
I’m not gonna complain about paying $50 for a couch made back in the 1960s that still feels brand new, though. Even if it’s dark purple.
Thats when you go to the hardware store, get a 1L tin mixed up in the same purple and paint some other shit in your place so it looks like its by design.
If you can find 2nd hand stuff that you like for cheap then go nuts.
I’ve got a garage full of 2nd hand stuff that I can’t even give away on FB marketplace because nobody likes the look of it.
IKEA has never been poor quality. It serves its purpose in the market and people seem to like the designs.
I’ve found that this is the problem. The good quality stuff is great and yes it will last multiple generations. However the styling will be long out of date before even the end of the first generation. My parents had old extremely well made furniture that they spent a lot of money in when they first got married. 30 years later the styling was out of date, my mom wanted a change, and they practically couldn’t even give the furniture away because nobody wanted the old style. So now my dad has a guest room in the basement using that furniture.
Yeah and you can find second-hand IKEA furniture for even cheaper.
If you’re adamant about that, then I guess this largely depends on where you live. Outside of one lucky find in a furniture charity shop I haven’t had that luxury, not to mention that you don’t get to choose what furniture you’re getting there.
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America is huge and you might have to drive very far to get that second hand item. Also not everyone has a pickup truck to go get bulky heavy furniture you can’t take apart to easily transport to your place. And bedbugs are an issue in some places, especially major cities. It’s possible for some but not everyone.
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I agree with most of your complaints, but if transport is an issue, go to Home Depot or Lowes. You can rent a truck or van for $20 a day.
You absolutely cannot rent the truck at Home Depot for $20/day. It’s $20 for the first 75 minutes. Then you gotta pay for gas.
I agree mostly, but that adds to the cost and it means taking time out of your day to go get the truck, go get the furniture, drop furniture off at your place, then take the truck back. It’s an added inconvenience most people don’t want to deal with.
I mean facebook marketplace and craigslist you’re just as likely to find furniture that’s already from IKEA or some similar retailer, anything better will likely cost way more unless someone really wants to get rid of it.
Also it should be no surprise that used IKEA furniture will also be way cheaper.
I see you are in Germany, like myself, I tried other options momax, XXLutz and some others with very bad results. Yes, there are other more local brands but they are considerably expensive in comparison. Ikea has provided reliable and compact furniture, easy to move when changing apartments. Most of the second hand furniture I find is actually Ikea stuff in decent condition. I’m open to trying again with other brands and will do but my experience with Ikea has not been bad as described by the meme
But that is just my opinion.
Because that would be an apples to oranges comparison, even if it had any basis in reality.
Not sure why you’re being downvoted, maybe it’s because you keep replying second-hand without giving more information on that? Where are you looking? How are you finding it?
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It absolutely does not cost the same price as the properly made alternative. Noooo way.
Flat pack stuff like that is way, way cheaper, thus why people buy it.
Also, you can bring home a full armoire in a hatchback. Real wood furniture is large and heavy, and requires specialized equipment to get it up to an apartment.
Having antique furniture is like owning an upright piano. It probably has sentimental value, and will outlive humanity with minimal maintenance, but not everyone has the space for it, and when it comes time to relocate it, you realize why furniture went flatpack.
Real talk, I fit an Ikea mattress, slats, bedframe, and a weeks’ worth of groceries in my Ford Focus hatch when I was moving into an apartment in college. Meanwhile I had to rent a U-Haul for the 60 year old dresser passed down from my parents, because it wouldn’t fit in my car or either of their SUVs.
I make and restore wood furniture. I have taken plenty of “all wood” furniture apart, repaired it, or just salvaged whatever actual wood scraps I could find.
Whatever idiot wrote this has no idea how expensive true wood furniture is. There is hardly ANY actual wood furniture in the market, PERIOD. You think it’s wood, but it’s veneered ply or fiberboard. That is the state of the entire industry, not just IKEA. This is a simple fact of life in a world that has already been heavily deforested even before all 8 BILLION PEOPLE currently living were born. Wood is precious. You also don’t need solid wood for your fucking nightstand. So maybe you should buy a nightstand made out of the particleboard that is waste product from milling lumber for other uses, like construction. That’s called using everything, wasting nothing. It’s sustainable.
There is nothing wrong with IKEA furniture for most people’s everyday needs. And you are not going to get a 150-year all wood piece for the same price. LOL fuck no. When you are in your 40s and have made it big time you can go to a craft furniture maker and get a solid oak bedroom set. It will cost more than your first car did.
IKEA furniture does not fall apart in 3 years, either. I’m about to go get my pajamas out of the IKEA dresser I’ve had since 2001. It won’t last centuries like a real craftsman made wood dresser. But it’s not 3 year garbage either, and looks and works like the day I bought it, despite me using it daily for 22 years and moving it between at least 4 houses in that time.
IKEA furniture is good for what it is and very cheap. One of the reasons it’s cheap is that it is flat packed for efficient shipping. Assembly by the customer also saves cost. And seriously, if you can’t figure out the IKEA instructions, you must not be trying very hard.
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And seriously, if you can’t figure out the IKEA instructions, you must not be trying very hard.
You missed the part where the same idiot posting stupid misunderstandings about the furniture market is the one trying to assemble the furniture. They’re working their ass off trying to assemble that nightstand, but it’s too damn complicated. Just opening the box took years off their life.
Sounds 'bout right.
OP has clearly never priced out solid wood furniture. A single mission-style sofa–by which I mean something made using Gustav Stickley’s plans–will typically retail for well over $3000 US. …Such as this version–from the original Stickley company–that has an MSRP of >$9000
OPs whole shit is wrong, honestly. I have a house furnished on quite a lot of Ikea shit that’s been going strong for 10ish years through multiple moves? Though I don’t disagree that I’d rather have better materials like real wood that can be refinished and really can last a century, that is not happening for anywhere near Ikea prices.
Exactly what I’m thinking, can furnish a whole place for a price of some of these solid wood furniture.
That’s what I was thinking too. Like, where can I get a nice, sturdy couch for under $800 USD?
Sometimes on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or similar. If you like mid-century modern, and are willing to reupholster, you can often find 50 year old pieces at estate sales and such. But new? Ain’t happening.
For the same price
Lol
OP has clearly never purchased furniture
Where do you get wooden furniture for the same price?
cheaper, not the same price … and it’s in the thrift stores. I love buying old shit and refurbishing to my liking, it’s fin, it’s good for the enviroment, your wallet and it’s unique. Not gonna find my coffee table in any floorroom and that bitch would break a mofos back
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I don’t think it’s fair to compare brand new unassembled Ikea furniture to used furniture found on a marketplace. Compare the price of used Ikea furniture with new Ikea furniture, or new Ikea furniture with new non-ikea furniture.
Used goods being cheaper isn’t a surprise.
But if they used goods are of significantly higher quality than ikea?
They’re still used goods. It’s very unlikely that the still better-quality goods aren’t free of blemishes or marks. It still involves dealing with someone that isn’t going to give you any kind of warranty in case of an issue, or that might only take cash, etc. There’s also a huge assumption on availability of those used goods, which you cannot guarantee.
Sure, there’s nothing wrong with all that necessarily but it shows that it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. OP’s statement isn’t fair by saying that Ikea is just as expensive as good quality wood furniture.
This! You can’t compare brand new stuff with used stuff. And the comparison makes even less sense when you have to refurbish the used furniture. It is absolutely cool if that is a kind of a hobby for you, but it is not the same thing as buying new and unused furniture.
Nice, I have absolutely nothing like that within my area.
I used to keep an eye on the marketplace sites for a while, but after a few months gave up because there was usually fuck all good furniture and the good deals get snapped up instantly.
Dealers spend all day watching these market places (I’ve met at least five in my local area), the second they see a deal they jump on it, then post it back on with a 500% markup.
It’s mostly Ikea furniture on the marketplace sites in my area lol
That “bureautje” thing looks like the random crap furniture my grandmother had in her house.
The first one is absolutely hideous, I wouldn’t want that in my house.
The second one doesn’t even look too be solid wood, but rather engineered wood with a veneer - I don’t see how that’s any different than IKEA.
I love real wood furniture as much as the best person, I have some myself, but your post here does not help the point you’re trying to make
Speak for yourself, I have multiple IKEA furniture that’s lasted me for 10 years. You just have to be careful and take care of your stuff.
The massive wood furniture that lasts two lifetimes is only as cheap as the IKEA counterpart if you do it all by yourself, in your own little woodshop, and only need to pay for glue, nails, hinges, and electricity. And still only of you Include felling and milling the trees on your own.
Some years ago, I wanted one wall of the living room done with a custom-made, wall filling book shelf. Estimated cost by the carpenter: 7000. I paid about 3000 for IKEA furniture and other materials and did two walls of shelves instead of just one, suspended the ceiling, ran a ton of wires and redid the whole living room electrical and communication infrastructure. Yes, all that for half the price quoted by the carpenter. Guess what? None of the furniture has broken down so far. And I don’t expect it to.
Carpenters build house frames, cabinetmakers build furniture.
Is it legit $7,000 for a big wall filling bookshelf?
Sounds insane.
Like who would ever buy that service?
My dad is a cabinetmaker. At 34 I can reflect on my life and I have never seen higher quality cabinets than his. Nothing comes close.
I remember he used to complain that people could get cabinets cheaper at Walmart so he lost more and more business.
I think with wage stagnation, people can’t afford custom cabinetry anymore. So it seems insane to us to spend that amount. But you can imagine that with the price of lumber and the cost of skilled labor that 7000$ comes quickly.
Honestly, I spent most of my 20s as a cabinetmaker, I even had a shop of my own and just keeping the lights on, charging for materials and gas will run a basic piece of furniture into the thousands. That’s without making a salary at all. Nothing is cheap anymore and we can’t expect people to work for free. That among many other reasons is why I’m working in a different field now.
Proper woodworking is a very specialized skill set that isn’t all that common anymore. The tools to do proper woodworking can also cost a small fortune and take up a very large amount of space. The cost of good lumber from an actual lumber yard is also very high. You can’t make any good looking furniture that is going to last out of wood bought from Menards.
My dad used to do professional capentry and cabnetry. His woodshop takes up the entirety of a repurposed decent sized barn. The loft of his barn is full of old lumber that has been curing for several years. Most of the lumber he uses he has had to scrounge up from auctions just because most modern forestry methods don’t produce nearly as high quality of lumber. Modern forestry methods are far more efficient because the trees chosen grow faster and the cuts are more efficient but that also makes the wood weaker and the grain paterns less attractive. Old growth hardwoods are ideal for most woodworking. Generally modern forestry also rarely works with certain wood types because it isn’t economical to do so. Walnut is a beautiful wood but if you have ever seen a walnut tree then you know why it’s hard to make any decent planks out of one.
Lots of people.
I actually like putting the flat packs together. It’s like Lego for adults.
Sue me.
They don’t use text in the instructions, just pictures. This lets them print the same instructions book for all the hundred countries they sell in. But it can make assembly just a little bit more tricky. This is the only even moderately challenging part, but like you say it’s usually fun.
Have you tried putting furniture with written instructions together? IKEA is a million times easier because they show you right in the pictures what you gotta do, instead of trying to explain it in words.
Yeah, you’re right about that. Pictures are good. It would just be helpful if you had the ability to use text with the pictures sometimes. They have to not do that.
In the UK before Ikea, it was MFI (colloquially known as ‘Made For Idiots’) that was even lower quality chipboard horrible furniture.
Yes, Ikea isnt some handcrafted solid wood furniture but until most people can afford that stuff, it will do.
Yeah what’s with this idea that solid wood furniture costs the same as IKEA’s equivalent. That’s just not true. If it was no one would buy IKEA furniture so it’s obviously not true.
Mr green text is a lying git.
I bought one piece of real furniture and the only reason we could afford it was because it was made by a dude as his hobby and he was selling practically for cost. And even then I had to really commit that I wanted that walnut dresser. Internals are still MDF btw.
Yeah the prices here are all out of wack. I’d love to buy nice, long lasting furniture. Please tell me where I can get a couch that will last generations for $500? I have some hand me down furniture that’s good quality and even in it’s day it was.a significant investment. My dining room table cost ~$1200 when it was brand new. If I didn’t have that I’d be using some $150 pressboard garbage from target or Ikea because that’s all I can reasonably afford
In my experience, it’s a choice between decent Ikea shelves that don’t sag after a few years of use and super shitty Walmart furniture that falls apart in about 6 months.
Aside from the price of good quality wooden furniture, it’s heavy as hell which is rough when you’re a renter and moving every few years. There’s also a lot of wooden furniture, old or new, is just as poorly constructed with peeling veneer and failing staples. Not everyone has the time, money, or space to fix that up.
And all that being said, Ikea isn’t really that expensive for what it is. Their soft furnishings and decorative items seem overpriced, but their storage products (mostly what I get from them) are pretty decently priced. Yeah I’ve had my issues with missing parts and shitty customer service, but all in all my experience has been positive enough to keep going back.
I still want to get a couple really nice, high quality items, but I’m not going to break the bank every time I need a bookshelf.
Not to mention, they do sell actual nice solid furniture for decent prices. For example, my current dining table from Ikea is solid wood, not veneered particle board, and was less than $200 dollars. I’ll gladly take the 5 minutes it took to screw the legs on for a decent piece of furniture at that price.
I also have a few of those adjustable metal shelves from Ikea, which have been sitting on my balcony for two years now, exposed to the elements, with not a single spot of rust on them. Those were about half the price of comparable shelves from a big box store, which rusted out in less than a year.
Sure Ikea sells some cheap crap that disintegrates if you look at it wrong, and that sucks, but if you’re just a little more selective about what you buy there, you can get stuff that’ll last at a very reasonable price.
My IKEA wardrobe survived 3 moves and 10 years so far and it’s almost a good as new
… What? I have Ikea furniture that’s lasted 10+ years, through 5+ moves including disassembly and reassembly every time. Nothing took more than 20 minutes to assemble, and I definitely believe this furniture can outlive me.
The IKEA shelves in the studio are about 30 years old, moved twice, and are still fine.
You have to remember, you bought that quality 10 years ago though, to play devils advocate
I’ve got an Ikea couch I bought fifteen years ago that’s made a move across the US three times. I have two kids in their teens. The couch is still in good shape. I also have an entertainment center/TV stand that I bought from them 10 years ago from Ikea that’s in great shape.
The couch cost me $250, the TV stand cost me $50.
The myth of crappy Ikea furniture is overblown.
That’s cheap! I paid $800 for a sectional sofa from a scratch and dent markdown furniture store. It was among the cheapest furniture they had. And it had slight cosmetic damage.