IKEA Will Now Let You Trade In Your Unwanted Furniture

At a time when most IKEA furniture ends up deep in the Gumtree 'For Sale' ads or left on the side of the road, the Swedish retailer has come up with a pretty clever plan to give those unwanted flat-pack ensembles a second lease on life.

Today, in an Aussie first, IKEA has launched a full furniture take-back service out of its Tempe store, allowing Sydneysiders to bring in their retired IKEA pieces to be sold on to a new home, and score a voucher for their efforts.

This is also great news for those looking to score some cheap furniture, as the bought-back pieces will be available for purchase in-store.

The company already runs programs to recycle its products elsewhere in Australia, but only for sofas, mattresses, batteries and light bulbs.

Customers can also get an insight into the recyclable and renewable materials that go into their flat-packs, at IKEA's first-ever Circular Living pop-up store, on show at Tempe for the next eight weeks.

Both initiatives have been spurred by findings from the company's latest People & Planet Positive Report, which suggests Aussies threw away up to 13.5 million pieces of furniture that could have been recycled, reused or repaired.

If you're keen to take advantage of IKEA's take-back system, simply fill out an online form and email photos of your unwanted furniture to be assessed by an IKEA expert. If it gets the thumbs up, you'll be offered a selling price, then have 14 days to bring your piece into the Tempe store and pick up an IKEA voucher priced to the same value. IKEA will then sell on your unwanted furniture for the price of your voucher.

Find IKEA Tempe at 634-726 Princes Highway, Tempe