Ikea will buy back old furniture in the UK and Ireland

As part of its "Buy Back" initiative, the Swedish furniture retailer is offering customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland the chance to trade in their old furniture in exchange for store vouchers, as part of its sustainability push.

Items can be traded in according to their condition, with "as new" products fetching up to 50% of the original price, items in "very good" condition claiming 40%, and "well used" items traded for 30% of the original price, Ikea said Tuesday.

The furniture — including products such as dressers, bookcases, shelf units, chairs and tables — must be fully assembled in order to be eligible for the offer, which will launch on November 27.

The retailer said it is running the program in time for Black Friday, and is offering vouchers with no expiry date in order to address "unsustainable consumption and its impact on climate change."

"Being circular is a good business opportunity as well as a responsibility, and the climate crisis requires us all to radically rethink our consumption habits," Hege Sæbjørnsen, country sustainability manager at Ikea UK and Ireland, said in a statement.

Ikea's online sales got a big boost during the pandemic as millions of people turned their homes into makeshift schools and offices. The company said last week that online sales surged 45% over the 12 months to August, driven by 4 billion visits to its website.