This year, Ikea Canada is asking customers to flip Black Friday on its head by choosing to sell rather than buy.
The furniture retailer has been running its sell-back service in Canada since 2019, which allows customers to sell their gently-used Ikea furniture in exchange for store credit. Those items are then resold in Ikea’s As-Is section, allowing for an overall reduction in waste.
During its Black Friday campaign, though, Ikea will be offering up to double the normal sell-back value and special promotions on its As-Is products. Its entire campaign opposes the normal frenzied consumption of Black Friday, opting for a “sustainable living” approach instead.
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“On one of the biggest shopping days of the year, we want to change the conversation from one of mass consumption to mass circularity, and show how sustainable living can be easy and affordable for everyone,” said Melissa Barbosa, head of sustainability for Ikea Canada.
The sell-back service is simple. Customers upload photos of the furniture they are looking to sell to the Ikea website, an employee reviews their items within five business days and then, if they are approved, the customer can drop off the items at an Ikea store in exchange for store credit.
Unfortunately, for Island residents this means having to make a trip to the Mainland. People can, however, buy discounted As-Is items online and have them shipped to one of the Island’s two pick-up points in Saanichton (#10-6776 Oldfield Rd.) or Nanaimo (Unit 10b, 4386 Boban Dr).
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Another part of the campaign will be providing special offers on products that help save water, energy and waste. Inspiration for how to extend the life of Ikea products can be found on its website.
The Black Friday campaign is just one step in the retailer’s goal of becoming “fully circular and climate positive by 2030.” Being fully circular means creating a closed-loop system where the focus is on reusing, sharing and remanufacturing rather than taking resources, using them and then disposing of them.
The Black Friday campaign will run from mid-November until the end of the month. More details can be found at ikea.com.
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