KEA has confirmed it is preparing to launch a second-hand marketplace in the UK, allowing IKEA Family members to buy and sell pre-owned IKEA furniture and homeware directly with one another. The announcement signals a significant step in IKEA's push towards a fully circular business model by 2030, and a fresh competitive pressure point for anyone selling into the UK home and gift market. 

IKEA confirms it is preparing a UK resale platform 

An IKEA spokesperson said the retailer is "taking a meaningful step toward creating a destination that simplifies access to pre-owned IKEA furniture," with the platform designed to let Family members connect locally to trade items directly. Unlike general resale sites such as Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree, the IKEA platform will be built specifically around IKEA's own product catalogue, giving sellers pre-filled listings and giving buyers a more trusted, brand-verified alternative. 

IKEA has not confirmed a launch date or full feature set for the UK platform, saying only that more details will follow in the coming months. 

The marketplace builds on pilots already live in five countries 

This is not IKEA's first move into peer-to-peer resale. Ingka Group, IKEA's largest retailer, launched the concept in Sweden in January, and the platform has since scaled to Norway, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Ingka is targeting 170,000 listings globally across these markets in 2026. In Spain, sellers are offered pre-filled product descriptions and price suggestions, along with a 15% bonus if they accept payment as an IKEA gift card, while buyers will pay a 5% protection fee from January 2027. 

The UK expansion follows the same pattern IKEA has used for its wider circular strategy, testing in a small number of markets before rolling out more broadly, alongside its existing buyback scheme, in which used furniture is returned in store for credit and resold through IKEA's As-Is department. 

Second-hand furniture demand is accelerating across the UK 

The timing lines up with a broader shift in how UK shoppers buy homeware. One in five consumers who made a secondhand purchase last year bought furniture, a figure that rises sharply among bridge millennials and younger Gen X shoppers. IKEA converting stores into what it calls "Circular Hubs" reflects a retailer betting that resale is no longer a niche add-on, but a core part of how a home and interiors brand needs to operate to stay relevant with younger, sustainability-minded buyers. IKEA is not the only major retailer betting on this shift either; resale has already reshaped fashion retail, with eBay's Depop acquisition. 

What the move signals for independent gift and homeware retailers 

For independent retailers, IKEA's marketplace is worth watching rather than worrying about. It is aimed at giving existing IKEA owners a controlled, brand-safe way to resell IKEA-specific products, not at competing directly with independents on new stock, sourcing or the kind of curated, characterful ranges that draw shoppers away from big-box retail in the first place. If anything, it is a signal of where buyer expectations are heading. Shoppers increasingly want to know a product's full lifecycle, where it is made, how long it lasts and what happens to it afterwards, and that expectation is filtering down into how independents choose their own suppliers. 

It echoes a wider pattern already playing out in fashion, where unexpected shifts in shopper behaviour are sending buyers back towards independents over big-box retail, rather than away from them. 

For buyers building out homeware ranges, this is a good moment to lean into that story. Retailers sourcing from wholesale homeware suppliers with genuine sustainability credentials, repairable materials or transparent manufacturing have a real point of difference against a marketplace model built purely around resale logistics.  

It is also a reminder that independent retail strategy is not static. For shops rethinking how they build customer relationships around values like circularity and provenance, it is worth revisiting the fundamentals in how to build customer loyalty. 

Where this fits with the wider sustainable retail shift 

IKEA's marketplace lands at a moment when sustainable retail suppliers are becoming a genuine commercial differentiator rather than a nice-to-have, one of the clearer independent retailer trends shaping the UK market heading into 2026. Buyers looking to strengthen their own sustainability story, or simply source fresh, values-led ranges for next season, will find no shortage of relevant suppliers on the road ahead, including at the UK's wholesale gift, home and interiors trade shows, where circularity and provenance are increasingly front and centre of exhibitor storytelling. 

IKEA has said further details on the UK marketplace, including timing and how customers can take part, will be shared in the coming months. Inside Retail will continue to track the rollout as more information becomes available.