vindje.com / Guides / Vintage & design
Most used IKEA furniture is worth little, but a handful of older designs and limited collaborations now sell for more than they cost new. They are usually pieces with a known designer, a short production run or a strong style. A label under the furniture is the easiest way to confirm what you have.
IKEA has worked with well known designers for decades, and some designs were only made for a few years. When a style becomes popular again, those pieces get noticed. Collectors look for bold postmodern shapes from the 1980s and 1990s, early versions of designs that are still sold in changed form, and limited editions.
None of this applies to Billy bookcases, Kallax shelves or the Lack table. Those are everywhere and priced like ordinary furniture, however old they are.
These are among the older designs that collectors and stylists search for.
IKEA has released limited collections with outside designers and brands, such as the Markerad collection with Virgil Abloh and collaborations with HAY and others. Some pieces, especially rugs and objects with strong graphics, resell above their original price.
Resale value is unpredictable and can fall as quickly as it rose. Buy collaboration pieces because you like them, and be wary of paying a premium for items that were made in large numbers.
Most IKEA furniture has a sticker, stamp or printed label with the IKEA name and the model name, often with a production date or code. Older labels can include the designer's name. Ask the seller for a photo of it.
IKEA has also reissued older designs, for example in its Nytillverkad collection. A reissue is a good piece of furniture but not a vintage original, and the label usually shows a recent year. Price it accordingly.
Flat-pack furniture that has been taken apart several times can have worn screw holes and missing fittings. Check that the original connectors and screws are present, as replacements for old models are rarely available. On upholstered pieces, original covers add value; on Poem chairs the original fabric is part of what collectors want.
Chrome on 1980s pieces should be checked for rust and pitting, and lacquered surfaces for chips, which are hard to repair invisibly.
Sellers often list these as old IKEA chair without the model name, or do not know the item is IKEA at all. Searching by description helps: a plain-language search on vindje.com for a 1990s flat-pack plywood chair, or a chrome and black lacquer sofa from the 1980s, can surface listings that never mention Vilbert or Moment.
Some people buy old IKEA cheaply to resell it to collectors abroad, where some of these pieces fetch more. Be realistic: shipping a chair is expensive, the collector market is small, and prices are driven by trends. Check how many of the same item are listed and for how long before you buy several.
For your own home, the appeal is simpler. A Vilbert chair or a Moment table is a good design piece at a fraction of the price of comparable furniture from the big design brands.
| Item | Typical asking price |
|---|---|
| Ordinary used IKEA chair or table | EUR 0-40 |
| Original Poem chair, 1970s-80s | EUR 50-200 |
| Vilbert chair (Verner Panton) | EUR 75-250 |
| Moment table or chair (Niels Gammelgaard) | EUR 100-400 |
| Markerad collaboration rug | EUR 150-500 |
Rough Marktplaats asking prices in the Netherlands. Condition, age and season move them a lot.
Describe what you want in your own words and vindje.com searches Marktplaats in Dutch, then reads every listing and keeps only the real matches. For example:
IKEA Vilbert chair by Verner Panton, original 1990s, all panels intact, under 200 euro, anywhere in the NetherlandsSearch Marktplaats like this
Most of it is not. A few designs by known designers, short production runs and limited collaborations do sell for more than ordinary used furniture.
Look for a label or stamp underneath or on the back. It usually shows the model name and often a production date or code.
It was launched in the 1970s as Poem, designed by Noboru Nakamura, and renamed Poäng later.
Reissued designs are good furniture but are worth less to collectors than original production pieces.