IKEA is making moves in the online second hand market, reports ESG News.

The company, which has its US headquarters in Conshohocken, launched a pre-owned peer-to-peer platform. The platform allows customers to sell used IKEA furniture directly to other customers. Customers can exchange furniture for payment or for IKEA vouchers with a 15 percent bonus.

The platform has onboard AI which will link promotional images and measurements to the products to make listing and browsing items easier.

The move looks to break up the monopoly on the secondhand market help by companies like eBay. Ikea already claims a large market share in the preowned furniture sales. 

The company is currently testing ‘IKEA Preowned’ in Madrid and Oslo but plans to roll out the new service globally by the end of the year.

The service is a part of the company’s sustainability initiative. Over the last few years, they have been focusing less on physical retail as they move more into the online space.

The timing of the shift was perfect in light of the pandemic. “We were 100 percent closed,” said IKEA executive Jesper Brodin. “The digital transformation saved us.”

The new peer-to-peer platform helps Ikea move close to their goal of being ‘circular and climate positive’ by 2030.

Read more about IKEA’s move into the secondhand furniture market at ESG News.