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Angle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. Ikea's tables, couches, and chairs often cost under $500. Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
IKEA sells couches, armchairs, and tables for about half of what competitors do. At IKEA, you can buy a couch for under $500. But at other stores that specialize in home furnishings, like Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel, couches typically cost at least $900, if not more.
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But considering how low most of IKEA's prices are, the quality is surprisingly high. How is it able to keep prices so low?
A lot of it has to do with the way it designs each item. IKEA picks what they want to sell a product for before designing and manufacturing it, and the designers and suppliers work together to make sure the final product can be that price.
In 1956, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad introduced flat packing, the method now synonymous with IKEA that cuts costs by letting consumers purchase their furniture in pieces and assemble it themselves. While it may be annoying to assemble furniture yourself, it allows IKEA to charge less for everything.
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In other words, IKEA chooses what it wants to sell a product for, and then designers work with suppliers to make that possible.
IKEA doesn't have a ton of store associates at each store. By hiring fewer people, IKEA is able to save money and keep prices lower.
You have to take furniture home yourself. It may not be the most convenient option, but it means you won't be paying a delivery fee.
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Assembling IKEA furniture can be daunting, but it means IKEA isn't paying anyone else to do it for you. IKEA acquired TaskRabbit in 2017, giving shoppers the option of hiring someone to assemble their furniture.Facebook Icon The letter F. Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email. Email Twitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting. Twitter LinkedIn icon LinkedIn Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url. Copy Link
Angle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. Assembly is required for most furniture bought at IKEA and Target. Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
IKEA warehouses are massive, and they offer hundreds of options to shoppers. Because it specializes in furniture and home products, it has a much bigger selection of those products than Target does.
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But Target is a lot more accessible than IKEA — Target has 1, 839 stores in the United States, and IKEA has only 56. Target stores are much smaller than IKEA stores are, and they're generally easier to navigate.
Most of the furniture each store sells is pretty basic, and it almost always requires assembly, no matter which store you buy it from.
To make the furniture assembly process easier, IKEA acquired TaskRabbitin 2017.TaskRabbit lets users hire temporary workers to deliver purchases, clean homes, and even assemble furniture. IKEA shoppers can hirea tasker from the TaskRabbit app and website or through an employee in-store once they have purchased the products.
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To see which was a better place to find inexpensive furniture, we visited an IKEA store in Brooklyn, New York, and a Target store in Jersey City, New Jersey. Here's the verdict:
One of the first things we saw in the store was a massive showroom of couches and armchairs. The chairs cost around $300, and couches are typically around $600.
It also sells bar stools that range in price from $60 to $150. The quality varied — some of the less expensive products didn't feel super sturdy.
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It also has smaller showrooms with shelves and display units. Assembly is required for most products, but IKEA has a partnership with TaskRabbit that you can use if you don't want to spend time putting everything together yourself.
A lot of the products that IKEA carries are very minimalistic and simple. The quality didn't seem to be great, but nothing was particularly expensive. These shelves cost $20 each.
Shelving units can be bought individually or in combination with one another. Combinations could cost as much as $600, but it was hard to tell how sturdy they were.
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On the lower level, I saw a marketplace that carried essentials besides furniture. Most of the kitchen products IKEA was selling were very basic, white-and-gray products. Everything cost under $10, and many things like utensils cost under $5.
IKEA's store credit card offers 5% back in rewards on each purchase. It also has a rewards program called IKEA Family that offers members monthly discounts, free coffee, food discounts, and perks like price protection and a purchase history to make re-ordering easier.
IKEA has a ton to offer. Most of the products it carries are pretty basic, and prices are low on a majority of what it carries. The quality varies a lot, and assembly is required on almost everything. But one of the biggest perks is that IKEA has a partnership with Task Rabbit, so you don't have to put everything together yourself.
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Even though Target may not be the first store that comes to mind for furniture, it actually has a lot of different home products to offer. But because it isn't a furniture store, it doesn't carry nearly as much as IKEA.
At the Target we went to, there were no armchairs or couches. It did have a lot of bar stools like IKEA did, and the price range was about the same.
Target's furniture is also pretty simple and minimalistic, like IKEA's. Assembly is required on most things, but Target does not have a partnership with TaskRabbit, so you'd have to assemble things yourself.
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Kitchen products generally cost more at Target. For example, spoons for cooking cost $2 each at IKEA, but $6 each at Target.
The rugs at Target cost between $50-130, which is more expensive than at IKEA, but the quality seemed to be about the same.
Target also has a rewards credit card that offers shoppers 5% off every time they use it. It also offers early access to promotions, two-day shipping, and extended returns.
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Even though the products offered at IKEA and Target are similar styles and quality, IKEA had better prices on most products, and it offers TaskRabbit assembly services to make it easier on the shopper, making it the clear winner.
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