Hi, I've had my eye on a bookcase in the Ikea catalog for quite some time. I finally got a discounted gift card for the store, so I went online to buy the bookcase. It's only about 30 bucks and I figured maybe 20 bucks for the shipping. So I put the bookcase and a few other (lightweight) items into my shopping cart and I had them estimate the shipping. They came back with shipping costs of over $230! Does anybody know if they ship their stuff from Europe or something? There is a store in my state although it's probably about a 100 miles from me. I just assumed that they would ship the item from there. The bookcase itself was only 30 bucks so that should give you an indication of the size and weight. NEVER in my wildest dreams did I ever expect such shipping charges. Needless to say, I only got the lightweight items and nixed the bookcase. I found something very similar at Walmart and I'm having them ship it to the store nearest me. Is this everybody's typical experience at Ikea? If so, I guess the key to buying at Ikea is to buy it right from their store....
Most of the items are from Europe but the difference in the US and the UK for shipping or delivery is the distance. In the UK there are more stores and in the US a state may only have a couple so the distances are far greater. I have heard people do Ikeas runs, as in they shop for you and deliver it for a fixed price and they usually do it for several people, so it can be much cheaper. Usually they place ads locally. Ikea also goes on the weight of the order, so furniture will always cost more than say pillows or sheets. In the UK it's more reasonable, but still depends on where you live and what you order; We have 2 delivery services used to deliver your order. Parcel delivery . This service is used to deliver small items weighing up to 25kg. A parcel delivery can comprise multiple small packages up to a total order weight of 100kg. Some of our products are not suitable to be delivered via parcel, for example products containing mirrors or glass and some items over 150cm. These will be transferred automatically to a truck delivery where we can take better care of them. The charge for parcel delivery is £7.50. Please note any individual product that weighs more than 25kg will be delivered to you via our truck delivery service. Our truck delivery charges start from £35 and are based on postcode. Your delivery charge will be calculated at the checkout.
Well, here's the thing. I just recently had a recliner chair (from a different store) delivered to my home for 70 bucks. Needless to say, the recliner chair was much, much heavier than the bookcase I had my eye on at Ikea and they were going to charge me $230 to deliver it. The bookcase itself was only 30 bucks. Who in their right mind would pay $230 to deliver a $30 bookcase?
That's a crazy shipping price. I like Theo's suggestion, or maybe you could plan a trip to go pick it up? I've seen people posting in Facebook groups that they will run errands and do other chores for a decent rate, and that would save you a lot of money, and you could check out the person's account, to see if they seemed legitimate. I'd probably look for a similar item that was cheaper. I clicked because I looked at some shades there before (online or in the catalogue, I don't remember which), and shipping was too much, in my opinion, but it was nothing like $230. I ended up buying one off eBay that had free shipping, and I'll probably do the same with the others when I get ready to replace them.
I did do some shopping around. I ended up finding basically the same bookcase at Walmart online for about 30 bucks. As a matter of fact, I'm picking it up tomorrow. I can't wait!
@S.O. Price Good for you! I'd also let Ikea know that, so maybe they will rethink their shipping policies, and you can buy from them in the future. It's disappointing when we have our heart set on one thing, but have to substitute it, but knowing that information could help them in the future, and expand our online shopping possibilities, as well. I'm glad you found something else you're happy with, and hope it works out for you.
