Monday, October 20, 2008

Ikea "group-buy" idea...

I am moving house (again) at the moment.
Because of this redecorating the new abode is being considered. As someone who lived on the European continent I have been exposed to the phenomenon that is Ikea. Great furniture etc. at dirt cheap prices. Especially great if you have kids that break stuff at an alarming rate.
Living in Ireland I am now faced with the problem that the nearest Ikea is an 8 hour round trip. Not exactly shopping inducing distances...
So while pondering this over last night I come up with the idea of an Ikea "group buy".
The idea is fairly simple;
We get a large enough number of interested parties, we compile a list of what everyone wants, money gets collected (incl. a small fee for collection) and we drive up in a van/lorry/truck to pick up the items.
Some of it can be dropped of on the way back and for the rest we can decide on a central location for pickup (a lot closer for everyone that Belfast).
I put the idea out on Twitter and got enough positive feedback to take this further.
So what I suggest is that anyone who is interested or who has suggestion just posts this as a comment to this post.
I will then look at all the comments and see if I can organise the whole thing...

4 comments:

James said...

Great idea Evert. I might be interested in getting a dining table but I'm not sure I can commit to the trip. I suppose not everyone will be able to go anyway so perhaps those who stay at home can sub the people doing the driving/collecting?

Niall Smart said...

Evert - sounds interesting, but I'm not looking for a whole lot, so I might get away with using the roof rack.. Let me know if you get any dubs on board?

Cheers, Niall

Julian said...

I think Belfast has got to be better than queuing with four million other people when Dublin opens in the new year. The problem is that everybody in the group is going to want to have a look before they buy, aren't they? I somehow wouldn't trust a picture to make my mind up for me - I'd want to see for myself. But at least the group van should save some money. I think if you fly to Belfast you can more or less walk to Ikea and hire a one-way van there. So rumour has it.

Russell McQuillan said...

Its a great Idea, when the closest Ikea to us was in Scotland, Ulsterbus ran a bus with trailer option whereby you could hop on the bus, get what you need and throw it in the trailer. Is there no companies offering 'a delivery service' for a fee ?

Ikea offer a service, where you can leave a deposit and 'borrow' their van. Not a great option if you live very south tho, as you have to bring it back !