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Buyer protection policy

Overview of Buyer Protection

A. Scope

Buyer Protection is a service provided by Ingka NB AB, a Swedish limited liability company with its head office in Malmö, Älmhultsgatan 2, 215 86 Malmö, Sweden, and company number 559487-7051 (“INBAB”), and applies to all transactions on the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace operated by INBAB (the “IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace” or “platform”). 

Buyer Protection is provided by INBAB to buyers on the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace. INBAB is not a party to the transaction between the buyer and the seller and is not involved in any sales or return arrangement between the buyer and the seller. 

Buyer Protection aims to ensure the safety of transactions on the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace. INBAB offers buyer protection services for all purchases. This is a purchase support designed to give buyers peace of mind while shopping. It is not an insurance or legal protection service and is additional to any other statutory rights or warranties you may have. Buyer Protection includes the following:  

  • Ad review: INBAB guarantees that only genuine second-hand IKEA furniture and home furnishing products (excluding IKEA Food products), household appliances (such as fridges, ovens and air purifiers) and mattresses in a safe and usable condition (the “Products”) are offered for sale on the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace. 
  • Seller verification: the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace is exclusively available to IKEA Family members. 
  • Secured payments: all payments are processed by INBAB’s payment service provider, which limits the risk of fraud or scams. The payment service provider withholds the payment to the seller until the buyer has accepted the product and for a period of 48 hours thereafter. 
  • Dispute resolution and refunds: the buyer must thoroughly inspect the Product upon collection to ensure that it matches the ad on the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace. However, if for any reason – and within 48 hours after clicking the ‘Accept’ button – the buyer discovers that the product differs significantly from the information in the ad (see section 1.D below), the buyer may submit a refund request via the Buyer Protection service to the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace customer service. In some cases (as explained in this policy), Buyer Protection may give the buyer the right to a refund of the purchase price of the product, the buyer protection fee and the shipping costs (if applicable). 

B. Buyer Protection Fee

Buyer Protection is offered to the buyer for a fee of 5% of the purchase price of the product and is automatically added to all purchases made on the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace. The Buyer Protection Fee is paid by the user to INBAB at the time of payment. Buyer Protection does not apply to products offered for free, or if the seller makes alternative arrangements to complete the transaction outside the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace. 

C. Is Buyer Protection mandatory?

Yes, Buyer Protection is mandatory for all paid transactions on the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace. 

D. Conditions for considering the product as significantly different from the ad for the purposes of Buyer Protection

The buyer may request a refund for the transaction if the purchased Product:  

  • differs significantly from the ad. A Product differs significantly from the ad, among other things, if: 
    • there is damage to the Product that was not disclosed to the buyer before the transaction; 
    • parts of the Product are missing and the seller did not mention this in the ad; 
    • there are discrepancies between the Product and the ad in terms of title, description, photos of the Product, type, quantity, operation or compatibility (for digital Products), and also if the Product has a different colour, size or features than those stated by the seller in the ad; 
    • there are signs that the Product has been used, while it was described as ‘like new’ in the ad, supported by photos in the ad; 
    • the Product is not usable while it was described in the ad as being in usable and working condition; 
  • it was not received by the buyer (e.g. no delivery or the parcel was empty); or 
  • it is not a genuine IKEA product (i.e. a counterfeit or replica). 

E. Buyer Protection and statutory rights

Buyer Protection is supplementary to, and does not replace, limit or exclude your existing statutory or other legal rights. This means that both the buyer and the seller retain all their statutory or other legal rights (such as warranty claims and protection against defective or faulty goods – where applicable) and that INBAB’s decision will not affect their ability to pursue other available remedies.  

Dispute Resolution and Refunds 

A. How to submit a refund request and what happens next

The buyer can submit a refund request by contacting INBAB Customer Service via the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace. The buyer must ensure that the refund request includes the following:

a) a description of why the buyer believes they are entitled to a refund; and

b) photos of the Product (including packaging where applicable) that help the buyer demonstrate that they are entitled to a refund, if available. 

INBAB will confirm receipt of the buyer’s claim via the email address linked to their IKEA Family account. INBAB will also inform the seller of the buyer’s refund request and the reason for it, and will notify the seller that this means payment for the Product transaction has been put on hold. 

Within seven (7) days of receiving the email notification mentioned above, the seller may provide information to INBAB via the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace Customer Service regarding the refund request, including an explanation of why the seller believes they are entitled to payment for the product, and photos of the product (including packaging, where applicable) that help the seller substantiate their claim that the transaction amount should be paid to them. If the seller does not provide information to INBAB within this period, INBAB will make a decision on Buyer Protection based solely on the information received from the buyer. 

INBAB may ask the buyer and/or the seller for additional information in relation to a refund request, such as a detailed description of the circumstances of the case, photos of the parcel containing the Product, and any other evidence that may be needed to decide on the refund request. INBAB will give the buyer and/or seller a reasonable period to provide the requested information. If the additional information is not provided to INBAB within the specified period, INBAB will decide on the refund request based only on the information already available. 

INBAB will analyse the refund request based on the information provided by the buyer and the seller (where applicable), and will decide whether the Product meets the criteria described in Part 1.D above. 

If the circumstances of the claim indicate that the buyer and/or seller may have committed a criminal offence, INBAB may ask the buyer and/or seller to file a report with the authorities. A copy of this report to the authorities must be provided within seven (7) days of INBAB’s request. 

INBAB will decide on the refund request within thirty (30) days of receiving it and will inform the buyer and the seller of this decision by email. 

B. Deadline for requesting a refund and the outcome of the request

A refund request must be submitted within 48 hours from the moment the buyer accepts the Product in their account. If the request is not submitted within this period, the buyer loses the right to request a refund under Buyer Protection and the payment will be released to the seller. Any claim between the buyer and seller after this period is not covered by Buyer Protection and must be resolved directly between the buyer and seller, without INBAB’s involvement. 

If the buyer submits a refund request within 48 hours, INBAB will initiate a dispute process and the payment service provider will put the payment for the relevant product on hold until INBAB has made a decision on the refund request in accordance with this Buyer Protection Policy, or until the buyer withdraws the refund request. 

Until INBAB has processed the claim, the buyer has the right to withdraw the refund request. To do so, the buyer must notify the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace Customer Service. The dispute will then be closed and marked as resolved. If the buyer is compensated by the seller outside the Second-Hand platform and/or decides to keep the product (i.e. proceed with the transaction), the buyer must immediately withdraw the claim under Buyer Protection. Failure to withdraw a refund request under these circumstances may be considered fraud and may result in a breach of the IKEA Family Terms and Conditions. 

C. Decision on the refund request

After reviewing and making a final decision on the refund request, INBAB will inform the buyer and the seller whether the request (i) has been approved and the payment for the Product will be refunded to the buyer, or (ii) has been rejected and the payment for the product will be released to the seller. The following criteria and procedure apply: 

  • Full refund: a full refund will be approved for a refund request that meets the criteria in Part 1.D above and is supported by the evidence referred to in Part 2.A above. If INBAB approves the refund request and the product has not been seized by law enforcement authorities or lost during shipment to the buyer, the seller has the right to request that the product be returned by the buyer to the seller.

    The suspended payment for the transaction will be refunded to the buyer via the original payment method. Such refund will be processed within thirty (30) days after INBAB approves the refund request.

    The above procedure also applies if documents received by INBAB show that the Product has been seized by law enforcement authorities following a report of a possible criminal offence (see Part 2.A). In that case, INBAB will provide the seller with the information it has regarding the seizure of the Product, and the payment will be refunded to the buyer.
  • Rejection of the refund request: in cases where the criteria in Part 1.D have not been met and/or the information provided to INBAB contradicts or does not sufficiently support the claim and/or does not meet the criteria in Part 2.A above, the refund request will be rejected and the payment service provider will release the suspended payment to the seller no later than thirty (30) days from the date of the decision. 

D. Return of the Product

If the buyer’s refund request is approved, the seller may request that the Product be returned to them, unless the Product has been seized by law enforcement authorities or lost in the post or during transport to the buyer. INBAB does not arrange product returns between buyers and sellers under Buyer Protection. This means that such arrangements must be made directly between the buyer and the seller. 

E. Complaints about Buyer Protection

INBAB is responsible for handling complaints regarding Buyer Protection. If you have specific questions, comments or complaints about Buyer Protection, please contact INBAB via the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace customer service chat (available via secondhand.ikea.com/be/nl/customer-support/). When submitting a complaint, please include your first and last name, your address and the reason for the complaint. INBAB will respond to your complaint within fourteen (14) days of receipt. 

F. Wijzigingen aan dit Kopersbeschermingsbeleid

This Buyer Protection Policy may be amended and updated from time to time, solely for valid reasons, such as changes in legal provisions, adjustments to the service offering, necessary technical updates or other significant changes in INBAB’s operations. INBAB will publish information about changes to this Policy on the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace. The most recent version of this Buyer Protection Policy will apply when you make a purchase on the IKEA Second-Hand Marketplace.