IKEA Opens a UK Secondhand Marketplace, 15% Bonus to Sell

Four things this week for anyone furnishing or renovating a home. IKEA has opened a marketplace for buying and selling its furniture secondhand, the UK’s leading tile specialist has reported a flat year, a well-known British sofa maker has a new owner, and Tesco has recalled a glass mug that can shatter with a hot drink in it.

IKEA opens a secondhand marketplace for its own furniture

IKEA launched its UK secondhand marketplace on 8 October, a peer-to-peer site where IKEA Family members buy and sell used IKEA products directly with each other. Sellers scan an item to create a listing and get a recommended price, product photography and measurements; listings also carry the assembly instructions and care information. Sellers can be paid in cash or take an IKEA digital refund card worth 15% more. Mattresses, appliances, food, modified or recalled products and anything not made by IKEA are excluded. It runs alongside the in-store Buyback service, launched in 2021, which pays store credit.

IKEA’s own research, reported with the launch, says 38% of people who shop secondhand have bought furniture that way. For a room on a budget, the practical point is that standard IKEA pieces now have a resale route with known dimensions and instructions attached, which takes most of the risk out of buying used flat-pack. It also changes the sums when you are deciding where to spend and where to save: our furniture budget calculator and interior design cost per room guide help you split a budget. The launch is reported by Furniture News, and the service is on IKEA’s second-hand page.

Topps Tiles: a flat year in a home improvement market down 1.7%

Topps Tiles published its full-year trading update on 1 October for the 52 weeks to 26 September 2026. Group revenue was about £292 million, down about 1.3%, mainly because of store closures. Like-for-like revenue was down about 0.1%, with fourth-quarter trading hit by periods of extreme heat, against a wider home improvement market it puts at about 1.7% lower. Online sales reached about 22.7% of group revenue for the year, and revenue from newer hard-surface lines (acoustic panels, outdoor tiles and shower panels) grew about 9.1%. The group also owns Fired Earth, which it says was profit-accretive in its first year.

A market that is shrinking slightly means retailers are competing on service and range rather than raising prices, which is a reasonable moment to get quotes for a kitchen or bathroom. Work out quantities before you go in, with our tile calculator, and see what a full project costs in our new bathroom cost guide. The update is on Investegate.

Glasswells buys sofa maker Alstons; warranties carry on

Alstons, the sofa and chair manufacturer based in Colchester, is being bought by East Anglian furniture retailer Glasswells, with the purchase taking effect on 8 October. Its previous owner, TCM Living, is leaving the UK market. Glasswells says the Colchester factory will keep running and that existing orders, retailer contracts and product warranties remain fully active.

If you have an Alstons sofa on order, or under warranty, nothing changes: keep your order paperwork and deal with the retailer you bought from as before. The deal is reported by Furniture News.

Tesco recalls its F&F Glass Latte Mug

On 5 October the Office for Product Safety and Standards published Tesco’s recall of the F&F Glass Latte Mug, a tall glass mug with a curved handle, barcode 05057967613311, sold from September 2025 to August 2026. The mug may shatter during use, so a hot drink could cause burns and the glass could cut. Stop using it and return it to any Tesco store for a full refund; no receipt is needed. The notice is on GOV.UK.