You can just go to any IKEA and buy a replacement part? Every single part they've ever sold is available at the replacement desk in their stores (at least here in Germany). Even individual screws, legs, etc. When I broke a door and one of the hinges of a kitchen cabinet, I just went to IKEA and bought a replacement door (of the exact same type) and replacement hinge) and replaced them.

Not available in the US. The only thing they will do is either sell you spare small parts or issue a refund.

I'm in the US. I have several times gone to an Ikea store with damaged parts and been able to obtain replacements, sometimes free of charge - including with one part of an entertainment center kit that got dropped on the front porch steps, breaking one panel clean in half and cracking another. They took it back, gave us another, and sent us on our way no questions asked.

I don't doubt you've had trouble, and I don't know what their website or otherwise remote customer service is like, but to say that the service is just not available at all in the US appears incorrect.

I find this odd, in Canada we can get all the replacement parts needed. Just may have to wait a bit but they have them.

You can also search for the serial number on eBay and typically find a compatible part.

In the UK you can get spare bits too.

> You can just go to any IKEA and buy a replacement part?

Assuming there is a store nearby and even that the company is still in business. It's vendor lock-in.

Meanwhile, my solid wood sideboard could be repaired by any competent cabinet maker, without needing specialist hinges or plastic brackets. Not that it is liable to fall apart as easily as particleboard & veneer.

Sorry, what?

IKEA can be repaired by any competent cabinet maker. IKEA doesn't use anything fancy and weird, all their stuff is standard or a slightly variation of standard and could easily be replaced by a standard one. In fact most of the IKEA stuff is so popular it has become standard.

IKEA sells both particleboard & veneer for their cheap/budget friendly stuff and hard pine/other wood for more expensive stuff.

You can't have cheap and solid wood, it's just too expensive.

Go down to the local wood shop and buy all the wood you need to make a sideboard and tell me how much it will cost. Certainly will be leagues higher then buying a particleboard & veneer version of the same thing.

> and hard pine/other wood for more expensive

Pine is a softwood.

What would prevent your competent cabinet maker from attaching a new hinge and door to an ikea product?

Goodness, I am a software developer, I don't have a woodworking shop but I'd be able to repair pretty much anything Ikea - epoxy, pva, some sawdust for filler (or woodfiller), buy particle boards with same/similar color melamine online.

Any novice woodworker/joiner should be able to fix IKEA w/o any parts from IKEA even.

Repairing a couch is not an option unless you're skilled in re-apolstering.

Well that goes for all couches, ikea or not, doesn't it? That wasn't the question here.

...but other couches are built to last, so repair is much less commonly needed.

How many years does it have to last, before it's "built to last?" I've seen lots of Ikea couches that have lasted a long time.

In broad strokes, Ikea furniture holds up well as long as the humidity and UV is low'ish. Don't leave it out in the open weather, let it get water-laden with humidity, or sit directly exposed to the sun anywhere, and the glues holding it together will generally last their lifecycle (about a decade or two), possibly longer if in an especially well-cared for environment.

With some practice, West System epoxy, filler and fiber glass can easily repair chips and chunks. It helps that I'm not fastidious about aesthetics, so lacking the laminate on top after a repair suits me. The little bits are more challenging to source if Ikea has stopped manufacturing or supplying them. I'm hoping 3D metrology and printing can help with that, so waste from people tossing out old furniture for want of a small part nearly goes away.

YMMV.

Ikea sells replacement parts online. Usually, all you need is their number code which you can find in the manual (or if your lost that in the pdf on their website).

I recently ordered a replacement door myself, just to make it look new again.

My understanding is that that is only the case for items which are bought as components. Items which are bought complete inside a single box have to be replaced as such. For example, the assembly guide for the classic Billy has no item numbers listed apart from connectors - https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/assembly_instructions/billy-bookc...

Coincidentally this appears to be changing as of yesterday - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55796429

Calling everything a connector is a bit disingenuous. If you look at the PDF it has 8 part numbers listed, which is a number for all of the small parts. Also the doors, doorknobs, hinges etc are all available to order.

What's left are shelves and the two wooden sides of the bookcase itself. The shelves can be ordered: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/billy-extra-shelf-white-1026529...

So I would rephrase your "no item numbers apart from connectors" to "everything can be replaced except for the two sides of the main body". And even those you can get by ordering a new cabinet without any doors or extras, since that's basically the sides + a number of shelfs.

You can buy extra shelves as a form of accessory to the main unit - it just so happens that these accessories are equivalent to the ones that come with it. Fair enough, but IKEA sells them to augment your purchase, not as spares.

This is clear because, as you say, you cannot buy the sides, or the unique bottom piece on its own. And the piece which is most likely to degrade is the one which has many connectors pushed into particle board potentially multiple times - the sides.

Maybe it was a poor example, but I think my point still stands. There are many other furniture products for which no spares are sold, or happen to be available to purchase for other reasons.

Why is throwing away the old one, and buying a new one seen as a solution? Like huh? We're talking about waste.

Besides the fact you can normally buy replacement from ikea (or ebay), most of the stuff is fixable via epoxy and wood sawdust(or even cardboard pieces as filler), wood filler accomplishes the task as well. Brass inserts (again epoxied) + machine bolts can fix up any holes/stripped wood screws. As a fast fix insert tooth picks in the hole along with PVA.

Of course in many cases is easier (faster/cheaper) to replace the entire 'thing', altogether.

But it's super easy to repair. Just glob some wood glue and it'll ooze deep into that particleboard. The edges of billy don't survive sliding, given, but some electrical tape for the finish and glue for the wood work well.

It's not like we buy them as show pieces.

>edges of billy don't survive sliding

ABS edging is cheap (like really cheap), can get a cutting tool for 10 euro, and glue the edge with double sided tape (or contact adhesive - more messy thought)