In America at least, the only way to make a significantly better desk than an IKEA one at similar prices is to omit the costs of tools and labor.

Even after omitting the very significant cost of tooling (my corner clamp jigs for cabinetry cost half what a GALANT table does), getting good material you actually want will easily hit a hundred bucks for a fairly small, plywood-based desk. (Baltic birch isn't cheap! But it's cheaper than solid wood.)

I would rather own that desk, for sure, but it's not cheaper, and IKEA is pretty amazing at what kind of quality they offer at what prices--sure it's all fiberboard or cheap wood, but it's reasonably reliable and it's impressive that it's doable at that scale at all.

Yup. Anyone who starts to make their own furniture suddenly has a new-found appreciation for why furniture costs what it does.

That fact that you can easily spend $400-600 on the wood alone for a new dining table is staggering. (And makes you really, really careful while you build it.)

(My pandemic working-from-home desk was made of cheap box-store plywood, because I wasn't going to splurge on baltic for something that I hope I won't be using in a year. And it still cost what an IKEA desk would cost (but fits perfectly in my space, which is why I made it.))

I never said I was in America. In fact, it's much more likely I live outside of America.

Price of labor is way less. And so is cost of materials.

I call BS, you can't even buy the material to build something at IKEA prices, let alone assemble it.

BS based on what? I can show you the desk. I did found his bill. It was $30 bucks more.

The price for IKEA piece was materials plus delivery.

The price for that desk was design, delivery and assembly on the spot.

IKEA has some "halo" items, but most people, when they're talking about IKEA, are talking about stuff like their GALANT table/desks.

What IKEA item were you comparing it to?

HEMNES stain white writing desk.

I need drawers to store stuff next to my computer.

Probably didn't account for cost of labor.

Cost of labor was around 50% of the material value.

I bought a mechanical IKEA desk (that goes up and down in height), spent at least 20% less than all the other online options I found available and they shipped to me in 5 days. Knowing how to follow instructions, I just assembled it in 30 minutes and it's the desk I now use daily at home.

This just to say that YMMV based on the item you buy, where you live, what's your experience with "self assembling" items, etc.