12 Shopping tips for IKEA in Israel and the world!

Want to go shopping at IKEA in Israel (or wherever in the world), here are some tips to save money and time. 

1. The store is a maze and is designed to influence your spending habits and open your wallet... Plan ahead on your budget and what items you actually need before going in. In addition, give yourself a set amount of time to spend (2 or 3 hours). This will help you stay focused on the items you need without getting sidetracked. If you are offered or see the blue ikea map ... make sure to take a photo of it as it will assist in your journey. 

2. Find the shortcuts, ask an employee if you get lost. If you want to skip through the maze, there are designated shortcuts (with signs), so you don't need to walk through nearly as many showrooms.

3. Return policy and warranty: keep your receipt and the box for the item around. If you need to return or exchange the item, having the box and spare parts around will surely help the process... and you will need the receipt to actually get the return processed. For those of us that tend to lose things, during the checkout phase you can actually ask for an e-receipt in addition to the regular one... this will allow the customer service team to process your refund solely based off of your phone number.

4. Food court - kosher food - soft serve ice cream is around 4 shekel for a cone... great and inexpensive snack 

Note: The Eshtaol (Bet Shemesh) food court is not functional due to some beurocracy and legal issues. You can still buy a lot of the food (in frozen form) at their little corner market on the way out! In addition, the hotdog and falafel stand are still working!

5. Play area - let your kids have fun (in the US stores) and pick them up on your way out

6. Finding items via the website - save time in store... can go straight to the warehouse to pick the items out and skip the maze portion

7. Buying office chairs, beds, etc. - make sure to check the display model and actually test it out (i.e. sit on the chair or lay on the bed) to ensure that it's to your liking. For chairs, some say student chairs (כיסא תלמיד), these are meant for children and are quite small. 

8. Clearance מציאון/ As Is  - These are either items that have been returned, damaged, or floor models... check the section and you can easily find some interesting and valuable items for a deep discount

9. Lost or broken parts? Go to customer service. We have barstools in our kitchen, unfortunately the build quality is quite poor... one of the screws broke. During our trip to IKEA, we waited in the customer service line. Based on the chair model number, the representative was able to locate spare/replacement screws and gave us more than was needed... free of charge!  

10. Delivery and assembly services - you can actually get someone to deliver your new IKEA furniture and for an added price also to assemble it for you! (3rd party that works with IKEA)

11. Measure ahead of time: want to buy a new desk or bed? Make sure it actually would fit in your room before you buy it... Doing this check ahead of time can save you the struggle of buying the wrong sized items. 

12. Wait for the summer sales for discounted prices!

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