The IKEA Hidden Tag That May Prove Your Piece's Secret History

IKEA is famous worldwide for offering a wide variety of interior essentials that won't break the bank. From cube shelf products for storage and organization to home essentials under $10 that are always worth buying, IKEA offers a range of inexpensive products that are both stylish and functional. However, one common misconception surrounding the Swedish home retailer is that, due to the brand's affordable price range, IKEA's furniture is made of low-quality materials and not built to last. These doubts inspired the brand to launch a clever marketing campaign, challenging its loyal customers to search their IKEA furniture for a "hidden tag" that they may have never even noticed. 

IKEA promised customers in Portugal that whoever could present the hidden tag from the oldest item in the country was entitled to win gift cards valued at thousands of euros. As a result, nearly 5,000 hidden tags were submitted for consideration, but the eventual winner of the contest presented a tag that was fifty-five years old from a wooden table made in 1969. The campaign was considered a massive success. The data revealed the average age of hidden tags submitted was 18.5 years old, backing up the company's claims that their furniture was built to last. Even though the giveaway has ended, however doesn't mean it's not worth scouring your IKEA furniture at home for a hidden tag. It could reveal that your IKEA products are even older than you might have guessed.

Every piece of furniture from IKEA comes with a date tag on it, but most people never notice them because the brand places the tags in spots out of plain sight. These hidden tags contain the product's name, origin of production, and the date that the furniture was made. Clever places to look would be underneath the bottom of tables or chairs, on the inside edges of any large furniture pieces, or on the inside of any drawer or storage container that could easily conceal the tag.

Once you find the tag, you can use the information to determine where and when your piece of furniture was manufactured and use that information to better understand how much it could be worth. Some discontinued IKEA products may be worth a big chunk of change today. Older or rarer collections of IKEA furniture in good condition could be considered valuable to some collectors. And if you don't intend to sell your favorite pieces of IKEA furniture, locating the tag can still tell you more about the history of your furniture. If you've purchased furniture second-hand or just inherited a piece, you might be surprised by how old your IKEA furniture is.