Mine is that a Billy bookcase that I bought from Ikea 25 years ago is must stronger and more stable than a Billy bookcase I bought from Ikea 5 years ago.
And, when looking at what Ikea is selling in 2025 as a Billy bookcase, it's worse yet again.
But, with the cost of living increasing, companies have to cut corners to keep pricing down.
I wonder where the inflection point is where used items become more valuable than the new items being made at current quality levels, including degradation due to age.
When Ikea first expanded beyond Scandinavia, it was the 'fast fashion' of furniture: beautiful design, but sometimes made of particleboard or polyurethane foam.
Quality of the basic model Maytag washer I bought 25 years ago versus one today.
Quality of a Reese's cup I bought 25 years ago versus one today.
Quality of Levi's I bought 25 years ago versus a pair today.
Quality of the Billy that I bought 25 years ago versus today.
That's fair if we only strictly care about the Billy line and it's history.
From there we can't generalize to any other product without acknowledging IKEA's internal decision process or their vision for Billy across the years.
To parent's point
> where the inflection point is where used items become more valuable than the new items being made at current quality levels, including degradation due to age.
Buying the actual modern equivalent of what Billy was 25 years ago answers that question.
Mine is that a Billy bookcase that I bought from Ikea 25 years ago is must stronger and more stable than a Billy bookcase I bought from Ikea 5 years ago.
And, when looking at what Ikea is selling in 2025 as a Billy bookcase, it's worse yet again.
But, with the cost of living increasing, companies have to cut corners to keep pricing down.
I wonder where the inflection point is where used items become more valuable than the new items being made at current quality levels, including degradation due to age.