Buying stuff in Ikea Belfast

aka_Ciaran

Hi all - I'm planning a trip to Belfast this weekend from Dublin. I need to buy some stuff for my house - a wardrobe for a small box room and a double bed - so I thought I'd head to Ikea while I'm there. I don't have a van or access to one - has anyone bought bulky stuff there and got it back to Dublin?

Just looking for ideas on the best way to get the stuff home. Their delivery charge is quite high - £100 sterling for only 2 trolleys.

Ta muchly,

Ciaran.

the pants man

myself and the misses went up there not so long ago and spent the whole day up there, its not a shop you can just pop in and out of, you will be in there for a while looking around, (bring a packed lunch). as for transporting stuff back we brought a average sized wardrobe and an office desk along with a load of small bits and bobs home in a volkswagen polo with no problems. the best bit of advice is measure your free space in your car and go online and see the sizes of furniture u want and take it from there. or rent an estate car, vans are very expensive.

shaneh

I agree with the last post. Was up their 2 weeks ago and you need to have your homework done. Not a place for browsing, it's huge and packed on a Sunday. Just do a good overhaul of the website and note what you're interested in.

Ikea are definitely on the ball and if you know what you're looking for, it would be worth giving them a call to check the dimensions of your items packed up. They might have this info.

Funny thing we saw when up there was that Bus Eireann do a service direct from Dublin to Ikea. Not sure if they impose a size limitation on what you can bring but there's defo alot of storage underneath those buses!
http://www.buseireann.ie/site/news_centre/press_centre.asp?action=view&news_id=607

aka_Ciaran

Cheers lads that's the kind of info I'm looking for...was in the middle of pricing vans from Hertz think I'll go for the estate now, or indeed the bus.

311

I've brought back a good bit of stuff from ikea ,double bed etc.
I'd recommend leaving early on saturday morning ,and getting there about 10am.

From about 12am on saturday ,it's a nightmare trying to get into the place.
It's funny how busy the place is ,it's like a pilgrimage:D

aka_Ciaran

_Brian_ wrote: »

I've brought back a good bit of stuff from ikea ,double bed etc.

Hi Brian - how did u transport the double bed? I've got a 2 door bmw 316 - one of the old ones. I have a padded roof rack so I'm thinking of strapping it on the roof...the beds are 200 cm long. Do u think that's do-able?

Cheers,

Ciaran.

dingding

The UK IkEA's used to sell cheap roofracks, I would not recommend carrying the weight of a mattress on a tie on roofrack.
The mattress will move in the wind and the weight of it will scratch your roof, worst cast it could come loose and cause an accident.

The NI police are probably more on the ball as far as dangerous loads as well.

For the other stuff, most of it is designed to fit in a standard car, if you check the site the usually give the dimmensions of the case the stuff is packed in. If you can drop down the back seat most of the stuff will fit in the length between the boot and the back of the drivers seat.

Also be careful that the load does not shift when you are driving, as in the case of sudden breaking, you could be pinned to the windscreen :eek:.

Enjoy the shopping.

aka_Ciaran

Ya good point about the load on the roof...however will be just a bed frame not a mattress. I've had a couple of surfboards on the roof and gone reasonable distances, so that's why I think it might be ok.

dingding wrote: »

Enjoy the shopping.

Thanks I intend to!

311

aka_Ciaran wrote: »

Hi Brian - how did u transport the double bed? I've got a 2 door bmw 316 - one of the old ones. I have a padded roof rack so I'm thinking of strapping it on the roof...the beds are 200 cm long. Do u think that's do-able?

Cheers,

Ciaran.

I drove a van up ,the beds can be quite large . I actually think that ikea give packaging dimensions of items on their website.

An estate car would be a minimum ,I'd say. Provided the the seats fold right down . The height of the boxes together would be bigger than the height of the boot of a saloon.

scooter_pie

According to their site, you can hire a van from IKEA, but I can't find any details on their website -- any one tried hiring a van from IKEA?

oxygen_old

Is buying stuff in ikea in sterling not overly expensive when you convert to sterling?

311

I was up there a few weeks ago and spent £300 sterling ,it worked out at something like €410 euro.

The stuff is cool up there though ,it's not like you can compare it to anything available down south for the same price.

Cost me €40 for diesel ,for a renault traffic van.

aka_Ciaran

Well made the trip and got back in one piece. Hired a ford focus hatchback for 68 quid inc sat nav for 2 days. Got to Ikea early Sat morn and shopped till lunchtime. Then had a good long lunch in the massive restaurant...food basic but good and free refills of soft drinks and coffee. After lunch picked up and paid for all the stuff we'd marked. Got out of there at abt 4 pm and was back in Dublin for 6.

Bought a double bed and 2 door wardrobe...100 GBP for the bed and 180 for the wardrobe, 280 GBP all in, just under 380 euro. Well worth the trip would do it again no problem. Ford focus was a bit of a squeeze as some of the packages were over 6 ft long and was a struggle to fit them in, so would do it again with a proper hatchback or a van.

HotRodDub

oxygen wrote: »

Is buying stuff in ikea in sterling not overly expensive when you convert to sterling?

Why do people ask this sort of question? It might be expensive if you stop at the money exchange places, just use a credit card or draw the money from a hole in the wall up there. Don't understand why people use this money exchange places.

sesswhat

scooter_pie wrote: »

According to their site, you can hire a van from IKEA, but I can't find any details on their website -- any one tried hiring a van from IKEA?

I think they use Enterprise Rent-a-car but I don't know if they have any special rates for IKEA shoppers. I rember seeing something like £10 an hour in the brochure.

niceirishfella

aka_Ciaran wrote: »

Well made the trip and got back in one piece. Hired a ford focus hatchback for 68 quid inc sat nav for 2 days. Got to Ikea early Sat morn and shopped till lunchtime. Then had a good long lunch in the massive restaurant...food basic but good and free refills of soft drinks and coffee. After lunch picked up and paid for all the stuff we'd marked. Got out of there at abt 4 pm and was back in Dublin for 6.

Bought a double bed and 2 door wardrobe...100 GBP for the bed and 180 for the wardrobe, 280 GBP all in, just under 380 euro. Well worth the trip would do it again no problem. Ford focus was a bit of a squeeze as some of the packages were over 6 ft long and was a struggle to fit them in, so would do it again with a proper hatchback or a van.

Ciaran, were there meatballs on the menu? I always have meatballs in ikea! Hope they have them in Belfast?

Minder

I see OP got their desired goods, so this advice is a little late, but Ikea in mainland UK is notorious for a lack of stock. The website does have a stockcheck facility and seasoned Ikea shoppers check before travelling. Imaging you go through the brochure online - select all the things you want - hire a car - drive for two hours - then find your goodies are not in stock.

Always check the stock before going.:eek:

sesswhat

niceirishfella wrote: »

Ciaran, were there meatballs on the menu? I always have meatballs in ikea! Hope they have them in Belfast?

Certainly do. And you can buy big bags of them to cook at home!:D

aka_Ciaran

niceirishfella wrote: »

Ciaran, were there meatballs on the menu? I always have meatballs in ikea! Hope they have them in Belfast?

Yep small, med, and large...large was only 3.75 if I remember correctly. Went for the chicken and salmon in the end though was pretty good. They also have some good stuff in the shop...I ended up buying a box of Swedish bikkies and coconut chocolate thingies...yum!

311

Minder wrote: »

I see OP got their desired goods, so this advice is a little late, but Ikea in mainland UK is notorious for a lack of stock. The website does have a stockcheck facility and seasoned Ikea shoppers check before travelling. Imaging you go through the brochure online - select all the things you want - hire a car - drive for two hours - then find your goodies are not in stock.

Always check the stock before going.:eek:

The stock listing on the website isn't completely accurate either ,the best thing to do is have a plan B. Maybe have a secondary item to look at.
It happened to me with an item and I was told not to completely rely on the website.

When they say it's not in stock on the website ,it's definetly not in stock.

I got the impression their network or system in Ikea itself ,its not directly linked to the internet. Because they seem to know within the building ,whats there and whats not.

oxygen_old

HotRodDub wrote: »

Why do people ask this sort of question? It might be expensive if you stop at the money exchange places, just use a credit card or draw the money from a hole in the wall up there. Don't understand why people use this money exchange places.

What do you mean why do ppl ask this question. Its a perfectly valid question. and Im not talking about currency exchange places, Im talking about the rate of the strong sterling to the weaker euro, its still the same rate even with a credit card.

cormie

I was thinking of offering my services for trips to Ikea and back to Dublin. I have a Long wheel base, high roof transit and could fit quite a lot of the larger items from Ikea in. If there was enough interest, it could be arranged to do a minimum of maybe 4 orders at say €100 each and to drop to houses in the Dublin region? Just an idea at the moment anyway

aka_Ciaran

_Brian_ wrote: »

The stock listing on the website isn't completely accurate either ,the best thing to do is have a plan B. Maybe have a secondary item to look at.
It happened to me with an item and I was told not to completely rely on the website.

When they say it's not in stock on the website ,it's definetly not in stock.

I got the impression their network or system in Ikea itself ,its not directly linked to the internet. Because they seem to know within the building ,whats there and whats not.

Another thing I would say is to check exact sizes of beds. Most of their doubles come in (cm) 140 x 200 and 160 x 200, which would seem to be standard double and king size. I have a new standard double mattress that I bought here in Dublin so I just needed a 140 x 200 frame. The width is fine but the frame is about 8 cm longer than my mattress. It still fits and is fine for now but will probably buy one of their mattresses at some point.

cormie wrote: »

I was thinking of offering my services for trips to Ikea and back to Dublin. I have a Long wheel base, high roof transit and could fit quite a lot of the larger items from Ikea in. If there was enough interest, it could be arranged to do a minimum of maybe 4 orders at say €100 each and to drop to houses in the Dublin region? Just an idea at the moment anyway

Sounds like a good plan but might be a bit pricey imho. It's possible to hire a van / estate for a day trip for 40 odd euro.

cormie

I don't think you'll find a van you could fit a 2 meter mattress into for €40 anywhere in Ireland but I could be wrong?

When renting a van you have to take a lot of things into consideration, fuel up and down to Belfast will be €50, toll costs €7 or €15 depending where in Dublin you are, cost of renting the van itself, I've rented vans myself and couldn't find one for less than €95 per day inc vat, then unless you already have a commercial insurance policy, you'll need to pay extra for insurance, about €30 as far as I know. So that's about €160 total. Then there's the time spent going to collect the van and then getting back from where you got it, then there is also the risk of not being used to a vehicle of that size and if you scratch it off a wall by taking a corner too tightly (happened me the first time I drove a van ) you'll be paying big bucks to the rental place then most rental places will require you to have a credit card to pay the deposit too so it can be a bit of a pain in my experience.

aka_Ciaran

cormie wrote: »

I don't think you'll find a van you could fit a 2 meter mattress into for €40 anywhere in Ireland but I could be wrong?

When renting a van you have to take a lot of things into consideration, fuel up and down to Belfast will be €50, toll costs €7 or €15 depending where in Dublin you are, cost of renting the van itself, I've rented vans myself and couldn't find one for less than €95 per day inc vat, then unless you already have a commercial insurance policy, you'll need to pay extra for insurance, about €30 as far as I know. So that's about €160 total. Then there's the time spent going to collect the van and then getting back from where you got it, then there is also the risk of not being used to a vehicle of that size and if you scratch it off a wall by taking a corner too tightly (happened me the first time I drove a van ) you'll be paying big bucks to the rental place then most rental places will require you to have a credit card to pay the deposit too so it can be a bit of a pain in my experience.

True enough, all fair points. I didn't think about a mattress as I didn't need one. If you're any way handy you could also offer an assembly service as well...I'm sure after a bit of time you would get to know a lot of the products and how to assemble them. There's a business idea for ya...I think 10% commission is only fair for that

cormie

Haha, ah I'm not the fondest of flat packs, some can be a real pain. Give me a tenon saw and a chisel any day though





Good business idea though alright!

niceirishfella

cormie wrote: »

I don't think you'll find a van you could fit a 2 meter mattress into for €40 anywhere in Ireland but I could be wrong?

When renting a van you have to take a lot of things into consideration, fuel up and down to Belfast will be €50, toll costs €7 or €15 depending where in Dublin you are, cost of renting the van itself, I've rented vans myself and couldn't find one for less than €95 per day inc vat, then unless you already have a commercial insurance policy, you'll need to pay extra for insurance, about €30 as far as I know. So that's about €160 total. Then there's the time spent going to collect the van and then getting back from where you got it, then there is also the risk of not being used to a vehicle of that size and if you scratch it off a wall by taking a corner too tightly (happened me the first time I drove a van ) you'll be paying big bucks to the rental place then most rental places will require you to have a credit card to pay the deposit too so it can be a bit of a pain in my experience.

Dont forget that some rental co's will not allow their vehicle out of the republic - and if you do take it north of the border........insurance wise,you could be on your own if anything goes wrong. Be carefull out there and be sure to ask your rental co and your insurance co.

loyatemu

cormie wrote: »

I don't think you'll find a van you could fit a 2 meter mattress into for €40 anywhere in Ireland but I could be wrong?

When renting a van you have to take a lot of things into consideration, fuel up and down to Belfast will be €50, toll costs €7 or €15 depending where in Dublin you are, cost of renting the van itself, I've rented vans myself and couldn't find one for less than €95 per day inc vat, then unless you already have a commercial insurance policy, you'll need to pay extra for insurance, about €30 as far as I know. So that's about €160 total. Then there's the time spent going to collect the van and then getting back from where you got it, then there is also the risk of not being used to a vehicle of that size and if you scratch it off a wall by taking a corner too tightly (happened me the first time I drove a van ) you'll be paying big bucks to the rental place then most rental places will require you to have a credit card to pay the deposit too so it can be a bit of a pain in my experience.

at those prices you'd be better off paying IKEA for delivery.

limerickbuild

One thing to check with the price that Ikea charge is by the trolley, and how do you what will equate to a full trolley.

Was up there this w/end myself but had the luck of paying 60 euro to get insured on cousins van for the year! and just filling the tank when i got back.. spent 100 on fuel and tolls from Limerick up! as i'll use the van alot more times in next year, the 60 isn't worth adding to cost of this trip.

cormie

60 euro for the year? Wow, that's great I was getting insured on a friends car to drive it to the UK for them and it was €70 for a week!

So is this a "full" ikea trolley?


It's what I got when I googled "Ikea trolley" anyway. You'd fit a fair few of them in my van

limerickbuild

cormie wrote: »

60 euro for the year? Wow, that's great I was getting insured on a friends car to drive it to the UK for them and it was €70 for a week!

Yes, 60euro for the year as a named driver. it would have cost 60 for a day or w/end aswell so we decided to name me for the year! although i am now afraid that i displayed such good driving skills last weekend i could end up doing deliveries for his business soon!

311

Cormie is bang on about van rentals ,they're at least 90 euro for the day and some transits etc ,can be heavy on diesel.

Sharing the delivery cost for someone like cormie ,would be cheaper than Ikea.
I was quoted £100 sterling for delivery on a couch in ikea :eek:

starbelgrade

I wouldn't go there at the weekend... the place is just full of people walking round like they were in Dawn of the Dead. Scarey ****. Also I'd eat before going there as the queue for the restaurant can be horrendous. Had to eat in the Hot Dog place on the way out to avoid starvation. They sell the the hotdogs in 2 sizes - 140g & 70g. I was surprised they didn't list the length & diameter aswell!

gearoidc

oxygen wrote: »

What do you mean why do ppl ask this question. Its a perfectly valid question. and Im not talking about currency exchange places, Im talking about the rate of the strong sterling to the weaker euro, its still the same rate even with a credit card.

Think you're a bit confused. You get a lot more for your Euro now than what you did 6 months ago. I should know....Imported a car last summer which would cost me about €700 less if I had done it today.
NOW is the time to shop in UK/Norn Iron.

scooter_pie

I looked at the following options:
1. IKEA van: no information available. call centre unhelpful.
2. IKEA deliver: at least £150 to Leitrim (my loc)
3. IKEA deliver to the board, me to collect from my friends: still about £100, plus many short journeys to get the stuff back to my place
4. van hire in NI: only found 1 could rent for under £150, but with dropping off it wasn't practical

I managed to find a van in dublin for €116 for two days, inc VAT and mileage. So that seemed the best deal for what I want to do.

oxygen_old

gearoidc wrote: »

Think you're a bit confused. You get a lot more for your Euro now than what you did 6 months ago. I should know....Imported a car last summer which would cost me about €700 less if I had done it today.
NOW is the time to shop in UK/Norn Iron.

my bad, I was totally confused. I see that on ikea france website, its priced at a converted rate. Its actually a bit more expensive to shop in ikea france. Sweet, think Ill be making a trip up to Belfast so. My sister just got a citroen picasso, that should hold a fair bit I'd say (550 to 2128 dm3(?) )

TequilaMockingBird

scooter_pie wrote: »

2. IKEA deliver: at least £150 to Leitrim (my loc)

Is that just for one trolley?

(Sorry, the websites a nightmare, I need a postcode apparently..)

cormie

Think I'm going up on Friday with my sis, she wants to buy some things there, I will have a good bit of space left in the van. Should be able to give a good price if anyone is interested.

ircoha

cormie wrote: »

Think I'm going up on Friday with my sis, she wants to buy some things there, I will have a good bit of space left in the van. Should be able to give a good price if anyone is interested.

Was up there yday: heavy duty road works in middle of Belfast, take the A55 outer-ring road: I did on way back: very well sign posted.

cormie

Thanks for the warning

uoluol

Was in Ikea Belfast 2 weeks ago, and was suprised to see that they now accept Laser Cards. Very handy:)

311

If you need to stop on the way back ,checkout the Outlet http://www.the-outlet.co.uk/map.php
Handy to get in and out of ,off the motorway and it has a starbucs:)

DannyBuoy

311 wrote: »

If you need to stop on the way back ,checkout the Outlet http://www.the-outlet.co.uk/map.php
Handy to get in and out of ,off the motorway and it has a starbucs:)

+1, did that a couple of weeks ago, handy place to stop.
Also had the added pleasure of being evacuated from Ikea because of what turned out to be a false fire alarm, stood outside in very breezy carpark for bout 20 mins!
Def worth the trip though.

Kenjd

My mate and his gf went up in a rented transit van(one of the big-uns). They got a load of stuff for me and my mates, and just added a bit extra onto our bills to cover cost of van, which was about 220 i think for the day. We all got a load of stuff, and he broke even. His head was wrecked though!

delly

Moving thread to the new ikea, sorry i mean interior design and decoration forum.

cormie

I went up with on Friday with my sister.

Found out that it's not actually £50 per trolley to be delivered by them, it's £100 for the first two trolleys (even if it's just one trolley) and then £50 per trolley after. So you will pay a minimum of £100 for Ikea to deliver.

My sister was buying a VERY small kitchen and I managed to fit all the boxes on one trolley:


When I asked about delivery they said that that trolley would be counted as 2 trolleys. Anything above the bottom of the blue handle would be considered a 2nd trolley. Then there was also another trolley of the kitchen stuff that they brought around from where they get the gear. The trolley in the photo were the flatpacks we got, then they get some of the items on the list. As well as that, we had a normal shopping trolley with a few other bits. So 3 trolleys, one with a double load. 4 altogether, but I'd say we could have got everything onto 3. So a small kitchen delivered would have cost us £150.

I ended up taking somebody elses things in my van in the end I was standing outside and saw somebody in a rental van of a local company to where I live, I asked him was it the crowd I was thinking of and he said yup and I said I think I rented that exact van before.

A while later I heard him talking to one of the Ikea employees saying he doesn't think he'll fit everything in so I said I've loads of room left in my van and he lives about 5 mins away from me so we threw about 10 mattresses and 7 futons into my van, there's no way he would have fit them in his own and I delivered to him the next day, he tried to pay me (about 70 euro I think which is quite generous) but it was maybe 30 minutes out of my life to help him so I told him to keep it, it was a favour after all.

He told me he got caught in the M1 traffic and it added about an hour to his journey back. So thanks again for the A55 route suggestion ircoha

Glowing

So it's not too mental going on a Saturday once you get there early? Can't really justify taking a day off during the week .... I guess the BH will be crazy?

biko

I've been to IKEA both Saturday and Sunday and it does get veeeery busy. Go very early or very late to avoid midday crowds at weekends.

robo

I went on a Sunday for 12:30pm and it was busy - you could get around, but it was difficult to have a good look at the rooms that they have set up.

I went another Saturday and they open until 8pm, so it was an afternoon visit and it was not half as full as the Sunday. Easier to look at the details.

I see from their site that the have different hours for Easter and also, the are open St Patrick's day from 10am to 10pm

Glowing

robo wrote: »

I went on a Sunday for 12:30pm and it was busy - you could get around, but it was difficult to have a good look at the rooms that they have set up.

I went another Saturday and they open until 8pm, so it was an afternoon visit and it was not half as full as the Sunday. Easier to look at the details.

I see from their site that the have different hours for Easter and also, the are open St Patrick's day from 10am to 10pm

I suppose the B.H monday would be okay if you left it later in the afternoon do you think?

robo

Here are the opening hours for Easter:

Easter Opening Hours
Fri 21st March - 10am to 10pm
Sat 22nd March - 9am to 8pm
Easter Sunday - Closed
Easter Monday - 10am to 6pm
Tue 25th March - 10am to 6pm
Wed 26th March - 10am to 10pm

I would imagine that the best time to visit is during the week - then you get to see everything better than a Sunday or a Bank Holiday, as the car park on the Sunday was without doubt at least 60% southern reg cars.