IKEA Delivery | What Happens if You Are Not Home

The convenience of delivery is a wonderful thing. Ordering online and having it show up at your door some time later without any physical effort on your part can often make life easier!

However, sometimes things that are typically convenient can become inconvenient, and that can certainly be the case with IKEA deliveries, especially if you aren’t home when they arrive. Let’s look at why, as well as what all your delivery options are.

Small packages will be left in a safe place or taken to a collection point. Large packages will be taken back and re-delivery must be arranged and paid for. Adult representatives can accept the order on the purchaser’s behalf. If "authority to leave" is selected, large deliveries will be left at the address.

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Small Deliveries Left in a Safe Place

While IKEA is known for their furniture, they do offer items that come in small packages. This includes some of their home decor, lighting fixtures, tableware, and other very small items, like batteries.

These small packages—or parcels—may either be handed directly to you (if you are home) or left in a safe place, just like any other delivered package.

This will most likely be your mailbox or your parcel drop box if you have one, but your package could also be left in another safe and “hidden” area if it will not fit inside any designated delivery area.

Man picking up letter, envelopes and newspaper from his mail

If you live in an apartment with a mail reception area, your parcel may also be left there.

No Safe Place

It is possible that the delivery person cannot find a safe place to leave the package.

Should this happen, and you are not home to receive the package directly, you will instead be left a card with instructions to pick up your parcel at the closest “Collection Point.”

Once your package has been sent to a Collection Point, you will need to go and pick it up within the next 7 days. If you do not, then your item(s) will instead be taken back to IKEA.

For this reason, if at all possible, it’s best to make sure that you are home when your delivery is scheduled to arrive. Thankfully, you should receive a link that lets you track your order after purchase, which should make scheduling a bit easier.

Large Deliveries Will Be Taken Away Again

Large deliveries are handled a bit differently than small deliveries. IKEA offers four options for large orders:

Standard Delivery
Scheduled Doorstep Delivery
Scheduled In-Home Delivery
Express In-Home Delivery

Both Standard Delivery and Scheduled Doorstep Delivery involve receiving your item on the front step of your home. If you live in an apartment or condo with a front desk, your package(s) will be left with reception.

Scheduled In-Home Delivery and Express In-Home Delivery, however, involve having your item(s) delivered to whatever area you desire inside your home, provided there is a safe path for the delivery person(s) to get there.

No matter what type of delivery you choose, however, you need to be there to sign off on it—and, yes, that includes both of the options for doorstep delivery!

In case you are not home to receive your furniture, you may be charged a re-delivery fee since extra efforts will be taken to haul big items away from and back to you once again.

It is also possible that your IKEA furniture delivery will be attempted outside of the time frame that you were given. In that case, you shouldn’t be on the hook for a re-delivery fee—you were given the wrong time! You can even try asking for compensation.

Be sure to talk to IKEA’s customer service and explain the situation. Do be aware, however, that IKEA’s website says nothing about this scenario. So, be prepared to have to make your point with whatever evidence you can gather.

It might seem easier to just go and pick up your order at this stage, depending on its size. However, this is not an option.

A Representative Can Accept Large Orders for You

If you want to avoid the trouble of making sure you’re home, or if you simply cannot be home on the delivery day, you could also have someone else accept your items for you.

As long as an adult who is at least 18 years old is at your home when your furniture arrives, then your furniture can be left with them instead. This can be a neighbor, friend, child, or the receptionist of your apartment or condo.

Men in blue uniform carrying a two seater white sofa for delivery

Be sure that if you go this route, your representative is trustworthy. You also want to make sure they are capable of moving the furniture into the safety of your home on their own if you selected Standard Delivery or Scheduled Doorstep Delivery!

Large Deliveries Also Just Left if Pre-Arranged

If this is all still too much hassle for you, you can actually select the “Authority to Leave” option when you are checking out your order online. If you order in store, you may have to sign a waiver.

If you select this option, you give your delivery driver permission to leave your order at your home without you or a representative being there to meet them. However, you are also accepting complete responsibility for your delivery!

That means if your order ends up missing or damaged, you cannot seek any sort of reimbursement from IKEA.

For this reason, you should seriously consider if you feel comfortable having a large, visible, expensive package just left at your home!