As our lives become increasingly intertwined with the natural world, the desire to bring greenery into our homes has grown exponentially.
Indoor plants not only infuse living spaces with beauty but also contribute to improved air quality and a sense of tranquility.
To cater to our ever-growing love for houseplants, IKEA, has become a one-stop destination for both furniture and greenery.
But what if your botanical dreams don’t quite blossom as you’d hoped and you want to make a return?
In this blog post, we’ll take you through the ins and outs of IKEA’s plant returns policy covering both real and artificial plants.
We’ll bring you up to speed with the returns window, how to make a return, their no-receipt policy, and much more.
Let’s dive in…
What is IKEA’s Plant Return Policy? The Short Answer
In short, IKEA doesn’t accept returns for real plants (we cover artificial ones below) in the USA in most situations. However, we have had success in securing a refund when plants have died extremely quickly (like within a few days) or have been defective to begin with.
Therefore, if your plant dies within only a short period, we would still recommend returning it to the IKEA where you purchased it and requesting a refund or exchange.
We’d recommend speaking to a manager if you are refused as their managers do tend to have discretion in our experience.
The same goes if the plant is defective in some way. For example, if it arrives with the stork snapped or the pot is broken. In those situations, you may still have some luck in securing a refund or replacement.
IKEA’s no-returns policy on plants is usually strictly applied when you simply try and return it after a few weeks and the plant has died naturally.
What is IKEA’s Artificial Plant Return Policy?
For faux or artificial plants, the usual IKEA returns policy applies which allows returns of unopened products within 365 days of purchase or 180 days if opened.
What about in Canada and the UK?
In Canada, the policy is slightly different in that they allow plant returns up to 90 days.
In the UK, it would seem that the same policy applies to real plants as it does to fake ones. I.e. 365 days for unopened plants and 180 for open ones.
How to Return Plants to IKEA
Whilst IKEA does offer a mail-in, online return policy (see returns label) which you can start through your IKEA account, our advice is to return plants in-store, especially if they’re real ones and you want a refund/exchange because they’re defective (see above).
With real plants, you may need to discuss the issue with a manager and this is much easier to do in person than by trying to use the online, mail-in process.
It should matter less with fake plants as IKEA should accept your return of them using the mail-in process but, again, to be safe, we’d still recommend returning them in-store.
Will I Need a Receipt to Return Plants to Ikea?
Yes, you will need a receipt and a valid ID to return plants to IKEA.
Ikea will keep your ID on their database for any other returns that you make. They likely do this to ensure that you are not abusing the policy.
If you don’t have a receipt then we recommend doing the following:
- Check your email for any online invoice or receipt or other proof of purchase
- Take a copy of your bank statement
How Does IKEA’s Plant Returns Policy Measure Up?
We’ve taken a look at some other stores to see how they handle plant returns policies.
Let’s take a look:
| Store | Return Window |
| Costco | Return any time |
| Target | 90 days |
| Amazon | 30 days |
| Walmart | 365 days reduced to 90 days for artificial plants |
| Lowes | 90 days – 1 year |
Final Thoughts
As we conclude our exploration of IKEA’s Plant Return Policy, it’s impossible not to acknowledge the one significant disappointment that might dampen the enthusiasm of some plant enthusiasts – the lack of returns on live plants.
But they do permit returns on fake plants in line with their usual policy (365 days for unopened and 180 for opened products). Moreover, the no-return policy on live plants seems to be unique to the US and not other countries.
While IKEA’s commitment to customer satisfaction shines through in many aspects of their return policy, it’s disheartening for some to learn that they are unable to return live plants like they can at most other stores we looked at.
However, we believe in looking at the bigger picture. IKEA’s vast selection of indoor plants continues to inspire and captivate, offering numerous opportunities to create your personal oasis.
