Reasons for Buying

After the Gaokao ended last month, many classmates chose to take summer jobs to earn some pocket money, while I chose to stay home and study for my driver's license. The summer vacation after senior year is very long, a full three months. Aside from the time spent practicing driving, I would spend most of my time at home, so I decided to buy myself a new desk to study some interesting things.

At first, I directly searched for “minimalist desk” on Taobao. Many products costing just a few dozen yuan and with sales of over a thousand units came up, but after carefully reading the reviews, I found that they were all appalling. Most comments said that the products were “seriously inconsistent with the descriptions,” and the desk quality was also worrying. Damage during shipping was severe, after all, they were made of compressed particleboard. If I searched for “solid wood desk,” the prices were all in the 300–500 range. Sales were not as high, but the reviews were much better. As expected, you get what you pay for, but the price was simply beyond my budget.

By chance, I saw the keyword “IKEA style” in a product title, which suddenly reminded me of IKEA. So I went to IKEA's official website to look for desks, and then I saw 「LINNMON / ADILS」. My goodness, a 100x60 desk cost only 119, and it had my favorite design: simple yet elegant.

The price was just within my budget, and IKEA is a major brand whose quality I could trust. Besides, this desk was genuinely super good-looking, so it didn't take long for me to decide to buy it. But after adding it to my cart, I took a look and realized that the shipping fee was 119—another desk's price. That was way too expensive. However, there was no IKEA store in my small fourth-tier city. I suddenly had an idea: I could hitch a ride to Guangzhou, buy one, and bring it back myself. But that was just a moment of impulsiveness. After thinking about how I could possibly carry such a large desk back, I realized the idea was impractical and decisively gave it up.

After struggling with the decision for a long time, I ultimately chose a purchasing agent. On Taobao, I selected an eleven-year-old shop that specialized in purchasing IKEA products on behalf of customers. After communicating with the customer service representative, they agreed to keep the IKEA purchase receipt for me, which made me feel much more reassured. At least, it would ensure that I was buying a genuine IKEA product. The purchasing-agent fee plus shipping came to a little over forty yuan in total, which was within an acceptable range for me.

Appearance

After three days in transit, the package finally arrived. When I went to pick it up, the delivery guy even complained, “What is this that’s so heavy?”

All right, let’s unbox it.

This cardboard box was packed by the purchasing agent. The box was thick and sturdy, wrapping the desk tightly, and there was no damage from bumps or impacts. One tabletop and four table legs—very simple.

Without further ado, I started assembling it.

These five screws were really enough to make me question my life. They were so difficult to tighten. There was no electric screwdriver at home, so I had to slowly twist the screws in one by one. After tightening them all, I was already sweating profusely.

The table legs are made of steel, which was even harder than I had imagined. They were perfectly straight, and the workmanship of IKEA's large-scale factory deserved praise. The table legs also have black adjustable knobs. The adjustable feet allow the desk to stand steadily even on an uneven floor.

Connect the tabletop and the table legs.

I flipped it over and gave it a try. It was very stable, with no wobbling at all.

User Experience

After using it for a month, this desk has become the place where I study every day. It does have a minor drawback: the white surface gets dirty easily, so I wipe it down every day to keep it clean. The inside of the tabletop is filled with honeycomb-structured paper material—in any case, it is essentially a type of paper. The material determines that this desk does not have a high load-bearing capacity. The official website states that it can support a maximum of 50 kilograms. As someone weighing over 50 kilograms, I didn't dare sit on it to test it; it would be embarrassing if I actually broke it. I also haven't put anything heavy on the tabletop—just a laptop and a small fan.

Conclusion

IKEA's product design is truly amazing, and I really like its minimalist style. One minor regret is that there aren't many stores; they are only available in first- and second-tier cities. And if the product is shipped, the fee is exorbitant and not worthwhile. Overall, using a purchasing agent is indeed a good choice: you can buy the product you want without paying expensive shipping fees.

However, when using a purchasing agent, be sure to choose an established shop. Many purchasing agents on Taobao pass off counterfeit products as genuine ones, selling high-quality knockoffs at the price of authentic products. To avoid buying fakes, it is best to choose a purchasing agent who can provide an IKEA purchase receipt. This can basically ensure that the product is genuinely from IKEA.

Here is the IKEA purchase receipt from my order through the purchasing agent.

As you can see, the purchase date is shown, which also helps avoid receiving old stock that has been sitting in the purchasing agent's inventory—a win-win situation.