Description
LOCATION- Lidcombe, SYDNEY but can be transported Australia-wide for a small fee. I’d say we’d be able to get these to Melbourne or Brisbane for about $110 the pair.
There are various display photos included in this listing (chairs that iNVISeDGE sold back in 2004). This listing is for the PAIR of YELLOW POD CHAIRS only. These have become very collectable (and RARE) and can’t be found anywhere else in the world for less than a $1,000 EACH. Therefore, I have opted to put them in an OFFERS OVER situation. OFFERS OVER- AU $795 EACH. (I’m thinking of keeping them for myself- I love them and what a great investment they’d be! A practical investment that you can use and love- plus they’ll keep increasing in value while you use them.)
Background Info and Provenance
(Written in 2025 so values will be time-sensitive- accurate and will change over time.)
Unbelievable! These sold in Australia by IKEA in the early-1970’s for AU $7.50 EACH!!! Today they’ve become highly collectable and have skyrocketed in value, usually fetching over AU $1,200 EACH worldwide. I couldn’t find any for sale in the WORLD for less than AU $1,100 EACH!
Goes to show the effect of inflation but secondly the fact that IKEA items are often great pieces of design that have become highly collectable. Everyone seems to bag IKEA- in the past even I did! Not anymore! Vintage IKEA items are having HUGE success all around the world these days (and for good reason. Nearly all of their vintage designs- particularly those from the 1960’s and 1970’s are exceptional pieces of design). I recently saw a pair of IKEA armchairs from the 1960’s selling for over AU$10,000 the pair. I bet they were priced at something like $40 back in the 60’s too!
These retro IKEA plastic pod chairs have become REALLY hard to find and are PERFECT for that retro-inspired interior- particularly the yellow chairs- what sunny fun! Imagine them with the cushions covered in a lairy retro fabric. I used to regularly sell these through iNVISeDGE back in 2004 for $300 EACH not having any idea who designed them and what era they were from. They were immensely popular back in 2004- they were always snapped up within hours of being listed online back then (for $300 EACH even with no definitive designer assigned to them- no dealers operating in Sydney back then were able to identify them). These days they’ve all but disappeared. I haven’t seen any of these pod chairs around the traps for well over 10 years!
Even when I bought these yellow ones, I still had no idea who designed them (or the interesting back-story attached to them), I just bought them coz I liked them. (Like I’ve always done in this job.) They are honestly a great chair- really cool in looks but it’s the comfort you’re buying here! The IKEA catalogue stated they were surprisingly comfortable. What an understatement! They’re like melting into an oversized beanbag, only better because these chairs provide support too (and the support is exactly where you want and need it). The angles and back height is perfect.
These are the Skopa Lounge Chair By IKEA- they have such a fun presence with their colour and unusual shape. The SKOPA armchair was designed in 1969 by Danish designers Ole Gjerløv-Knudsen and Torben Lind, who called it ‘spandestolen’ in Danish, meaning ‘the bucket chair’.
When IKEA bought the rights to SKOPA, it was only natural to have it made at a factory that produced plastic buckets. And it worked out great. According to the catalogue, it was a, “Surprisingly comfortable armchair with fine proportions. Light and stackable.”
But the oil crisis was looming. The price of plastic rocketed. In the 1976 IKEA catalogue, SKOPA was the only plastic furniture left. The production method was so efficient, that the pod chair could still be made despite the higher material costs. SKOPA remained in production until 1981. This is what I find most fascinating about these chairs. They had a production run of at least 8 years so there must have been quite a lot made- these days they’ve all but “dried up”. I reckon shite-loads ended up as landfill and in our oceans- particularly during the late-1980’s when mass-produced junk from China took over the market. They were worth AU $7.50 each back in the 1970’s when new. I bet people couldn’t even put $2 on them at a garage sale and have someone take them away. Yep! Most of them have ended up as landfill- there’s no doubt about that. (The world has gone completely crazy!)
In my opinion, these are the best plastic lounge chairs ever made. So the investment appeal here is a no-brainer. Keep your iNVISeDGE receipt- this listing will stay online forever. There’s no doubt this pair will continue to increase in value along with inflation forever. $7.50 to $1,200 over 50 years- what an earner! And these chairs will never break either. I’ve never come across any of SKOPA chairs split or cracked- they are a strong sturdy chair- virtually indestructible! Even the fact that they stack adds to the value- when you’re not using they take up virtually no storage space as well.
This pair of IKEA SKOPA chairs have not only avoided landfill, they’ve INCREASED in value since 1969 (significantly is an understatement). After modern “designer” chairs have broken and ended up as landfill, this set of vintage ORIGINALS from IKEA will be passed onto a new generation telling more stories as they go. Investing in quality vintage design (and new items built to last) is our only way out of this mess. There’s NO better way to invest in your home … financially, environmentally and from a social perspective. By supporting iNVISeDGE you’re also giving meaningful employment to local people. It’s a win – win – win!
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