a bit disingenuous to name a video "you shouldn't buy an ikea chair" to then spend 60% of said video explaining how inconvenient it was for you in particular to buy it and also would be to return it if needed, just because of your location.. expressing opinions/criticism is what review channels are all about of course, but this particular one felt more like venting about personal circumstances rather than chairs in question.
Why? It was a terrible experience and is the reason I wouldn’t recommend buying an IKEA chair. The shopping experience is terrible to get a chair that isn’t impressive at all. The only chair worth considering f is the Markus and it’s a bad chair. I think we had it in D tier when we ranked it. It’s ok for the price but even then, I would rather have the Ticova, Mellet or even the Branch task chair. -Ryan
If you live close to an IKEA, that doesn’t change the fact that you need to have a large vehicle to load the chair, you need to spend time navigating a confusing store and then potentially have to drive that box back to IKEA when you realize you don’t like the chair. Compare that to shipping on Amazon where you can get the chair delivered to your doorstep and get the same quality of chair or better. That’s the point. -Ryan
@@btodtv I mean, IKEA also has shipping on the same city/country. It costs me 15 bucks to have it delivered to my home. In fact, I pretty much have the opposite problem, every single Amazon chair you guys recommend have a shipping of at least $200 lol, kinda sucks.
Btodv lives in an ivory tower where they sincerely believe its easier to get a steelcase or haworth than an ikea chair. Ignoring that they have limited skus have wait times for months and custom chairs cant be returned. Lmfao.
In Australia, Amazon is one of the worst options when it comes to purchasing office furniture. $5,821.96 for a Steelcase Gesture?? What is going on there?@@btodtv
Dude, not everyone is living in USA. IKEA is from Sweden and I live in Europe, Ikea Markus is 150$. There is nothing close value wise on the market. USA is not the center of the world.
Here in Italy we have several Ikea stores and the Ikea Markus is priced 169€ and there is absolutely no chair in that price range that comes close in comfort and quality. It’s quality price ratio is better than all gaming chairs (even premium ones) and all the sub-300€ flimsy office chairs.
Yes I picked one up for roughly that price in the Netherlands about 10-ish years ago. Its showing some minor wear and tear, but still going strong without failing. Now I'm just looking for an upgrade. The Jarvfjallet only seems like a minor upgrade and with hard plastic armrest It's not an option for me. I've been watching this channel for a few days, but most of the chairs discussed either aren't available anymore or weren't ever available in the EU for a reasonable price. The shipping gets a bit ridiculous as well when ordering from the US through Amazon from here. I mean, a 150$+ on shipping? I might as well spend a little more to get something better from inside the EU. I don't really want to spend more than 500, I'd prefer under 300 even, but if its required to get something that will last as long as the Markus and has all that adjustability then I'm willing to go over a few hundred. I'd prefer all mesh (I think, it depends on quality) or a pleather seat with mesh back, all options, ease of use, sustainability and extended warranty. I'm average size and weight. I tend to sit most of my days atm, but I do work-out and hike regularly. I've narrowed my selection down a little bit. Zedar B600. At 169euro this chair seems pretty decent for its price with plenty of functions, although there's no extended warranty. The seat is fabric and it looks kinda cheap and generic in comparison to other chairs. I'm not going for looks, I want reasonable quality, function and comfort, but this just looks cheaply built from the pictures. Ikea Styrspel. At 239 seems very decently priced by looking at the pictures, especially if the build quality would be close to a Markus... Its got plenty of functions, but no headrest-tilt and a wheel pressure braking mechanism which I think is one of the worst design features that desk chairs have ever seen. If anything, I'd want it to be the other way around where it locks when you sit and releases when you stand up. Also, I'm unsure about the back-rest shape as I feel like my shoulders would hit the edges. This one only has a 3 year warranty, which shows their faith in their own product considering the Markus has 10. BenS 816DH or similar. At ~480 euro this is all mesh, looks to be built better and has most of the options I'd want. The armrests look a bit thin on the pictures though. They have some cheaper chairs, but with less options and fabric or pleather upholstery. They offer a 5 year warranty. Secret Lab Neue chair. With the headrest comes to about 720 euro. Seems even sturdier and the thing that peaked my interest about this is the reclining button on the armrest. I honestly don't want to spend that amount just for that feature though. I think their warranty was about 7 years. Also, its Secret Lab... I feel like this chair should be 550-600, max. A refurbished Herman Miller Aeron. Which, with a headrest comes to about the same price as the Neue chair. The thing that holds me back, besides the price, is that its a second hand chair. When spending this much I'd prefer to buy something like this new, but I'm not willing to spend 1000+ euros on a chair... How fkn hard can it be to make a reasonably priced chair that fits almost all, has all the options, form and function with decent quality and warranty? Perhaps I'm unrealistic, but even the more expensive chairs seem that they can be lacking. Now, I am someone who likes to explore their options, but I'm having a rough time finding the right chair. Not to even mention going through reviews, which just aren't always reliable. Even besides people's 2 cents there's a bunch of fake and irrelevant comments out there. Tbh, typing this out helped myself a little bit. Leaning towards the BenS 816DH now, but if I can find something similar for 100-200 less that'd be perfect. Any tip or helpful comment is appreciated, cheers!
Good grief I am staggered that you spent half the video complaining about the difficulty reaching and navigating an IKEA when almost every "proper" chair BTODtv recommends is something that most people can't hope to test in person before buying. Likewise your credibility really drops when in other videos you are praising the features of these chairs and in this you're calling them D tier.
Spend half of the video talking about it's not available in your area :D Marcus might not be the best quality out there, but you can't really beat the value. It lasted me easily 10 years still in good shape, comparing to my secret lab chair, the skin is peeling off already after 3 years.
IKEA's shipping is quite ridiculous though. Very slow, and very expensive. It makes it quite impractical to buy their products unless you happen to live locally.
I mean if the shipping really is 300 bucks one might as well just drive the 2h. Over here I don't think shipping a chair would run you more than 50€, and it's probably through dhl or hermes which might take a week.@@andybrice2711
The Markus gave me extreme leg pain, and my legs/feet started falling asleep within 2 years of owning it. One of the most painful seat pans I’ve ever experienced. All of that immediately went away after buying a mesh chair.
@@andybrice2711 well.. for me the shipping fee is like 4$ and delivers in 1-2 days sooo i guess thats not a good criteria since it depends on where you live..
I went from a Markus to a Steelcase Gesture and I really don't think they're as bad as you make them out to be. It lasted me 10 years and is still used by my wife when she wants to sit in my office. The arms are really the only poorly designed component IMO, but the seat bottom is about on par with the Gesture. Of course, the Gesture blows the Markus away in terms of adjustments and overall stability, but it's still an amazing value for less than $300 (luckily, I live 10 min away from an IKEA, and I'll just say that the box fit fine in my Focus hatch I had at the time), and I wouldn't recommend anything else in that price range.
this. the Markus is insane value for the price, and with the leather seat covering and leather arm rests, it's durable as hell. Only the headrest was faux leather on mine, that peeled after about 7 years. I have since paid multiple times what I paid for my Markus for other chairs and gotten only plasticy, rattle-y shitboxes.
I got one of the cheapest ikea office chairs with a long back and aside from standard cosmetic wear it’s still perfect 7 years later. Can’t go wrong with them.
I've had a Markus for around 6/7 years, and I'm thinking about doing the exact same switch. Can get a fully refurbished Steelcase Gesture in the UK for around £600, more than half of the price of a brand new one. What do you think of the Gesture? Worth the upgrade?
Yeah I paid 180€ for a Markus out of leather, and It's been holding up good in the past 3 years. The back is squeaking abit, but it's a quick lube fix from what I saw earlier. I replaced the wheels to not damage my floor, but you don't have to if you have tiles. And that's about it with the problems.
I have an Ikea less than an hour from me, not long ago, i went there to try the Markus and the Jarvfjallet. For reference, i'm 1.78m (5.10ft), and weight 110Kg (242lbs), so above average in height, and in need to loose weight (which i'm seriously working on) The Markus is comfortable, even all the way down. The fixed arm rests didn't bother me much as the seat has enough width to sit comfortably. The lumbar support didn't bother me either (not perfect but not terrible), and the headrest was in the perfect position and angle. The tilt motion feels good, but it has a very big problem. It does not have anywhere near enough resistance to stop from tilting much too easily, even when tightened all the way up. I don't like locking the mechanism as i like to sway, so this is not a good situation to be in. If you are lighter than me, say, somewhere in the 80 to 90kg >>at most
@@avramovixc I tried it again a few weeks ago. still not leather. Its not full grain, top grain, and not even suede. Leather does not look, feel, or behave like this, even if it had a pigment, or worse, a coating. It could be reconstituted leather (aka. bonded leather), which is essentially leather scraps held together with glue, often with a backing. This would be the lowest quality possible material, but also a loophole brands use to claim a material is leather.
I think your test is a bit harsh on the Marcus chair. I've had it for several years, and in terms of quality, I haven't experienced much more deterioration considering I use it easily for 9 hours a day. It has its merits, although it lacks ergonomics. But when it comes to comfort, after trying several brands like Steelcase or Herman Miller, I don't find it really that bad when you compare the price. It still remains a better choice than most chairs available on the market. The fact that everyone buys it also makes it much easier to find and attractive in terms of price in the second-hand market.
That review sounds like personal rant, not very professional, definitively not worth subscription or even like. Ikea chairs are not great, sure, but if you compare in same price range, they are actually quite good. Did you compare them with other in this price range? Didn't look into your channel as this video scared me away from it. Not everyone can afford Herman-Miller and such ( if available at all). And "save up for one"? You need to sit on something until then. Having Ikea far away sucks, sure, but you usually don't drive for weekly shopping there. Sure if something wrong you need to drive there again, but that's not the norm and if some screws are missing they can send them for free. You don't need big car to transport Ikea chair, if you can't transport 100 x 60 x 25 cm box in your car, I think you should rethink your lifestyle.
It’s not a coincidence that almost all of the negative feedback is coming from people that don’t live in the US. Your experience is not the same as ours. And yes, I have tried a ton of other chairs in the same price range and see no reason to buy a chair from IKEA. There are better options for less money that arrive at your door. -Ryan
@@btodtv It's kind of weird, USA land of bigger cars, land that concepted for using cars. But I heard here: "don't fit in a car, I have to drive 3 hours" ... Anyway it was critique because video was unprofessional due to personal rant that had absolutely nothing to do with quality of the chair. You criticized chairs primarily by your inconvenience to get them. I expected to see some tests when I clicked the video. And of cause "our" experience is different from US, same is other way around, yours is not the same as ours. And since you haven't said that your video for USA only.. you will get international comments. Btw. not everywhere in Europe people live 10 minutes away from an Ikea. For years, I had to drive for several hours before one store was opened one hour drive away, around two years ago.
The video is supposed to be about IKEA, not an individual chair, so it is not going to feel like a review. We have videos reviewing all of those chairs, they are featured in comparisons and numerous tier lists. That's why the focus is on the experience of buying a chair at IKEA in this video and not simply a Markus chair review. I don't think it makes it unprofessional to focus on the buying experience. -Ryan
The IKEA Markus is one of the worst chairs I’ve ever owned. The seat pan became extremely painful after 2 years of owning it. My legs and feet started going numb after sitting in it for very short periods of time. All of that cleared up immediately after buying a budget mesh chair. I don’t understand how the Markus got a reputation for being a good chair. It’s a complete waste of money and only lasts if you rarely sit in it.
The IKEA MARKUS was my first office chair upgrade from the horrible $30 Staples faux-leather chairs. I was really lucky to find a display model in the As-Is section for $70. I used it for a good 10 years before upgrading to a Herman Miller Aeron, and I gotta say I really enjoyed the chair. I even disassembled it before moving and put it back together without any issues. I'd recommend it over any racing or Staples chair in the same price range. The only wear/tear on it is that the leather headrest is peeling a little bit from all the oils and the seat isn't as firm as it used to be, but it's still going very strong and I keep it around for guests to use. As a 6'2" person, my only complaint was the lumbar support being stuck in one position, so it felt like it was wayyy too low. I also had taken off the armrests at one point, and it was very usable that way. Great chair for curling up in and sitting like a little gremlin if you want, but it was also good for sitting properly.
Not sure if it's available in the US but the STYRSPEL is a new all mesh chair from Ikea. The construction is sturdy, metal, and the arm support is really comfortable.
I bought Styrspel around 2 months ago and I'm thinking about returning it. I sat on Markus the last time I went to Ikea and it immediately felt more comfortable. Styrspel is twice the price but does not feel twice the quality. I wanted an all-mesh design for summer months and it's one of a very few sub-Aeron price tier options available here, but I'm having second thoughts whether it was worth it.
Yeah I saw a video earlier, it's got a plastic lumbar support and costs 250€ or something where as the Jarv.. costs about 200? I mean sure it looks clean and all, but I don't think either are better than the Markus if you ignore the ass-cushion adjustment, slightly better headrest and better arm rest.@@Jehowy666
I've got the leather markus, my ass does get moist in the hot summers, but the back is fine. Plus it being leather, you can clean the surface super easy, I don't know how easy it is to clean ass-sweat off the cloth chair.@@pdcichosz
owning this chair for 15 months now. No saggyness or anything of the mesh. I'm 183cm tall and weigh about 90 kg. Although its my first gaming/office chair, but i have no regrets so far. I would recommend try-before you-buy with this chair though, since the seat does seem to have a specific ergonomic shape that wont accommodate all types of back-curves
I definitely can't recommend the chair for Americans after seeing this. Here in the Netherlands, the chair is $215 and shipping $16 making it a very appealing chair on a lower budget. Have had mine for 8 years now, bought it locally for $182 back then. Seat cushioning has been gone for 3 years and the locking mechanism broke down last year. I can't find my receipt anywhere, otherwise I could've gotten the latter fixed with the 10 year warranty. I would not recommend it for someone who uses a chair 3+ hours a day if you have the budget to invest in a better chair.
Odd video, a rant about how if you live far away from ikea it's inconvenient to get things from ikea. But somehow specifically about ikea chairs. Okay lol
I think the title has to say: Why Everyone buys Ikea Office Chair.. but you shouldnt .... at USA. there are other countries where are not blessed aa USA, and almost all retailers always ship garbage chair from china, there are other furniture center that work with steelcase or humanscale but they only work with companies to design and make their offices spaces. I as person I want buy a great office chair as all brand you review on your channel, here in Dominican Republic , I dont have any options I have a Jarvfallet , and for a person that make a upgrade from a Chinese gaming chair is great!! for me I wish would buy a steelcase leap o a humanscale diffrient, or a herman miller aeron or embody, but thats are not option for us
To be fair - "proper" office chairs sold by office stores, under 400€, are just as cheap and flimsy, with the exception of having 4D armrests. Maybe they last longer too, but the overall quality impression is just as poor, they shiver and shake like leaves on a tree, and make one really wonder how making a chair on wheels can be so fucking difficult. Not to defend IKEA, I vividly remember buying a sofa and having to replace it 2 times, and eventually returning it.
i've the markus since 4 years. i work from home and overall i'm a pretty sedentarian person, i sit vast majority of my day due to my job. yes the material are not top notch, but i've to say that the chair holds up very good, it's very comfortable (better than my office chain in the office of a big corporation...) and had no issue so far.
If your office chair Markus rocks from side to side even though you may have tightened the bolts check the fitment plate underneath its more than likely the metal has cracked on either side. This the second chair we have bought with the same problem . The first chair (cannot remember the name, where the legs are bolted with two bolts for each branch to the centre piece also has metal fatigue. I will not buy another chair from IKEA. What's the betting the metal if from China ?
I was considering a Markus or Jarvfjallet for my WFH setup. But then Herman Miller had a 20% off sale which included the gaming Embody, so I bought that instead. I'm no longer considering any other chairs. One great think about IKEA is I have one near me and it's very easy for me to go there and try their products. So I sat in their chairs a few times and they seemed fine. Then I thought I'd try Herman Miller and I searched and found one close to my home. I tried the Embody and knew knew I liked it, just wished the armrests had more adjustments.. I tried to find a place to go try some Steelcase chairs but I didn't see any places nearby. The only place I got to try a Steelcase chair was at the hospital when I went in for surgery recently. They had Steelcase Gestures at all the nurse's stations. When it was time for me to walk, I asked the nurse if I could try one of those chairs because I was thinking of buying one. She said all the nurses loved the chairs and if the hospital ever decided to get rid of them she would sneak one into her car. I said, yeah you better, that''s a valuable high end chair. The chair is nice and comfy, and armrests are legendary. Not long after that, I tried the Embody again since it was 20% off, and decided the armrests were fine. Sitting in it as I type this with no regrets.
Most of the practical issues here are USA-specific, I think it would be a good idea to state this in the video.. But I also have problem finding a good budget chair here in Europe. Ikea usually still offers better quality and selection than other similar stores here. Few years ago I bought the Jarvfjallet out of necessity (the cloth seat version) and sadly it turned out to be quite uncomfortable to me in the long term. The seat is super stiff and simply too short for my legs to have decent support. The seat depth adjusting feature is useless to me because the widest setting is still narrower than normal. After a few minutes it's like I'm sitting on a bench in a waiting room :D I'm fairly tall (188cm) but Ikea is from Northern EU where this would be quite average. Yet, almost all their office chairs feel like they're made for much shorter people than me.
Ikea is a global corporation, why would they design for their seed market today, selling the same products all over the world? And even if they did, you being 188 are still far from their domestic average. The average *male* in Sweden is 180. And that's only half of the story, the average woman is much shorter there. below 170.
@@pdcichosz the main feature of this chair is adjustable seat depth, and it's smaller even at max setting than some of their much cheaper office chairs. (I'm forced to sit in a crappy old ikea chair because it doesnt cut off circulation in my legs at least..) It's just a bad design decision and can mislead people beause it's one of the biggest chairs ikea sells. Due to the curvature of the back, it looks deeper than it really is. This was my warning.. Average men's height in many eu countries is around 180cm, which means that there are millions of people around my height..
@@HUNrobar good tip about the seat depth, I'm wondering of it's the same thing that makes me constantly change positions in my Styrspel. I checked the avg height charts and indeed 19 out of 44 EU countries have a male average at or above 180... Which seems massively off irl, I live in the most populous city in my country and whenever I go out, use public transport and such, I'm one of the tallest people in the space with my 185... As I see, lots of that data comes from surveys among teenagers and young adults which would explain the difference in perception. But teenagers and young adults do not make the whole customer base. Anyway, you still seem to disregard the fact that the designers cannot disregard women as their potential customers :P And I guess you also underestimate the difference those few cms make. You're equally close to 180 as a 172 cm tall person is. It does not seem like much on a ruler, but it's a massive difference irl. I'm 185 and it never ceases to amaze me how much bigger than me my 195 friends seem. And we're not all equally proportioned. I'm 10 cm taller than my father was and all those 10 centimeters were in my legs. Sitting down on a bench we were the same height. You're just tall man, embrace it ;) and look for a chair suitable for you. Maybe from some Dutch or Belgian brand?
@@pdcichosz Look, my point was that ikea is massive in my area, you can barely find any decent alternatives in the price segment. This chair is supposed to be their big adjustable office chair that should fit tall people according to specs. The whole point of adjustability would be to allow good seat for tall people, without ruining it for shorter people.. otherwise it's basically a gimmick. Almost all their chairs are fixed seat and made for average size person. This is no different apparently, as the extra feature is pointless basically. The shape of the seat and back is very rounded, which creates a lot of unusable space, so the numbers are misleading. About 38-40cm is the real max depth... In practice, my simple ikea kitchen chair has more seat depth because of the more rectangular shape.. and all kinds of people can sit in it magically ;) I don't understand how theoretical business plans or personal observations relate to this. This is a channel where they critique office chairs and I'm just adding my personal opinion, because I think it could be useful for people :)
@@HUNrobar Up until now I understood your trouble with it as 'it's made for the average size person and it should be made for an average _taller_ person as it's a northern European company' which you suggested in your original post, hence the confusion. All clear now. Thanks for highlighting it!
I was at Ikea and hyped cause I needed a new office chair. I tested many of them but man what a disappointment. So bad. At work I use a Kinnarps 8000 which is just unbearable. Anyone knows that Kinnarps are the best office chairs. Thinking of getting a used Kinnarps 5000.
Something tells me that this video made you have a different emotion than laughing out loud. This one tends to really fire up IKEA supporters. Not sure why. The reason people shop at IKEA is because you can get things for super cheap, but everyone knows it's not good quality. The people with IKEA chairs have a tough time understanding that their chairs are just as low end as the rest of their products. -Ryan
there's a very good review of Styrspel drom one Finnish guy here on youtubes, just search for it. Got the chair, I have it for 2 months now and I basically agree with everything he says.
no regrets buying it after 15 months. all mesh, good for long sessions in the summer. No signs of sag yet, although i do treat my chair pretty gently. Try before you buy though. I do find the back support somewhat specifically shaped and i could see many people not liking the somewhat wobbly head rest.
@@ericspoor8175I bought it a little after posting this comment. Be careful with the headrest, it's metal screws in plastic. Mine tore itself to bits in a month or two. Thankfully it's still secured on, but can't be adjusted. Or, is immediately reset by gravity. I am a large fella, and my shoulders are broad enough that it's sometimes uncomfortable on the metal frame, which is a good reason to upgrade but not so common or painful that I think it's not worth the money. The cheap ass plastic mount for the headrest falls in that category but it's fine. Good arms, good seat, the back works for me shoulders notwithstanding. Low footprint, but stable... but i have to agree with the first commenter. Just get the other thing, the reclining is the same, the back is similar, it has a good seat, and the headrest won't chew itself into brokenness.
if you have to pay 300$ for it, then probably don't buy it. IKEA has some pretty bad chairs, judging from the few minutes i've tried them, especially in the new gaming line (as with most gaming stuff). But I've paid the markus 130€ (new) and it's a bargain. I've had it for around 5 years and it's still as the day I've assembled it. No noises, no unwanted movements (not even the armrests which I'm not very gentle with). That is pretty damn impressive. For that price I'd recommend it to anyone. If I could swap the armrest with something more comfortable and adjustable then it would be the absolute best bang for the buck ever. Other minor things is that I'd like a more adjustable lumbar support. Really a shame that ikea hasn't been able to improve on it so far.
I have Steelcase, Haworth and Herman Miller, my brother has an IKEA Markus and it's fine, held up fine and is decently comfortable. Once you have real chairs from the real brands you probably would not buy an IKEA chair but the Markus is fine for the average person. The only thing I have found is you occasionally have to retighten the bolts holding on the arms.
Definitely. It’s not bad for a $200 chair. If you can get it without shipping and only need something for a couple hours a day, then it can be solid. -Ryan
I'm looking for a second-hand chair and the number of IKEA chairs being offered is insane. Just tells you how many unhappy customers are trying to fix their mistake.
The Långfjäll is nice, but it's not really an office chair. The thing which has always bugged me about IKEA mesh chairs is that the back is more like a baggy fabric netting rather than a proper tensile mesh.
@@HorizonsofSelf Are chairs like cookware - i.e. quality if made in the U.S.A. or Europe, sub-quality if made in China? I think btod should mention country of manufacturing for every chair they review. It's important for many consumers these days trying to buy American made.
It´s not called Jarvfillét like it´s some kind of fish fillé. That just sounds ridiculous. It´s Järvfjället. It´s Swedish and it means something like "The Wolverine Mountain".
I have IKEA Markus chair and after i seeing your reviews that you recommend S-Tier Herman Miller Embody Gaming chair i bought it. I have to say i absolutely hate it. For me IKEA Markus (150€) is better than HM Embody gaming (1800€). Embody is squeaking and creaking mess from the day 1. Seat extender is squeking the back is squeking and the armrest is making clicking sound (i have to spray it with silicone wd40 the new one...). The seat is very uncomfortable pixels are pressing in the butt cousing pain and the top of the backrest pushes too much into the shoulders...
At 0:23 you show the tier list, where the cheapest Herman Miller would be the Aeron. And at 2:54 you guys said "the Markus is like an Aeron (...)" doing a direct comparison. Buying from Ikea is not a chore for me, either a 30min drive or
"The Markus is like an Aeron compared to most IKEA chairs" is what I said. It wasn't an attempt to compare it to the Aeron. It was a comparison to show how awful the IKEA line up of chairs is that such a bad chair as the Markus would feel like an Aeron compared to the rest of the IKEA chairs. -Ryan
The problem with high-end chairs is that there is no after-sales service. If you spill coffee on your $1000 chair, then you can't replace the seat. You have to take it to a certified dealer to get it repaired for the same cost as the chair. Replacing any part of these high-end chairs is impossible. Please be aware of this when investing in high-end chairs. Whereas for Ikea chairs, we can purchase a particular part that needs to be replaced.
This review just feels a little bit unfair. It almost makes you think that you bash on it because you can't sell these and don't have affiliate links for these. Shipping is like 10/20 dollar/euro in most cases. Though I personally currently use an expensive office chair, Ikea is a great option for those that just want a plain decent chair and no bullsh*t. They come with a 10 year warranty and last for a decent time.
We are not in the EU. We are in the US. Shipping here makes the chairs not worth buying unless you can go to the store. The fact that IKEA will ship one chair in the EU for as low as $10 but will charge $300 to ship the same chair in the US shows the willingness of IKEA to price gouge their US customers, which is reason enough to not buy from them if you are in the US. IKEA has an affiliate program. We just choose to recommend chairs that we like after testing them and IKEA chairs don't fit that criteria. -Ryan
@@btodtv Looking at their US website they offer 'Scheduled Doorstep Delivery' at 39 dollar. How is it even possible that they charged you $300? Nevertheless, perhaps a delivery agnostic review would have been better regardless. By far most people aren't going to have this specific issue you had (even in the US) and the chairs are pretty decent for the price.
Because the 'Scheduled Doorstep Delivery' is on top of their regular shipping charge. This was a delivery agnostic review. I had to go to the store to get it. Was a terrible experience. Agree, the chairs are Ok for the price but I think there are better options. -Ryan
The weight this channel puts on the purchase process and return policy is insane. 99% of us will never use the return policy, yet you weigh it damn near as close as “is this comfortable to work on?” It’s bizarre.
We rarely put emphasis on the purchasing process. To be honest, I think IKEA chairs are the only ones that we have focused on because it’s the only place that is a complete headache to shop for a chair from. Everywhere else will deliver it to your door for a small fee and in most cases, free. If you need to go to the store, like Office Max, Staples, Walmart, you can find the chairs right away and be in and out. Not at IKEA. -Ryan
@@btodtv sorry, but I have to disagree. I just watched your top 30 chair review video as I’m in the market and on each one you focus on the purchase and the warranty (heavily on the warranty). I’m just afraid that aspect weighs too much in the decision when I’ve never had a chair break on me, and I really just need to know which one will be the most comfortable. Thanks for the reply though.
I feel like you are grouping anything that isn't dealing with comfort into the buying process. If that's the case, then yes, we focus on every aspect of the chair, not just the comfort. But, again, we rarely talk about our experience shopping at a store or using a website. That is unique to IKEA. We do talk about return policies and warranty because those 2 things rank very highly for a lot of people when considering a chair. We have a lot of tier lists geared specifically toward comfort. I would check those out. -Ryan
Thats the problem with buying chairs... I live in europe, here all the amazon chairs that you guys review have a 400 dollar shipping fee attached to them. I was unable to find any of those recommended chairs in my budget(expect one for double the price). So whats left? Ikea, or some random noname brand. So i brought an Ikea chair, and honestly, its one of the worst chairs i ever owned. The build quality is 50/50, its metal, sturdy, but the foam is flattened after a year(im underweight btw) and i basically sit on wood, expect the sides of the foam is not flattened, so its blocking the circulation in my legs... The chair is too deep and offers little to no back support. Its so trash there is no words for it, idk why they even manufacture this kind of garbage. Ikea chair could be the holy grail for people like me, i live in smaller city in eastern europe, ikea shipping was like 20 bucks so its not even that bad as it was for you guys, but damn their chairs are just so low quality. Its honestly absurd to me that nobody offers good quality chairs world wide for 300 dollar.... Like, thats half a month worth of salary here, i just dont believe it that its so hard to make a decent chair for that price.
@@narukami597 Ikea Flintan, cheap but super trash. Maybe their new expensive mesh gaming chairs are better, but idk. Finally i found that alza sells Steelcase Leap copy named AlzaErgo Chair Abyss, if u live central/eastern europe, its a good option for 350 euro. It was reviewed here as Clatina Mellet.
You focus on the supposed inconvenience of acquiring a chair from Ikea instead of elaborating on why they are not good as products and listing the pros/cons versus comparable offerings... As if shopping for office chairs from other manufacturers was easier O_o In theory, you can order 'some chair' sight unseen (or rather: butt unsat on it) from a website like yours. In practice, nobody is an 'average' person and you should at least check a chair out in person before buying it. Or risk getting something completely inappropriate *for you* and having to pay for a costly return. Complaining about having to physically visit a store that's in close priximity to any major city is... questionable? And I understand that (probably) most of your viewer base is in the US, but 1) not all of us are and where I live, the delivery of a chair currently costs 1.20 USD (yes, you read that right) 2) complaining that you need to have 'a big car' in a country where Ford F-150 pickup truck is the best selling vehicle is just funny :D Sorry folks, I love your videos and in-depth reviews but this one felt like a waste of time.
It’s not a “supposed inconvenience”. It’s a huge inconvenience compared to buying any other low end chair available on the internet. Shopping from other manufacturers is easier. Most of them understand that going into a store like IKEA is not a great experience for a lot of people so they offer free returns so that you can try the chair for free and send it back if you don’t like. I am from the US so I do not get cheap shipping because IKEA likes to gouge American customers in shipping prices. This video is about my experience buying IKEA chairs and I live in the US so I didn’t comment on the experience in Europe because I don’t know what it’s like. I didn’t want to make any off base comments like yours about being near a big city and everyone e over here owning an F150. -Ryan
@@btodtv with all due respect, do you _really_ think that Ikea (i.e. the decision makers that likely get performance-based bonuses) '_like_ to gouge' its customers on shipping prices? And that they don't realize the $300 shipping on a $300 chair makes it unsellable online? They don't 'like' exhibiting any sort of ill-intentioned behaviour, they simply lure you into their shops with prohibitive shipping prices. Because they are not an office furniture company. They 'are all things home' company. And they know that once you're in, you're going to leave with a few extra items at the very least. There's nothing psychopathic about that as you seem to suggest, it's a simple cost/benefit analysis. Where I live, (cheap) delivery from Ikea is a relatively new thing too, it was introduced only a few years ago. But where I (and lots of Europeans) live, we have efficient public transit systems and cities built in a way that make living without a car possible, and living with it a nuisance, so they had to finally adapt to local circumstances. So I'm not sure what's off-base about mentioning that _your_ local circumstances involve heaps of people daily-driving trucks with a big flat bed that's more than suitable for transporting big flat packages their furniture comes in. Or SUVs with spacious trunks. Or that US is car-centric and virtually everyone relies on a car. Not to mention that I know how big a cardboard package for one of their biggest chairs is and it makes the whole argument about having to deal with the 'discomfort' of... lifting it from a stack to a trolley, trolley to trunk and from your driveway to your home office simply ridiculous. It's you who mentions in the title that _everyone_ buys Ikea chairs. I doubt that _everyone_ spends double the item's worth to simply get it delivered without a blink of an eye. You're being criticized because you've made your specific circumstances a central point of your argument that buying _some products_ is a *generally* bad decision. Using your logic, I could start telling people they shouldn't go for Aeron or a Leap because it costs *me* a ton to get them here. Duh. It's not a product's fault. It doesn't make it less worthy for people within its reach. See the point? You are the one who went with this clickbait title knowing full well it's clickbait, own it ;P
I fail to see how luring customers into a store to buy things they didn’t intend to buy, by gouging people on shipping is viewed as a positive. Just seems like another non customer friendly tactic. You are off base with your comments about everyone here having a truck. We don’t. You are also off base by making it seem easy to just get into our car and drive to a major city. For me, it’s 2-3 hours to an IKEA. The US is massive compared to EU countries. I may spend half the cost of the chair on gas alone to get to an IKEA to see if I want to buy a low end chair. Committing 6 hours of driving and a full tank of gas is a lot when you can get a better chair on Amazon for less money and it ends up at your door. -Ryan
@@btodtv my main point and the assumption I'm making is a difference between a product and the buying experience. You lump those two together - because this is (the only?) way you can make your argument. Because in isolation, as *products* they are not nearly as bad as you paint them. All of this is in the context of you guys running the online office chair shop that doesn't supply these products. However you try to frame it, the main point of this video is to discourage your viewers from buying stock from a company you don't work with and probably can't offer anyway. And your main argument is not objective qualities of these products but the distribution channel. It has to raise some eyebrows. You fail to see or *choose* to not see that you don't need to tell people that driving 3 hours one way just to get an office chair is not a good idea. Nobody in their right mind does that. Your whole argument is focused entirely on *your* experience. As if it could be extrapolated to everyone else. Even assuming that the video is meant to be watched mostly by your American audience, that's 200M+ people. You twist my words, making a strawman argument while all I said was that ' Ford F-150 pickup truck is the best selling vehicle in the US'. Which is *a fact. This does not* mean 'everyone's owning an F150'. What it *does* mean is that trucks are incredibly popular. Which in turn makes pointing out that you need a 'big car' in a country that's absolutely full of them like no other in the world - another fallacy. Even before pointing out that it's just not true because the boxes these chairs come in fit into any compact car no problem. I was wrong about the costly return. But even if you don't need to pay for the return, the hassle of getting the right fit, assembling, disassembling and returning N chairs before you get there is real. That's why I claim it's not that much easier to get a right chair from anyone else. You can try, but it's guesswork and the best way to shop for chairs is still the old, analogue way of touching them all with your bum. Which is, of course, not the model you operate in, so we're back to square one.
I would disagree with that. It’s a chair made entirely of low end components. The Aeron is built like a tank. The Leap is built like a tank. The Markus is built like a cheap chair from IKEA. -Ryan
I dont know about that....1 and a half year in and my casual use markus is starting to seriously sag when it comes to the mesh components, the bottom padding has seriously worn out, feels like sitting on a WWE steel chair.
@@Tommyvang187 thats great!!! if you have the budget , go for it!!! remember almost all brand have a 30 days return offer. In the office, I have a Humanscale Diffrient and is a great chair, if you like , you can try
I have an Amia now and its a 24/7 chair. I work from home and am in this chair more than a typical 40 hour work week. I never know such a rating existed until 4 years ago. Huge difference in quality. I will never own a chair that isn't rated for 24/7 usage.
I have a Secretlab TITAN Evo 2022 and i absolutely hate this chair. Why it's so hard to buy a decent chair at a reasonable price?! I'm not gonna pay 1000£ for a stupid chair.
Don’t cut me short. I complained about a lot more than that. You watched the video and felt the need to comment so it must not have been that useless. -Ryan
@@btodtv hey ryan so actually i commented this so other people dont waste their time like i did, yk looking out for other viewers like myself? this shouldnt have even been a video but a simple google review. everyone else shouldnt buy from ikea coz u had a bad experience? yeah alright go eat a dick ryan. ciao
@shoutoutbenji Do you get this much rage every time you see a negative review on a product you own or are you just this unhinged when it comes to IKEA? -Ryan
No the chair bad because it’s bad. What makes it even worse is that they charge outrageous shipping charges compared to 99.9% of other ecommerce providers-Greg
Nah, this guy goes to reply to every single comment criticizing the video, whining about IKEA. We get it, you have some personal beef with them, you don't live near one, and shipping costs are high. Instead of basing this video on your personal dislike for IKEA, due to reasons that are specific to you, and not to everyone else, just focus on the pros and cons of their products. There's a reason why people are disliking the video, and criticizing it in the comments, no matter how right you think you are. And by the way, I don't have access to 90% of the products you recommend, or if I do, I'd have to pay huge delivery fees ($150-200+), so you see how it can differ a lot, based on where you live? For a lot of people who are looking up IKEA chairs, they want to see a review and maybe comparisons to some other chairs in the same budget, so they can best decide what to go for, based on the budget, and availability, because this might be the only alternative.
First of all, I own 3 ikea chairs :). I chose ikea chairs because of availability, sturdiness, and my ergonomics. Every brand has its target and sadly you-high performance chair fanboy-were not the target of ikea. I’m not target of anything you mentioned in your videos because I’m living in South Korea. But I cannot say to anyone that Ticova or Eurotech are terrible because of that. You can say ikea chairs are worse than any high tier chair(That’s possibly true). But you cannot say do not buy ikea chair(Seriously?). That’s a whole different story.
Without adjustments, it's hard to call their chairs ergonomic. I appreciate you calling us fan boys of high performance chairs. We do love a good quality chair that is actually ergonomic and will hold up well for a long time. Not going to apologize for that :) But we don't only recommend the most expensive stuff, we just aren't going to recommend F tier chairs from IKEA -Greg
You guys didn’t sit normal South Korean chair brands(like SIDIZ). They are too low and short for me(189cm). Headrest always hit my shoulder. Ikea always provide better ergonomic option in that price range to me :). Yeah finally the tier lol. I watched your tier reviews and shocked. Usually, reviewers-wine, audio, computer, mobile phone, car etc- separate their product with price range, but you guys didn’t. Why the hell cheap chairs have to be compared to expensive ones? That’s very unfair and unreasonable. That was first time I felt this channel is unreliable. This Ikea thing is second time :). You guys are running a business so you guys know better than me about chair market, especially, expensive chair market. So keep reviewing nice chairs! I search which of them are available in South Korea. But the price range, it really matters. I can say that. Perspective of utility, if cheap chairs(~200$) have 1 quality, expensive chairs(1000$~) have 2~3 times better(Usually it happens in every market). So reasonable people don’t spend their money to buy 5 times more to get 2~3 times better. So keep focusing unreasonable customers who really want to spend their money only want to feel high quality :).
You keep saying that you think there are better alternatives for this price, but you don't mention any alternatives. On the contrary... you then come up with Eurotech Vera, which costs almost $1000. Everyone everywhere is saying don't buy a $300 gaming chair, buy a Markus. Now you say don't buy a Markus, but spend $1000 for a Eurotech Vera. So what now? Sorry, but if you say that there are also good quality chairs in this price range, then you should name them accordingly.
Overall, the video is very meaningless! You cannot compare Apples and Oranges in terms of price. If the RUclipsr then also has a store (in which no office chair is offered in this low price range), you can hardly say that this negative video (about cheap Ikea office chairs) is even remotely independent.
Half the video? That's a bit aggressive. I find it wild how mad people are getting at me sharing my shopping experience at a store. Which IKEA chair do you have? -Ryan
Well it's not really IKEA's problem that the reviewer lives in middle of nowhere Wisconsin... Prices have crept up over the years and losing appeal but the chairs are not that bad.
Honestly, a chair without head support is a joke and that makes this tier list a joke as well. I had an Ikea Marcus for a while and it's not for me but it's for sure better than most of these "ergonomic" chair that forces you to stay in the same position the whole time.
@@btodtv Thank you for pointing out something obvious in a passive agressive way. You just have to look your own video for 20 seconds to find the tier list, though. And by the way, it would be great if you guys stop exploiting the youtube algorithm so hard because l literally have to skip the first 20 videos to find another channels with chair reviews, much appreciated.
I’ve had Markus and went up to Embody. Markus is awful, better save money to get something a tad better. That chair made my back pain really bad. When I finally decided to skip something mid-tier and got straight to Embody I was shocked that ONE day was sufficient to take all the pain away. I consider the Embody one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
@@dimebagou7219 i understand You trying to be sarcastic, but uh-oh, You missed dude. I am simply stating that Markus itself is awful chair and everyone would do better just saving for even a bit more expensive chair, not necessarily Embody. Chairs in range like 200-500€ are already miles ahead of that Ikea thing.. I also wrote my personal experiences and the reason why I did made that huge leap.
@@r_ex_7 then people should try to save up a bit more to buy refurbished/renewed Aerons or other. BTOD has some great chairs at a fair price so everyone could be happy. IKEA chairs are by no means good for their price tbh. Better to spend money on something that will bot make Your back hurt badly in few years. You’d have to spend so much more to repair the damage to Your spine than to prevent it. There are chairs that are not as expensive as Embody, but still deliver superior comfort to Markus and the rest.
I’m not trying to put anyone off a cheap chair. I talk about chairs like the Ticova, Kirin, Atlas all the time in a positive light and recommend them constantly. IKEA makes bad chairs. And then they make you choose between being gouged on shipping or going through their physical store. That’s why I say not to buy IKEA chairs. -Ryan
@@baranyfej3 yes 200+ dollars if you live any where close to an ikea… and not everyone does….. their shipping cost are insane! And no good viable warranty…. Pass on ikea chairs
I can buy a brand new jarvfjallet for 200$ taxes included. Compared to a Herman Miller, which is eight to ten times the price here in Europe i think it's a pretty good deal.
@@baranyfej3 congratulations but it’s not a 24/7 rated chair and once you go actually seat in a legit office chair…. You’ll understand. Just say you can’t afford it… simple as that… also the Aeron and the embody office chairs aren’t even that expensive….. compared to other high end chairs/furnitures…. You have a narrow mind if you think Herman miller office chairs are too pricey….
@@KuyaArbee Of course i can't afford it. But not everyone can afford a Porsche. Is it better, than a 20yo nissan? Sure! Can the Nissan serve these people well? Of course it can. Not everyone have the wallet for a 1500$ office chair. In my country its two months of salary. If you don't see this, then i think u are narrow minded my friend.
300 FUCKING DOLLARS FOR DELIVERY LMAO WHAT THE FUCK! I have never seen shit so high in my entire goddamn life, the USA must suck ass if Ikea costs that much to ship stuff to you lol
I think it would be the Swedish company ripping people off that would suck? This isn’t normal in the US, which is why so am telling people not to buy from IKEA unless you can go there. -Ryan
a bit disingenuous to name a video "you shouldn't buy an ikea chair" to then spend 60% of said video explaining how inconvenient it was for you in particular to buy it and also would be to return it if needed, just because of your location.. expressing opinions/criticism is what review channels are all about of course, but this particular one felt more like venting about personal circumstances rather than chairs in question.
Why? It was a terrible experience and is the reason I wouldn’t recommend buying an IKEA chair. The shopping experience is terrible to get a chair that isn’t impressive at all. The only chair worth considering f is the Markus and it’s a bad chair. I think we had it in D tier when we ranked it. It’s ok for the price but even then, I would rather have the Ticova, Mellet or even the Branch task chair. -Ryan
If you live close to an IKEA, that doesn’t change the fact that you need to have a large vehicle to load the chair, you need to spend time navigating a confusing store and then potentially have to drive that box back to IKEA when you realize you don’t like the chair. Compare that to shipping on Amazon where you can get the chair delivered to your doorstep and get the same quality of chair or better. That’s the point. -Ryan
@@btodtv I mean, IKEA also has shipping on the same city/country. It costs me 15 bucks to have it delivered to my home. In fact, I pretty much have the opposite problem, every single Amazon chair you guys recommend have a shipping of at least $200 lol, kinda sucks.
Btodv lives in an ivory tower where they sincerely believe its easier to get a steelcase or haworth than an ikea chair. Ignoring that they have limited skus have wait times for months and custom chairs cant be returned. Lmfao.
In Australia, Amazon is one of the worst options when it comes to purchasing office furniture. $5,821.96 for a Steelcase Gesture?? What is going on there?@@btodtv
Dude, not everyone is living in USA. IKEA is from Sweden and I live in Europe, Ikea Markus is 150$. There is nothing close value wise on the market. USA is not the center of the world.
He is american, with a mostly american audience what do you want him to say
@@Woozie894 i dont know...maybe "DONT BUY IKEA USA PRODUCTS"??!
@@Woozie894then he should say "Dont buy Ikea stuff in America"
@@Woozie894 If he is American he should rip out the seat of disel truck and weld it to the desk. Not go to Ikea.
Here in Italy we have several Ikea stores and the Ikea Markus is priced 169€ and there is absolutely no chair in that price range that comes close in comfort and quality. It’s quality price ratio is better than all gaming chairs (even premium ones) and all the sub-300€ flimsy office chairs.
Yes I picked one up for roughly that price in the Netherlands about 10-ish years ago. Its showing some minor wear and tear, but still going strong without failing.
Now I'm just looking for an upgrade. The Jarvfjallet only seems like a minor upgrade and with hard plastic armrest It's not an option for me. I've been watching this channel for a few days, but most of the chairs discussed either aren't available anymore or weren't ever available in the EU for a reasonable price. The shipping gets a bit ridiculous as well when ordering from the US through Amazon from here. I mean, a 150$+ on shipping? I might as well spend a little more to get something better from inside the EU. I don't really want to spend more than 500, I'd prefer under 300 even, but if its required to get something that will last as long as the Markus and has all that adjustability then I'm willing to go over a few hundred. I'd prefer all mesh (I think, it depends on quality) or a pleather seat with mesh back, all options, ease of use, sustainability and extended warranty. I'm average size and weight. I tend to sit most of my days atm, but I do work-out and hike regularly. I've narrowed my selection down a little bit.
Zedar B600. At 169euro this chair seems pretty decent for its price with plenty of functions, although there's no extended warranty. The seat is fabric and it looks kinda cheap and generic in comparison to other chairs. I'm not going for looks, I want reasonable quality, function and comfort, but this just looks cheaply built from the pictures.
Ikea Styrspel. At 239 seems very decently priced by looking at the pictures, especially if the build quality would be close to a Markus... Its got plenty of functions, but no headrest-tilt and a wheel pressure braking mechanism which I think is one of the worst design features that desk chairs have ever seen. If anything, I'd want it to be the other way around where it locks when you sit and releases when you stand up. Also, I'm unsure about the back-rest shape as I feel like my shoulders would hit the edges. This one only has a 3 year warranty, which shows their faith in their own product considering the Markus has 10.
BenS 816DH or similar. At ~480 euro this is all mesh, looks to be built better and has most of the options I'd want. The armrests look a bit thin on the pictures though. They have some cheaper chairs, but with less options and fabric or pleather upholstery. They offer a 5 year warranty.
Secret Lab Neue chair. With the headrest comes to about 720 euro. Seems even sturdier and the thing that peaked my interest about this is the reclining button on the armrest. I honestly don't want to spend that amount just for that feature though. I think their warranty was about 7 years. Also, its Secret Lab... I feel like this chair should be 550-600, max.
A refurbished Herman Miller Aeron. Which, with a headrest comes to about the same price as the Neue chair. The thing that holds me back, besides the price, is that its a second hand chair. When spending this much I'd prefer to buy something like this new, but I'm not willing to spend 1000+ euros on a chair...
How fkn hard can it be to make a reasonably priced chair that fits almost all, has all the options, form and function with decent quality and warranty? Perhaps I'm unrealistic, but even the more expensive chairs seem that they can be lacking. Now, I am someone who likes to explore their options, but I'm having a rough time finding the right chair. Not to even mention going through reviews, which just aren't always reliable. Even besides people's 2 cents there's a bunch of fake and irrelevant comments out there. Tbh, typing this out helped myself a little bit. Leaning towards the BenS 816DH now, but if I can find something similar for 100-200 less that'd be perfect.
Any tip or helpful comment is appreciated, cheers!
@@vergaerd bro made an entire paragraph abt office chairs
@@Proxuius ya what does that tell you?
@@vergaerd kinda pathetic
Also they have a 10 year warranty which means Ikea expects them to last.
Good grief I am staggered that you spent half the video complaining about the difficulty reaching and navigating an IKEA when almost every "proper" chair BTODtv recommends is something that most people can't hope to test in person before buying. Likewise your credibility really drops when in other videos you are praising the features of these chairs and in this you're calling them D tier.
Spend half of the video talking about it's not available in your area :D Marcus might not be the best quality out there, but you can't really beat the value. It lasted me easily 10 years still in good shape, comparing to my secret lab chair, the skin is peeling off already after 3 years.
IKEA's shipping is quite ridiculous though. Very slow, and very expensive. It makes it quite impractical to buy their products unless you happen to live locally.
I mean if the shipping really is 300 bucks one might as well just drive the 2h.
Over here I don't think shipping a chair would run you more than 50€, and it's probably through dhl or hermes which might take a week.@@andybrice2711
The Markus gave me extreme leg pain, and my legs/feet started falling asleep within 2 years of owning it. One of the most painful seat pans I’ve ever experienced. All of that immediately went away after buying a mesh chair.
@@andybrice2711it takes one week, it's not that slow
@@andybrice2711 well.. for me the shipping fee is like 4$ and delivers in 1-2 days sooo i guess thats not a good criteria since it depends on where you live..
I went from a Markus to a Steelcase Gesture and I really don't think they're as bad as you make them out to be. It lasted me 10 years and is still used by my wife when she wants to sit in my office. The arms are really the only poorly designed component IMO, but the seat bottom is about on par with the Gesture. Of course, the Gesture blows the Markus away in terms of adjustments and overall stability, but it's still an amazing value for less than $300 (luckily, I live 10 min away from an IKEA, and I'll just say that the box fit fine in my Focus hatch I had at the time), and I wouldn't recommend anything else in that price range.
this.
the Markus is insane value for the price, and with the leather seat covering and leather arm rests, it's durable as hell.
Only the headrest was faux leather on mine, that peeled after about 7 years.
I have since paid multiple times what I paid for my Markus for other chairs and gotten only plasticy, rattle-y shitboxes.
got to make a video, amiright? Couldn't get money for taking it down if it was positive.
I got one of the cheapest ikea office chairs with a long back and aside from standard cosmetic wear it’s still perfect 7 years later. Can’t go wrong with them.
I've had a Markus for around 6/7 years, and I'm thinking about doing the exact same switch. Can get a fully refurbished Steelcase Gesture in the UK for around £600, more than half of the price of a brand new one. What do you think of the Gesture? Worth the upgrade?
Yeah I paid 180€ for a Markus out of leather, and It's been holding up good in the past 3 years. The back is squeaking abit, but it's a quick lube fix from what I saw earlier. I replaced the wheels to not damage my floor, but you don't have to if you have tiles. And that's about it with the problems.
I have an Ikea less than an hour from me, not long ago, i went there to try the Markus and the Jarvfjallet.
For reference, i'm 1.78m (5.10ft), and weight 110Kg (242lbs), so above average in height, and in need to loose weight (which i'm seriously working on)
The Markus is comfortable, even all the way down. The fixed arm rests didn't bother me much as the seat has enough width to sit comfortably. The lumbar support didn't bother me either (not perfect but not terrible), and the headrest was in the perfect position and angle.
The tilt motion feels good, but it has a very big problem. It does not have anywhere near enough resistance to stop from tilting much too easily, even when tightened all the way up.
I don't like locking the mechanism as i like to sway, so this is not a good situation to be in.
If you are lighter than me, say, somewhere in the 80 to 90kg >>at most
idk if they updated it but jarv uses actual cow leather, not fake leather like you said.
@@avramovixc
I tried it again a few weeks ago. still not leather.
Its not full grain, top grain, and not even suede. Leather does not look, feel, or behave like this, even if it had a pigment, or worse, a coating.
It could be reconstituted leather (aka. bonded leather), which is essentially leather scraps held together with glue, often with a backing. This would be the lowest quality possible material, but also a loophole brands use to claim a material is leather.
lol 290 dollars for a Markus. In the EU, it costs ~200 euros, plus 15 (fifteen) euro for the delivery.
I think your test is a bit harsh on the Marcus chair. I've had it for several years, and in terms of quality, I haven't experienced much more deterioration considering I use it easily for 9 hours a day.
It has its merits, although it lacks ergonomics. But when it comes to comfort, after trying several brands like Steelcase or Herman Miller, I don't find it really that bad when you compare the price. It still remains a better choice than most chairs available on the market. The fact that everyone buys it also makes it much easier to find and attractive in terms of price in the second-hand market.
That review sounds like personal rant, not very professional, definitively not worth subscription or even like.
Ikea chairs are not great, sure, but if you compare in same price range, they are actually quite good.
Did you compare them with other in this price range? Didn't look into your channel as this video scared me away from it.
Not everyone can afford Herman-Miller and such ( if available at all). And "save up for one"? You need to sit on something until then.
Having Ikea far away sucks, sure, but you usually don't drive for weekly shopping there. Sure if something wrong you need to drive there again, but that's not the norm and if some screws are missing they can send them for free.
You don't need big car to transport Ikea chair, if you can't transport 100 x 60 x 25 cm box in your car, I think you should rethink your lifestyle.
It’s not a coincidence that almost all of the negative feedback is coming from people that don’t live in the US. Your experience is not the same as ours.
And yes, I have tried a ton of other chairs in the same price range and see no reason to buy a chair from IKEA. There are better options for less money that arrive at your door. -Ryan
@@btodtv It's kind of weird, USA land of bigger cars, land that concepted for using cars. But I heard here: "don't fit in a car, I have to drive 3 hours" ...
Anyway it was critique because video was unprofessional due to personal rant that had absolutely nothing to do with quality of the chair.
You criticized chairs primarily by your inconvenience to get them.
I expected to see some tests when I clicked the video.
And of cause "our" experience is different from US, same is other way around, yours is not the same as ours. And since you haven't said that your video for USA only.. you will get international comments.
Btw. not everywhere in Europe people live 10 minutes away from an Ikea.
For years, I had to drive for several hours before one store was opened one hour drive away, around two years ago.
The video is supposed to be about IKEA, not an individual chair, so it is not going to feel like a review. We have videos reviewing all of those chairs, they are featured in comparisons and numerous tier lists. That's why the focus is on the experience of buying a chair at IKEA in this video and not simply a Markus chair review. I don't think it makes it unprofessional to focus on the buying experience. -Ryan
Here in Europe I've got Markus 3 years ago for 90$ with delivery and it's most comfortable chair I was working on. And I'm working at least 12h a day.
The IKEA Markus is one of the worst chairs I’ve ever owned. The seat pan became extremely painful after 2 years of owning it. My legs and feet started going numb after sitting in it for very short periods of time. All of that cleared up immediately after buying a budget mesh chair. I don’t understand how the Markus got a reputation for being a good chair. It’s a complete waste of money and only lasts if you rarely sit in it.
The IKEA MARKUS was my first office chair upgrade from the horrible $30 Staples faux-leather chairs. I was really lucky to find a display model in the As-Is section for $70. I used it for a good 10 years before upgrading to a Herman Miller Aeron, and I gotta say I really enjoyed the chair. I even disassembled it before moving and put it back together without any issues. I'd recommend it over any racing or Staples chair in the same price range.
The only wear/tear on it is that the leather headrest is peeling a little bit from all the oils and the seat isn't as firm as it used to be, but it's still going very strong and I keep it around for guests to use.
As a 6'2" person, my only complaint was the lumbar support being stuck in one position, so it felt like it was wayyy too low. I also had taken off the armrests at one point, and it was very usable that way. Great chair for curling up in and sitting like a little gremlin if you want, but it was also good for sitting properly.
Not sure if it's available in the US but the STYRSPEL is a new all mesh chair from Ikea. The construction is sturdy, metal, and the arm support is really comfortable.
Styrspel is basically worse-gaming version of jarvfjallet .
I bought Styrspel around 2 months ago and I'm thinking about returning it. I sat on Markus the last time I went to Ikea and it immediately felt more comfortable. Styrspel is twice the price but does not feel twice the quality. I wanted an all-mesh design for summer months and it's one of a very few sub-Aeron price tier options available here, but I'm having second thoughts whether it was worth it.
Yeah I saw a video earlier, it's got a plastic lumbar support and costs 250€ or something where as the Jarv.. costs about 200? I mean sure it looks clean and all, but I don't think either are better than the Markus if you ignore the ass-cushion adjustment, slightly better headrest and better arm rest.@@Jehowy666
I've got the leather markus, my ass does get moist in the hot summers, but the back is fine. Plus it being leather, you can clean the surface super easy, I don't know how easy it is to clean ass-sweat off the cloth chair.@@pdcichosz
owning this chair for 15 months now. No saggyness or anything of the mesh. I'm 183cm tall and weigh about 90 kg. Although its my first gaming/office chair, but i have no regrets so far. I would recommend try-before you-buy with this chair though, since the seat does seem to have a specific ergonomic shape that wont accommodate all types of back-curves
I definitely can't recommend the chair for Americans after seeing this. Here in the Netherlands, the chair is $215 and shipping $16 making it a very appealing chair on a lower budget. Have had mine for 8 years now, bought it locally for $182 back then. Seat cushioning has been gone for 3 years and the locking mechanism broke down last year. I can't find my receipt anywhere, otherwise I could've gotten the latter fixed with the 10 year warranty. I would not recommend it for someone who uses a chair 3+ hours a day if you have the budget to invest in a better chair.
Even without the receipt, they still might cover ur warranty fyi
I got that chair in Ikea store (Canary Island Spain) for a 130€ no one you will find at that price.
Odd video, a rant about how if you live far away from ikea it's inconvenient to get things from ikea. But somehow specifically about ikea chairs. Okay lol
I think the title has to say: Why Everyone buys Ikea Office Chair..
but you shouldnt .... at USA.
there are other countries where are not blessed aa USA, and almost all retailers always ship garbage chair from china,
there are other furniture center that work with steelcase or humanscale but they only work with companies to design and make their offices spaces.
I as person I want buy a great office chair as all brand you review on your channel, here in Dominican Republic , I dont have any options
I have a Jarvfallet , and for a person that make a upgrade from a Chinese gaming chair is great!!
for me I wish would buy a steelcase leap o a humanscale diffrient, or a herman miller aeron or embody, but thats are not option for us
To be fair - "proper" office chairs sold by office stores, under 400€, are just as cheap and flimsy, with the exception of having 4D armrests. Maybe they last longer too, but the overall quality impression is just as poor, they shiver and shake like leaves on a tree, and make one really wonder how making a chair on wheels can be so fucking difficult.
Not to defend IKEA, I vividly remember buying a sofa and having to replace it 2 times, and eventually returning it.
i've the markus since 4 years. i work from home and overall i'm a pretty sedentarian person, i sit vast majority of my day due to my job. yes the material are not top notch, but i've to say that the chair holds up very good, it's very comfortable (better than my office chain in the office of a big corporation...) and had no issue so far.
If your office chair Markus rocks from side to side even though you may have tightened the bolts check the fitment plate underneath its more than likely the metal has cracked on either side. This the second chair we have bought with the same problem . The first chair (cannot remember the name, where the legs are bolted with two bolts for each branch to the centre piece also has metal fatigue. I will not buy another chair from IKEA. What's the betting the metal if from China ?
Did you try the alefjall or the vallfjallet?
but ergonomichly speeking, was it confortable?
No, we have many videos on these chairs. -Ryan
I was considering a Markus or Jarvfjallet for my WFH setup. But then Herman Miller had a 20% off sale which included the gaming Embody, so I bought that instead. I'm no longer considering any other chairs. One great think about IKEA is I have one near me and it's very easy for me to go there and try their products. So I sat in their chairs a few times and they seemed fine. Then I thought I'd try Herman Miller and I searched and found one close to my home. I tried the Embody and knew knew I liked it, just wished the armrests had more adjustments.. I tried to find a place to go try some Steelcase chairs but I didn't see any places nearby. The only place I got to try a Steelcase chair was at the hospital when I went in for surgery recently. They had Steelcase Gestures at all the nurse's stations. When it was time for me to walk, I asked the nurse if I could try one of those chairs because I was thinking of buying one. She said all the nurses loved the chairs and if the hospital ever decided to get rid of them she would sneak one into her car. I said, yeah you better, that''s a valuable high end chair. The chair is nice and comfy, and armrests are legendary. Not long after that, I tried the Embody again since it was 20% off, and decided the armrests were fine. Sitting in it as I type this with no regrets.
Ive use Markus for 7 years now and I love it! its worth every penny for sure and its still very good.
Most of the practical issues here are USA-specific, I think it would be a good idea to state this in the video..
But I also have problem finding a good budget chair here in Europe. Ikea usually still offers better quality and selection than other similar stores here. Few years ago I bought the Jarvfjallet out of necessity (the cloth seat version) and sadly it turned out to be quite uncomfortable to me in the long term. The seat is super stiff and simply too short for my legs to have decent support. The seat depth adjusting feature is useless to me because the widest setting is still narrower than normal. After a few minutes it's like I'm sitting on a bench in a waiting room :D I'm fairly tall (188cm) but Ikea is from Northern EU where this would be quite average. Yet, almost all their office chairs feel like they're made for much shorter people than me.
Ikea is a global corporation, why would they design for their seed market today, selling the same products all over the world? And even if they did, you being 188 are still far from their domestic average. The average *male* in Sweden is 180. And that's only half of the story, the average woman is much shorter there. below 170.
@@pdcichosz the main feature of this chair is adjustable seat depth, and it's smaller even at max setting than some of their much cheaper office chairs. (I'm forced to sit in a crappy old ikea chair because it doesnt cut off circulation in my legs at least..) It's just a bad design decision and can mislead people beause it's one of the biggest chairs ikea sells. Due to the curvature of the back, it looks deeper than it really is. This was my warning..
Average men's height in many eu countries is around 180cm, which means that there are millions of people around my height..
@@HUNrobar good tip about the seat depth, I'm wondering of it's the same thing that makes me constantly change positions in my Styrspel. I checked the avg height charts and indeed 19 out of 44 EU countries have a male average at or above 180... Which seems massively off irl, I live in the most populous city in my country and whenever I go out, use public transport and such, I'm one of the tallest people in the space with my 185... As I see, lots of that data comes from surveys among teenagers and young adults which would explain the difference in perception. But teenagers and young adults do not make the whole customer base. Anyway, you still seem to disregard the fact that the designers cannot disregard women as their potential customers :P And I guess you also underestimate the difference those few cms make. You're equally close to 180 as a 172 cm tall person is. It does not seem like much on a ruler, but it's a massive difference irl. I'm 185 and it never ceases to amaze me how much bigger than me my 195 friends seem. And we're not all equally proportioned. I'm 10 cm taller than my father was and all those 10 centimeters were in my legs. Sitting down on a bench we were the same height. You're just tall man, embrace it ;) and look for a chair suitable for you. Maybe from some Dutch or Belgian brand?
@@pdcichosz Look, my point was that ikea is massive in my area, you can barely find any decent alternatives in the price segment. This chair is supposed to be their big adjustable office chair that should fit tall people according to specs. The whole point of adjustability would be to allow good seat for tall people, without ruining it for shorter people.. otherwise it's basically a gimmick. Almost all their chairs are fixed seat and made for average size person. This is no different apparently, as the extra feature is pointless basically. The shape of the seat and back is very rounded, which creates a lot of unusable space, so the numbers are misleading. About 38-40cm is the real max depth...
In practice, my simple ikea kitchen chair has more seat depth because of the more rectangular shape.. and all kinds of people can sit in it magically ;)
I don't understand how theoretical business plans or personal observations relate to this. This is a channel where they critique office chairs and I'm just adding my personal opinion, because I think it could be useful for people :)
@@HUNrobar Up until now I understood your trouble with it as 'it's made for the average size person and it should be made for an average _taller_ person as it's a northern European company' which you suggested in your original post, hence the confusion. All clear now. Thanks for highlighting it!
I was at Ikea and hyped cause I needed a new office chair. I tested many of them but man what a disappointment. So bad.
At work I use a Kinnarps 8000 which is just unbearable.
Anyone knows that Kinnarps are the best office chairs. Thinking of getting a used Kinnarps 5000.
"Don't buy these chairs... buy my chairs instead."
LOL, even LMAO!
Something tells me that this video made you have a different emotion than laughing out loud. This one tends to really fire up IKEA supporters. Not sure why. The reason people shop at IKEA is because you can get things for super cheap, but everyone knows it's not good quality. The people with IKEA chairs have a tough time understanding that their chairs are just as low end as the rest of their products. -Ryan
What about the styrspel?
Why is no-one reviewing the styrspel?
Because it's just a worse version of jarvfjallet.
@@Jehowy666 ah
there's a very good review of Styrspel drom one Finnish guy here on youtubes, just search for it. Got the chair, I have it for 2 months now and I basically agree with everything he says.
no regrets buying it after 15 months. all mesh, good for long sessions in the summer. No signs of sag yet, although i do treat my chair pretty gently. Try before you buy though. I do find the back support somewhat specifically shaped and i could see many people not liking the somewhat wobbly head rest.
@@ericspoor8175I bought it a little after posting this comment. Be careful with the headrest, it's metal screws in plastic. Mine tore itself to bits in a month or two. Thankfully it's still secured on, but can't be adjusted. Or, is immediately reset by gravity. I am a large fella, and my shoulders are broad enough that it's sometimes uncomfortable on the metal frame, which is a good reason to upgrade but not so common or painful that I think it's not worth the money. The cheap ass plastic mount for the headrest falls in that category but it's fine. Good arms, good seat, the back works for me shoulders notwithstanding. Low footprint, but stable... but i have to agree with the first commenter. Just get the other thing, the reclining is the same, the back is similar, it has a good seat, and the headrest won't chew itself into brokenness.
if you have to pay 300$ for it, then probably don't buy it. IKEA has some pretty bad chairs, judging from the few minutes i've tried them, especially in the new gaming line (as with most gaming stuff). But I've paid the markus 130€ (new) and it's a bargain. I've had it for around 5 years and it's still as the day I've assembled it. No noises, no unwanted movements (not even the armrests which I'm not very gentle with). That is pretty damn impressive. For that price I'd recommend it to anyone. If I could swap the armrest with something more comfortable and adjustable then it would be the absolute best bang for the buck ever. Other minor things is that I'd like a more adjustable lumbar support.
Really a shame that ikea hasn't been able to improve on it so far.
I live in Romania and here most "ergonomic ' chairs suck ahh
I have Steelcase, Haworth and Herman Miller, my brother has an IKEA Markus and it's fine, held up fine and is decently comfortable. Once you have real chairs from the real brands you probably would not buy an IKEA chair but the Markus is fine for the average person. The only thing I have found is you occasionally have to retighten the bolts holding on the arms.
Definitely. It’s not bad for a $200 chair. If you can get it without shipping and only need something for a couple hours a day, then it can be solid. -Ryan
@@btodtv Every time he sits in my Leap he asks if he can have it. lol. When I get an Embody I will give it to him.
@@venom5809 in your leap?
@@Proxuius Steelcase Leap
@@gregorymoore2877 i see what you mean now
0:28 no that is on sale :( meaning it is $370 before tax
i got two matchspel for 300 total and they are sold for 250 each in the u.s...
Why is it nowadays so hard to just jet a normal good chair? why must every one of them squeek or deform or just feel uncomfy after a short while
I think the shipping costs is just an american issue.
I can get a chair delivered to a pickup spot near me for
I'm looking for a second-hand chair and the number of IKEA chairs being offered is insane. Just tells you how many unhappy customers are trying to fix their mistake.
The Långfjäll is nice, but it's not really an office chair. The thing which has always bugged me about IKEA mesh chairs is that the back is more like a baggy fabric netting rather than a proper tensile mesh.
Where are Ikea chairs made?
Sweden or china.
@@HorizonsofSelf Are chairs like cookware - i.e. quality if made in the U.S.A. or Europe, sub-quality if made in China? I think btod should mention country of manufacturing for every chair they review. It's important for many consumers these days trying to buy American made.
China
It´s not called Jarvfillét like it´s some kind of fish fillé. That just sounds ridiculous. It´s Järvfjället. It´s Swedish and it means something like "The Wolverine Mountain".
I have IKEA Markus chair and after i seeing your reviews that you recommend S-Tier Herman Miller Embody Gaming chair i bought it. I have to say i absolutely hate it. For me IKEA Markus (150€) is better than HM Embody gaming (1800€). Embody is squeaking and creaking mess from the day 1. Seat extender is squeking the back is squeking and the armrest is making clicking sound (i have to spray it with silicone wd40 the new one...). The seat is very uncomfortable pixels are pressing in the butt cousing pain and the top of the backrest pushes too much into the shoulders...
I don't think you understand the point of a
Who said anything about an Aeron? They don’t compete well against other $300 chairs and you have to go through the chore of buying from IKEA. -Ryan
At 0:23 you show the tier list, where the cheapest Herman Miller would be the Aeron. And at 2:54 you guys said "the Markus is like an Aeron (...)" doing a direct comparison.
Buying from Ikea is not a chore for me, either a 30min drive or
"The Markus is like an Aeron compared to most IKEA chairs" is what I said. It wasn't an attempt to compare it to the Aeron. It was a comparison to show how awful the IKEA line up of chairs is that such a bad chair as the Markus would feel like an Aeron compared to the rest of the IKEA chairs. -Ryan
So do you tell people not to go hiking because the mountain is too far from you?
If the hiking trails aren't worth it...yes -Greg
The problem with high-end chairs is that there is no after-sales service. If you spill coffee on your $1000 chair, then you can't replace the seat. You have to take it to a certified dealer to get it repaired for the same cost as the chair. Replacing any part of these high-end chairs is impossible. Please be aware of this when investing in high-end chairs. Whereas for Ikea chairs, we can purchase a particular part that needs to be replaced.
One of the biggest selling points in high end chairs is their after sale service. -Ryan
This review just feels a little bit unfair. It almost makes you think that you bash on it because you can't sell these and don't have affiliate links for these. Shipping is like 10/20 dollar/euro in most cases. Though I personally currently use an expensive office chair, Ikea is a great option for those that just want a plain decent chair and no bullsh*t. They come with a 10 year warranty and last for a decent time.
We are not in the EU. We are in the US. Shipping here makes the chairs not worth buying unless you can go to the store. The fact that IKEA will ship one chair in the EU for as low as $10 but will charge $300 to ship the same chair in the US shows the willingness of IKEA to price gouge their US customers, which is reason enough to not buy from them if you are in the US. IKEA has an affiliate program. We just choose to recommend chairs that we like after testing them and IKEA chairs don't fit that criteria. -Ryan
@@btodtv Looking at their US website they offer 'Scheduled Doorstep Delivery' at 39 dollar. How is it even possible that they charged you $300? Nevertheless, perhaps a delivery agnostic review would have been better regardless. By far most people aren't going to have this specific issue you had (even in the US) and the chairs are pretty decent for the price.
Because the 'Scheduled Doorstep Delivery' is on top of their regular shipping charge. This was a delivery agnostic review. I had to go to the store to get it. Was a terrible experience. Agree, the chairs are Ok for the price but I think there are better options. -Ryan
lmao, 300bucks for shipping. I think its 10 or 50 bucks for shipping over here.
But Ikea is also 40mins away
I see so many videos about what chairs NOT to buy i been spending 3 days now trying to find a half decent chair that's not 400 or 600 dollars
2:27 that chair doesn't even look straight 😂
I don't have to drive there, shipping is 55€ which is still 20 times the price shipping could be, but still, I don't have to go there
The weight this channel puts on the purchase process and return policy is insane. 99% of us will never use the return policy, yet you weigh it damn near as close as “is this comfortable to work on?” It’s bizarre.
We rarely put emphasis on the purchasing process. To be honest, I think IKEA chairs are the only ones that we have focused on because it’s the only place that is a complete headache to shop for a chair from. Everywhere else will deliver it to your door for a small fee and in most cases, free. If you need to go to the store, like Office Max, Staples, Walmart, you can find the chairs right away and be in and out. Not at IKEA. -Ryan
@@btodtv sorry, but I have to disagree. I just watched your top 30 chair review video as I’m in the market and on each one you focus on the purchase and the warranty (heavily on the warranty). I’m just afraid that aspect weighs too much in the decision when I’ve never had a chair break on me, and I really just need to know which one will be the most comfortable. Thanks for the reply though.
I feel like you are grouping anything that isn't dealing with comfort into the buying process. If that's the case, then yes, we focus on every aspect of the chair, not just the comfort. But, again, we rarely talk about our experience shopping at a store or using a website. That is unique to IKEA. We do talk about return policies and warranty because those 2 things rank very highly for a lot of people when considering a chair. We have a lot of tier lists geared specifically toward comfort. I would check those out. -Ryan
Chairs are incredibly expensive. Not everyone can afford a 600+ dollar chair.
Thats the problem with buying chairs... I live in europe, here all the amazon chairs that you guys review have a 400 dollar shipping fee attached to them. I was unable to find any of those recommended chairs in my budget(expect one for double the price). So whats left? Ikea, or some random noname brand. So i brought an Ikea chair, and honestly, its one of the worst chairs i ever owned. The build quality is 50/50, its metal, sturdy, but the foam is flattened after a year(im underweight btw) and i basically sit on wood, expect the sides of the foam is not flattened, so its blocking the circulation in my legs... The chair is too deep and offers little to no back support. Its so trash there is no words for it, idk why they even manufacture this kind of garbage. Ikea chair could be the holy grail for people like me, i live in smaller city in eastern europe, ikea shipping was like 20 bucks so its not even that bad as it was for you guys, but damn their chairs are just so low quality.
Its honestly absurd to me that nobody offers good quality chairs world wide for 300 dollar.... Like, thats half a month worth of salary here, i just dont believe it that its so hard to make a decent chair for that price.
Could you tell which model you bought?
@@narukami597 Ikea Flintan, cheap but super trash. Maybe their new expensive mesh gaming chairs are better, but idk. Finally i found that alza sells Steelcase Leap copy named AlzaErgo Chair Abyss, if u live central/eastern europe, its a good option for 350 euro. It was reviewed here as Clatina Mellet.
You focus on the supposed inconvenience of acquiring a chair from Ikea instead of elaborating on why they are not good as products and listing the pros/cons versus comparable offerings... As if shopping for office chairs from other manufacturers was easier O_o In theory, you can order 'some chair' sight unseen (or rather: butt unsat on it) from a website like yours. In practice, nobody is an 'average' person and you should at least check a chair out in person before buying it. Or risk getting something completely inappropriate *for you* and having to pay for a costly return. Complaining about having to physically visit a store that's in close priximity to any major city is... questionable? And I understand that (probably) most of your viewer base is in the US, but 1) not all of us are and where I live, the delivery of a chair currently costs 1.20 USD (yes, you read that right) 2) complaining that you need to have 'a big car' in a country where Ford F-150 pickup truck is the best selling vehicle is just funny :D
Sorry folks, I love your videos and in-depth reviews but this one felt like a waste of time.
It’s not a “supposed inconvenience”. It’s a huge inconvenience compared to buying any other low end chair available on the internet. Shopping from other manufacturers is easier. Most of them understand that going into a store like IKEA is not a great experience for a lot of people so they offer free returns so that you can try the chair for free and send it back if you don’t like. I am from the US so I do not get cheap shipping because IKEA likes to gouge American customers in shipping prices. This video is about my experience buying IKEA chairs and I live in the US so I didn’t comment on the experience in Europe because I don’t know what it’s like. I didn’t want to make any off base comments like yours about being near a big city and everyone e over here owning an F150. -Ryan
@@btodtv with all due respect, do you _really_ think that Ikea (i.e. the decision makers that likely get performance-based bonuses) '_like_ to gouge' its customers on shipping prices? And that they don't realize the $300 shipping on a $300 chair makes it unsellable online?
They don't 'like' exhibiting any sort of ill-intentioned behaviour, they simply lure you into their shops with prohibitive shipping prices. Because they are not an office furniture company. They 'are all things home' company. And they know that once you're in, you're going to leave with a few extra items at the very least. There's nothing psychopathic about that as you seem to suggest, it's a simple cost/benefit analysis. Where I live, (cheap) delivery from Ikea is a relatively new thing too, it was introduced only a few years ago. But where I (and lots of Europeans) live, we have efficient public transit systems and cities built in a way that make living without a car possible, and living with it a nuisance, so they had to finally adapt to local circumstances.
So I'm not sure what's off-base about mentioning that _your_ local circumstances involve heaps of people daily-driving trucks with a big flat bed that's more than suitable for transporting big flat packages their furniture comes in. Or SUVs with spacious trunks. Or that US is car-centric and virtually everyone relies on a car. Not to mention that I know how big a cardboard package for one of their biggest chairs is and it makes the whole argument about having to deal with the 'discomfort' of... lifting it from a stack to a trolley, trolley to trunk and from your driveway to your home office simply ridiculous.
It's you who mentions in the title that _everyone_ buys Ikea chairs. I doubt that _everyone_ spends double the item's worth to simply get it delivered without a blink of an eye. You're being criticized because you've made your specific circumstances a central point of your argument that buying _some products_ is a *generally* bad decision. Using your logic, I could start telling people they shouldn't go for Aeron or a Leap because it costs *me* a ton to get them here. Duh. It's not a product's fault. It doesn't make it less worthy for people within its reach. See the point? You are the one who went with this clickbait title knowing full well it's clickbait, own it ;P
I fail to see how luring customers into a store to buy things they didn’t intend to buy, by gouging people on shipping is viewed as a positive. Just seems like another non customer friendly tactic.
You are off base with your comments about everyone here having a truck. We don’t. You are also off base by making it seem easy to just get into our car and drive to a major city. For me, it’s 2-3 hours to an IKEA. The US is massive compared to EU countries. I may spend half the cost of the chair on gas alone to get to an IKEA to see if I want to buy a low end chair. Committing 6 hours of driving and a full tank of gas is a lot when you can get a better chair on Amazon for less money and it ends up at your door. -Ryan
@@btodtv my main point and the assumption I'm making is a difference between a product and the buying experience. You lump those two together - because this is (the only?) way you can make your argument. Because in isolation, as *products* they are not nearly as bad as you paint them. All of this is in the context of you guys running the online office chair shop that doesn't supply these products. However you try to frame it, the main point of this video is to discourage your viewers from buying stock from a company you don't work with and probably can't offer anyway. And your main argument is not objective qualities of these products but the distribution channel. It has to raise some eyebrows.
You fail to see or *choose* to not see that you don't need to tell people that driving 3 hours one way just to get an office chair is not a good idea. Nobody in their right mind does that. Your whole argument is focused entirely on *your* experience. As if it could be extrapolated to everyone else. Even assuming that the video is meant to be watched mostly by your American audience, that's 200M+ people. You twist my words, making a strawman argument while all I said was that ' Ford F-150 pickup truck is the best selling vehicle in the US'. Which is *a fact. This does not* mean 'everyone's owning an F150'. What it *does* mean is that trucks are incredibly popular. Which in turn makes pointing out that you need a 'big car' in a country that's absolutely full of them like no other in the world - another fallacy. Even before pointing out that it's just not true because the boxes these chairs come in fit into any compact car no problem. I was wrong about the costly return. But even if you don't need to pay for the return, the hassle of getting the right fit, assembling, disassembling and returning N chairs before you get there is real. That's why I claim it's not that much easier to get a right chair from anyone else. You can try, but it's guesswork and the best way to shop for chairs is still the old, analogue way of touching them all with your bum. Which is, of course, not the model you operate in, so we're back to square one.
I sat in a Markus for 8 years, it's not bad for its price.
Markus is built like a tank, I'm sure it can last for 10+ years.
I would disagree with that. It’s a chair made entirely of low end components. The Aeron is built like a tank. The Leap is built like a tank. The Markus is built like a cheap chair from IKEA. -Ryan
I dont know about that....1 and a half year in and my casual use markus is starting to seriously sag when it comes to the mesh components, the bottom padding has seriously worn out, feels like sitting on a WWE steel chair.
@@Tommyvang187 use the warranty and change it, 10 year would be useful for something or no
@@lissandrososa the chair wasnt good enough for me to even wanna renew it, im just gonna get a chair that doesnt suck now.
@@Tommyvang187 thats great!!! if you have the budget , go for it!!! remember almost all brand have a 30 days return offer.
In the office, I have a Humanscale Diffrient and is a great chair, if you like , you can try
I have an Amia now and its a 24/7 chair. I work from home and am in this chair more than a typical 40 hour work week. I never know such a rating existed until 4 years ago. Huge difference in quality. I will never own a chair that isn't rated for 24/7 usage.
I have a Secretlab TITAN Evo 2022 and i absolutely hate this chair. Why it's so hard to buy a decent chair at a reasonable price?! I'm not gonna pay 1000£ for a stupid chair.
That escalator footage is 🔥
useless watch, he just complains about not living near an ikea and how he had to drive 3hrs to get his chair
Don’t cut me short. I complained about a lot more than that. You watched the video and felt the need to comment so it must not have been that useless. -Ryan
@@btodtv hey ryan so actually i commented this so other people dont waste their time like i did, yk looking out for other viewers like myself? this shouldnt have even been a video but a simple google review. everyone else shouldnt buy from ikea coz u had a bad experience? yeah alright go eat a dick ryan. ciao
@shoutoutbenji Do you get this much rage every time you see a negative review on a product you own or are you just this unhinged when it comes to IKEA? -Ryan
This video is hilarious. The chair is bad because no IKEA store is available close to your area?
No the chair bad because it’s bad. What makes it even worse is that they charge outrageous shipping charges compared to 99.9% of other ecommerce providers-Greg
Ok I don't wanna talk
Nah, this guy goes to reply to every single comment criticizing the video, whining about IKEA.
We get it, you have some personal beef with them, you don't live near one, and shipping costs are high.
Instead of basing this video on your personal dislike for IKEA, due to reasons that are specific to you, and not to everyone else, just focus on the pros and cons of their products.
There's a reason why people are disliking the video, and criticizing it in the comments, no matter how right you think you are.
And by the way, I don't have access to 90% of the products you recommend, or if I do, I'd have to pay huge delivery fees ($150-200+), so you see how it can differ a lot, based on where you live? For a lot of people who are looking up IKEA chairs, they want to see a review and maybe comparisons to some other chairs in the same budget, so they can best decide what to go for, based on the budget, and availability, because this might be the only alternative.
No personal beef with IKEA. I guess we will have to post a trigger warning for ikea reviews moving forward 🤣 -Greg
Buying chairs in person is not so great ? .... like wtf ? :)))))
First of all, I own 3 ikea chairs :). I chose ikea chairs because of availability, sturdiness, and my ergonomics.
Every brand has its target and sadly you-high performance chair fanboy-were not the target of ikea.
I’m not target of anything you mentioned in your videos because I’m living in South Korea. But I cannot say to anyone that Ticova or Eurotech are terrible because of that.
You can say ikea chairs are worse than any high tier chair(That’s possibly true). But you cannot say do not buy ikea chair(Seriously?). That’s a whole different story.
Without adjustments, it's hard to call their chairs ergonomic. I appreciate you calling us fan boys of high performance chairs. We do love a good quality chair that is actually ergonomic and will hold up well for a long time. Not going to apologize for that :) But we don't only recommend the most expensive stuff, we just aren't going to recommend F tier chairs from IKEA -Greg
You guys didn’t sit normal South Korean chair brands(like SIDIZ). They are too low and short for me(189cm). Headrest always hit my shoulder. Ikea always provide better ergonomic option in that price range to me :).
Yeah finally the tier lol. I watched your tier reviews and shocked.
Usually, reviewers-wine, audio, computer, mobile phone, car etc- separate their product with price range, but you guys didn’t. Why the hell cheap chairs have to be compared to expensive ones? That’s very unfair and unreasonable. That was first time I felt this channel is unreliable. This Ikea thing is second time :).
You guys are running a business so you guys know better than me about chair market, especially, expensive chair market. So keep reviewing nice chairs! I search which of them are available in South Korea.
But the price range, it really matters. I can say that. Perspective of utility, if cheap chairs(~200$) have 1 quality, expensive chairs(1000$~) have 2~3 times better(Usually it happens in every market). So reasonable people don’t spend their money to buy 5 times more to get 2~3 times better. So keep focusing unreasonable customers who really want to spend their money only want to feel high quality :).
You keep saying that you think there are better alternatives for this price, but you don't mention any alternatives. On the contrary... you then come up with Eurotech Vera, which costs almost $1000.
Everyone everywhere is saying don't buy a $300 gaming chair, buy a Markus. Now you say don't buy a Markus, but spend $1000 for a Eurotech Vera. So what now? Sorry, but if you say that there are also good quality chairs in this price range, then you should name them accordingly.
Vera is $469
Chair that has no good qualitys continues video saying good qualitys of the chair 😅
Overall, the video is very meaningless! You cannot compare Apples and Oranges in terms of price. If the RUclipsr then also has a store (in which no office chair is offered in this low price range), you can hardly say that this negative video (about cheap Ikea office chairs) is even remotely independent.
Bro makes a video why Ikea chairs are bad and spends half of the video crying about how there is no ikea nearby.
Half the video? That's a bit aggressive. I find it wild how mad people are getting at me sharing my shopping experience at a store. Which IKEA chair do you have? -Ryan
Well it's not really IKEA's problem that the reviewer lives in middle of nowhere Wisconsin... Prices have crept up over the years and losing appeal but the chairs are not that bad.
The chairs are bad, regardless where the reviewer lives -Greg
Terrible review. So you live too far from the shop. Who cares?
I care. -Ryan
@@btodtv Fair point! :)
dumb take bro
if ikea gave you chairs for free they would have a great review, tube is all about the freebies for good reviews...
Lol not on our channel -Greg
Honestly, a chair without head support is a joke and that makes this tier list a joke as well. I had an Ikea Marcus for a while and it's not for me but it's for sure better than most of these "ergonomic" chair that forces you to stay in the same position the whole time.
This isn't a tier list -Greg
@@btodtv Thank you for pointing out something obvious in a passive agressive way. You just have to look your own video for 20 seconds to find the tier list, though. And by the way, it would be great if you guys stop exploiting the youtube algorithm so hard because l literally have to skip the first 20 videos to find another channels with chair reviews, much appreciated.
I’ve had Markus and went up to Embody. Markus is awful, better save money to get something a tad better. That chair made my back pain really bad. When I finally decided to skip something mid-tier and got straight to Embody I was shocked that ONE day was sufficient to take all the pain away. I consider the Embody one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
No way a 1700€ chair is better than a 200€ one ?
@@dimebagou7219 i understand You trying to be sarcastic, but uh-oh, You missed dude. I am simply stating that Markus itself is awful chair and everyone would do better just saving for even a bit more expensive chair, not necessarily Embody. Chairs in range like 200-500€ are already miles ahead of that Ikea thing.. I also wrote my personal experiences and the reason why I did made that huge leap.
@@caldorius Yeah I tried and u answered nicely, thank you and apologize from me ^^. Do you have any recommandations for a 300-400 budget ?
@@caldorius but some people just dont have enough money to go up to that
@@r_ex_7 then people should try to save up a bit more to buy refurbished/renewed Aerons or other. BTOD has some great chairs at a fair price so everyone could be happy. IKEA chairs are by no means good for their price tbh. Better to spend money on something that will bot make Your back hurt badly in few years. You’d have to spend so much more to repair the damage to Your spine than to prevent it. There are chairs that are not as expensive as Embody, but still deliver superior comfort to Markus and the rest.
😢
Bye
Dont forget that these guys are trying you to put you off this cheap chair because they want you to buy the chairs that are on their website!!
I’m not trying to put anyone off a cheap chair. I talk about chairs like the Ticova, Kirin, Atlas all the time in a positive light and recommend them constantly. IKEA makes bad chairs. And then they make you choose between being gouged on shipping or going through their physical store. That’s why I say not to buy IKEA chairs. -Ryan
those IKEA CHAIRS ARE A GIMMICK! in my honest opinion!! got my Herman Miller and their warranty and customer service is amazing!
Its apples and oranges. You compare 200$ chair with a 1500$ one.
@@baranyfej3 yes 200+ dollars if you live any where close to an ikea… and not everyone does….. their shipping cost are insane! And no good viable warranty…. Pass on ikea chairs
I can buy a brand new jarvfjallet for 200$ taxes included. Compared to a Herman Miller, which is eight to ten times the price here in Europe i think it's a pretty good deal.
@@baranyfej3 congratulations but it’s not a 24/7 rated chair and once you go actually seat in a legit office chair…. You’ll understand. Just say you can’t afford it… simple as that… also the Aeron and the embody office chairs aren’t even that expensive….. compared to other high end chairs/furnitures…. You have a narrow mind if you think Herman miller office chairs are too pricey….
@@KuyaArbee Of course i can't afford it. But not everyone can afford a Porsche. Is it better, than a 20yo nissan? Sure! Can the Nissan serve these people well? Of course it can. Not everyone have the wallet for a 1500$ office chair. In my country its two months of salary. If you don't see this, then i think u are narrow minded my friend.
300 FUCKING DOLLARS FOR DELIVERY LMAO WHAT THE FUCK! I have never seen shit so high in my entire goddamn life, the USA must suck ass if Ikea costs that much to ship stuff to you lol
I think it would be the Swedish company ripping people off that would suck? This isn’t normal in the US, which is why so am telling people not to buy from IKEA unless you can go there. -Ryan
@@btodtv ight cuh