Is it OK to buy IKEA furniture PRE-BK?

[Beeheery]

Hi everyone,
I have absolutely no nice furniture AT ALL. Some of you may have even seen my couch (www.beeheery.wordpress.com) in case you want to refresh your memory. Anyways....I would like to get some nice (decent) bedroom furniture from IKEA. I will probably not file for another 6-12 months but would really hate to have to wait that long plus the 3-4 months to close before I can have actual furniture. If someone were to give me $ to buy 1-1.5K worth of furnishings (bed frame/mattress/bedside table/etc), would the trustee try to take it? I know IKEA isnt that expensive and you basically put it together yourself, but would this be asking for trouble? Also, if it would be, would anyone know how I would value furniture from IKEA after 6-12 months of use? Does it depend on wear/tear or just the fact that it is used? ANy help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[queenfluff]

Are you going to use cash? I don't think IKEA furniture is really considered to be a very fruitful asset. All my stuff is IKEA but it is WAY old. If the trustee really wants that stuff, than Ew!

Why don't you check out Freecycle or Craigslist? You can get free or super cheap stuff on there. Alot of IKEA too. A lot of people can't sell anything right now so stuff is given away. Or are you dead set on buying new stuff?

Why spend money on a new IKEA couch when you can get a slightly used one for half the price or hardly nothing?

So many people own IKEA stuff now that the value depricates pretty fast. Some of my stuff is in great shape but I dont even bother selling it because I see people give it away for free online.

[Beeheery]

My friend has an IKEA credit card she said I can use. It wouldn't be my own money. I wouldn't be using any checking account money nor any of my own credit cards since they have long been canceled and closed by my creditors. I was just wanting to get new furniture since my friend offered and figured if I got new, it would last me a long time and i would rather pay a little more now and have something guaranteed to be good condition instead of used. I like IKEA and its simple and cheap and I can get alot with what she said I could use on her card. Also, she said I do not have to pay her back. Is that considered income if I use her card or not because she is not giving me $ and just paying for the stuff for me? Thanks so much fluff!

[queenfluff]

Well, I am not an expert on this yet. But it sounds like since it is her credit card at least it won't be on your BK. Hmm, sounds like it could be considered a gift from your friend - since she said you don't have to pay it back.

But as far as listing your assets on your BK paperwork - you will end up listing all your furniture but you don't have to say how old it is. You don't even have to say IKEA. My IKEA couch is 10 years old - there is no way they want that I hope!

If you file 6 months after your friend gives you the furniture than you can cut its value in half at least - if not even more. (do you have any pets? Furry furniture is not really something people can sell to everyone).Seriously IKEA stuff is worth like nothing right now. Even new it is hard to get rid of unless you offer it for half price. They aren't going to want something they can't get any money for. Plus you have to stuff to "live off of". Bed, mattress etc. They won't take away your basic stuff. It is another story if you have antique furniture that is worth a lot of money. IKEA - I highly doubt it.

But your lawyer can help you figure out a estimated value for all your stuff when you file. Mine estimated mine at higher than I think it is worth. Right now, I don't think I could give my IKEA couch away for free. I would have to pay someone to haul it away! I have three cats so the slipcover has definatley seen better days!

[queenfluff]

Oh, I just wanted to add another thought too. Depending on what area you live in - you might be more or less likely to be able to sell any of your newish IKEA stuff to pay your creditors (if the Trustee wanted you to that is). If there is a million IKEAS by you, it will be tougher to sell your stuff - thereby, value goes down - because EVERYONE is trying to sell their IKEA stuff. If there is no IKEA by you and people are looking to buy used IKEA stuff, your stuff might be able to fetch a price.

I had bought brand new IKEA glass plates when I was out in California and there are a bunch of IKEA out there - I tried to sell them brand new for half price and no one replied. So, yeah, I don't think you need to worry about it.

[Beeheery]

There are only (3) Ikeas in FL. The one nearest to me is 15 minutes away. So..I guess it is rare? I also have 3 cats and a bird so I am sure it will not be the best condition. But maybe I will just get REAL cheap stuff at IKEA just in case. I might "splurge" on a good matress because I dont think they would resell that for health reasons. I guess I will just be extra careful with my purchases. Thank you so much fluff. I really appreciate all your input!!!

[Beeheery]

Also fluff, if you happen to know, how do i prove what furniture is truly mine and which is my roommates? if we both have ikea, how do i say this is mine but that is theirs? do i keep my receipt? I am so scared that the trustee will come into my roommates house and start tearing open drawers and stuff and i have already dragged my roommate though this much so far and am so afraid what the trustee will do when they come over after the 341. do they have like a search warrant type of thing???

[2Bshinyandnew]

Maybe you are over-thinking this? If your friend wants to buy some stuff from IKEA and let you borrow it for an unspecified period of time, then the furniture isn't yours to worry about when you file.

[NeilBurnside]

You people have me scared. Next week I hope to hire an atty. In the interim, I would like to buy a television for around $200. I would pay cash or use my debit card. My 9 year old one died a couple of months ago and I would like to replace it. Is this going to hurt my chances of getting Chap. 7??? I have a monthly subscription to netflix for about $36 a month. I do not get television reception so my only entertainment is by renting dvds. Is this also going to hurt me? I have the cost deducted from my checking account each month.

Thanks.

[StartingOver08]

You people have me scared. Next week I hope to hire an atty. In the interim, I would like to buy a television for around $200. I would pay cash or use my debit card. My 9 year old one died a couple of months ago and I would like to replace it. Is this going to hurt my chances of getting Chap. 7??? I have a monthly subscription to netflix for about $36 a month. I do not get television reception so my only entertainment is by renting dvds. Is this also going to hurt me? I have the cost deducted from my checking account each month.
Thanks.

No, this will not hurt you. You aren't charging either the TV or the netflix subscription.

[queenfluff]

Also fluff, if you happen to know, how do i prove what furniture is truly mine and which is my roommates? if we both have ikea, how do i say this is mine but that is theirs? do i keep my receipt? I am so scared that the trustee will come into my roommates house and start tearing open drawers and stuff and i have already dragged my roommate though this much so far and am so afraid what the trustee will do when they come over after the 341. do they have like a search warrant type of thing???

They aren't going to come to your house. They don't have the time. The trustees see tons of people a day. I was reading a story online about the day of a trustee and she said she saw 30 BK people before NOON on a busy day. That is a lot of houses to go through! There is no way.

It sounds like you might be a no asset case right? They don't care about the stuff in your drawers unless you are stashing a diamond ring in there.

Just list on your form what is yours. Honestly I didn't list all my stuff - I live with my bf and 95% of the furniture is mine but it is pretty crappy. I only listed my large items like couch, armchair, coffee table, tv stand, queensized bed, 2 dressers, small kitchen table - all this is IKEA stuff. You can save your receipts for your big items (couch, bed) but don't worth about things like dishes and stuff from IKEA. You don't have to prove what is your roommates and what is yours because how would they know?

Yeah, they are definately not going to want used mattresses.

If you look on your local craigslist and see lots of IKEA stuff for sale than yeah, your stuff would be hard to sell in your area because there is an overload.

Just keep your receipts for the large IKEA items you purchase - just in case but I have a feeling you won't even need them.

But it sounds like what you have is just stuff for your "basic living" and they won't care about most of it. And if really don't have anything that is will fetch any sort of good price, you should not worry about it.