Used ALEX drawers are weirdly expensive. We checked Ebay, and used drawers are going for $200 or more.
Given that a standard Alex drawer unit is about $90 in most IKEA stores in the United States, why is an assembled one that’s already been used selling for so much?
There are a couple of reasons why these units fetch such a high price. Personally, I’ve been using an extra unit in my office for over seven years, so I have a bit of experience with it.
The main reason that these drawers are so expensive secondhand is that many people can’t get them directly from IKEA. They’re very popular in the crafting community, and they are a real pain to assemble.
If you live nearby an IKEA, it’s fairly simple to get an Alex drawer unit, throw it in the back of your car, take it home, and put it together.
But if you live in a part of the country that has limited shipping options and no IKEA store nearby, getting an Alex unit is next to impossible. There are similar ones at Michael’s, but they’re not quite the same.
Alex units are also, honestly, very challenging to assemble. The individual sliding drawers are fantastic, but assembling each of them requires multiple steps, and since there are so many drawers, it could take a long time.
The gimbal sliders make the drawers come in and out easily, but they also mean that you have to assemble the Alex very precisely for it to work.
Lots of people would rather have somebody else put the Alex together and receive it as a fully assembled unit than have to do the work themselves!
Of course, you can always hire an expert on TaskRabbit to do the assembly for you. But if you live in an area where it’s hard to get an IKEA set, you probably can’t find somebody to assemble it for you either.
So that covers why there’s a premium on Alex drawers. But why would people pay a lot to have one?
Alex drawers are very popular in the crafting community. They’re great for storing and supplies and making them easily accessible through the flat pull-out drawers. It’s also nice how IKEA has both small and large drawers. You can store big stuff in the bottom and small stuff up top.
Personally, I use an Alex drawer set for my analog film photography. I store my developer chemicals in a large drawer at the bottom and my film and other materials in the top.
Many others like me probably do the same. And again, they’re willing to pay a premium for the storage set.
Of course, if you want your own drawer, you don’t need to pay hundreds of dollars for it. If you live near an IKEA, pick one up, budget a few hours to put it together, and you’ll have one to serve you for a long time.
Again, I’ve been using mine for about seven years. So although you might need to budget an afternoon to put one of these drawers together, the long-term value is definitely worth it.