The Virgil Abloh IKEA KEEP OFF Rug is Worth Almost $3,000

News

By RC Staff

06 May 2023

Key Points:

• In early 2019, IKEA collaborated with Virgil Abloh to release the iconic “KEEP OFF” rug
  (amongst other items)

• The rug retailed for $500, and although incredibly hyped, had an ample supply and high
  shipping costs, sparking fear about its profitability

• Today, the rug’s aftermarket price has crept up to almost $3,000

Item

Home & Living

2.5K

Profit

This is the difference between the sale price and resell price. It does not take into account any costs associated with reselling. Things like shipping, storage fees, if applicable.

Ikea x Off White KEEP OFF Rug

Legendary designer Virgil Abloh’s first collaboration with Ikea, a 200x300cm rug with the text “KEEP OFF” in the center.

Every reseller in the game could see that Virgil Abloh and IKEA’s collaboration was going to be one for the ages. One of the greatest design minds of all time collaborating with IKEA for a collection that truly stood out was certainly not something that happened every day. What started out as a unique and memorable collaboration would soon unfold into one of the biggest fumbles, and comebacks, in reselling history.

The Collection

The MARKERAD collection, as it was eventually called, was first speculated on in the hype culture world at a point in time as early as summer 2017. Personalities in the resell and hype space across the web frequently referred to and guessed about when and how the Virgil x IKEA collection would release, with images of the rugs leaking time and time again.

Throughout 2018, a number of overseas pop-up events added fuel to the already-hot fire. When a wide release was finally confirmed at all stateside IKEA locations for November 1, 2019, it was a big deal.

Hype leading up to the release was strong, and IKEA still had one more surprise. Separate from the rest of the collection, there would be the Virgil X IKEA KEEP OFF Rug.

The "KEEP OFF" Rug

While the MARKERAD collection wouldn’t hit stores until November 2019, the KEEP OFF Rug would be sold a little earlier. May 10th, to be exact, and available primarily at IKEA stores, not online.

With all the hype, and Virgil Abloh’s extensive popularity among resellers, the stage was set for utter insanity. All that was left was to wait until the rugs went up for sale.

IKEA seemed to sense what was about to happen. They had a system in place to deter individuals from buying more than one rug at a time. They posted specific times for when people could start waiting in line, and when they could make a purchase, and prioritized in-person sales over online. Even then, it looked like resellers were primed to take control of the supply through brute force alone.

So what went wrong?

Supply & shipping. That’s what went wrong.

The Panic

Area rugs aren’t exactly light or wieldy, and shipping, much like reselling, is a game of numbers. Dimensions, and weight, to be specific — neither of which were low when it came to the $500 “KEEP OFF” rug.

This meant that the associated shipping cost for anyone hoping to resell the rug online was to be $130-150 at minimum. Add in a 10% platform fee + sales tax on the initial purchase, and a reseller would need to sell the $500 rug at near $750 to break even.

As we all learned in economics class, as price goes up, demand goes down. So, right off the bat, it was already questionable if the buyers’ pool that weren’t able to purchase the rug for themselves at IKEA but willing to shell out $750+ was sizable enough to support the massive number of resellers hoping to profit off of the rugs.

In addition, IKEA has a total of 50 US locations, each of which are used to dealing with a massive amount of daily sales volume. Anticipating the intense attention this collection was going to receive, stock numbers were recorded as being quite ample, with some locations not selling out of products until days or even weeks after the November 1st release.

Immediate sales were lukewarm. It seemed as though most interested parties had been able to get a rug through retail, and aftermarket sales were sometimes not much more than $100 or so over retail.

Fear quickly set in, and for many, the goal shifted from maximizing profit to minimizing perceived loss. It seemed like the aftermarket would be dead within days, so many resellers sought to move their stock quickly, even opting for returns.

What had seemed like a no-brainer had devolved into a legendary fumble. The rugs became synonymous with uninformed resellers, blindly dogpiling on a product because it seemed to be generating hype.

But here’s the thing:

All the reasons resellers had to target IKEA’s collab with Virgil were valid. Many of the rugs sold off or returned early on were picked up by another group of resellers, who were confident in the rug’s long-term value. And as the months ticked by, this second group would be proved right, several times over.

The Payoff

The holiday season of 2019 would see the first appreciable rise in value for the rugs. Typically, many bespoke and niche items will see a bump in value, as people seek out gifts for loved ones, and are willing to pay a little extra to meet the deadline. Additionally, many people receive an infusion of cash after the holidays, and money is a bit more freely spent. By the end of the the year, the rugs were holding steady at $900.

As per StockX sales data, by March of 2020, 4 months after release, the “KEEP OFF” rug was consistently selling over the $1,000 mark. For a reseller that paid $500 + tax, fees, and shipping, they were now in the definite green zone, likely netting a few hundred for this sale.

Fast forward to August of 2020, now 9 months post-release, and the rugs were selling for close to $2,000 on average — meaning a likely profit of over $1,000 per rug after fees and shipping.

In the time since their release, these rugs had become a quintessential piece of Virgil Abloh’s design. What was once eschewed by impatient resellers was now embraced as an iconic piece of home design. And despite claims to the contrary, IKEA did not overproduce any part of the MARKERAD collection. In fact, they did a nearly perfect job anticipating demand, so much so that while most stores had plenty of rugs to sell, their supply was depleted quite quickly.

Many resellers claimed that it took weeks for stores to sell out, but this is only true for a handful of locations. Stores in more populous areas like Los Angeles were out of stock in an hour or less, and most locations were emptied out by the end of the day. The narrative that IKEA took weeks to sell of their supply of rugs was only true for a handful of rural stores, yet resellers were quick to use it as evidence that the rugs were not worth holding. Incidentally, the remaining stock at these out-of-the-way stores were typically picked up by more intrepid resellers, who were tipped off by fearmongers on social media.

Today, the 2019 “KEEP OFF” rug from Virgil Abloh and IKEA’s iconic collaboration is available on the aftermarket for around $2,500.

For a lot of resellers, this rug is about looking before you leap. If someone was only prepared to make a quick sale, holding for an extended period would provoke fear. Many would rather sell at cost rather than risking losing money on a bad hold, or were simply impatient and looking for quick and easy cash.

For others, it’s a testament to patience and planning. Sometimes that means ignoring the widespread attitudes of others around you, and holding to what you know has value.

But for many of us, it’s just a reminder of a time we still had Virgil.

Dedicated to Virgil Abloh