The Sneaky Reason IKEA Hides Their Price Tags

Have you ever found yourself walking around a store, looking at a gorgeous lamp or piece of furniture, wondering how much it costs, only to discover there are no price tags to be found? Well, there's likely a reason for it. Although some high-end retailers may say this is to keep a clean look, stores all want one common thing: for you to spend money on their products.

IKEA falls under this umbrella too, but their hidden price tags could be for more than branding or aesthetic purposes. Financial psychologist and author Brad Klontz told Realtor.com, "People don't like to be reminded how much money they're spending, so they're inclined to buy more things when they can't see the price of the product right away." If you want to know more about why IKEA has hard-to-find in-store price tags, we'll explain why and show you how it makes customers buy more on average. You'll also learn some things you don't know about IKEA that may cause you to spend more time and money while at their stores.

The reason behind IKEA's hidden price tag strategy is more straightforward than we would like to admit: It is to make you feel excited by specific item even before knowing its price. Despite IKEA having low prices, not knowing a product's price at a glance can entice you to put things in your shopping cart in the hopes of buying them without knowing if you can afford them. 

Whether you fall in love with their highly-useful and versatile BILLY bookcase or their artsy LAUTERS floor lamp, if their prices exceed your budget, disappointment will come right in front of the cashier after you've already grown attached to the product. To avoid overspending, you should check IKEA prices on their website to have a clear plan of what you're looking for. Set a fixed budget next time you visit any IKEA warehouse, and stick to a plan to go in and out of the store with a purpose — and without breaking the bank.

Besides having hard-to-find price tags on their products to make you ask for the price once you have already fallen in love with any of their pieces, IKEA lures you to spend more money on their products in other ways. For example, IKEA's food court has good food at great prices, enticing you to spend more time at their stores.

In addition, IKEA's warehouse layout makes the store feel like a maze and requires you to stay on a set path; this results in you spending more time looking around their fully-decorated showrooms, grabbing loads of exciting things, and possibly even purchasing something you should never buy in IKEA. If you often find yourself doing yoga poses when trying to find IKEA price tags, or feel overwhelmed with the vast array of options available at the store, follow these tips and have fun on your next trip to IKEA — you'll enjoy it more.