What flat-pack delivery costs.
Five ways exist to get a trolley of flat-pack home, and only one is a booked van. Our Sydney IKEA delivery page covers the service. This one weighs it against the rest.
- Van hire, your car, rideshare, store delivery
- What each one really involves
- The five things that move a quote
Five ways home, one load
Hire is a whole day
A rental is booked in days, not trips. Count the fuel, the deposit and the drive back to the depot.
A second trip counts twice
Two runs in your own car double the driving and the carrying. Petrol is the small part.
Somebody has to lift
A wardrobe carton is a two-person lift. Every option but a booked crew leaves that job with you.
The options, side by side
None of these is wrong. Which wins depends on the carton count, how far you live from the store, and whether a second pair of hands is free.
The comparison below is what each choice costs you in money, time and risk. It names no figures, because hire rates, fuel and store charges all move.
| Option | What it involves | Where it falls over |
|---|---|---|
| Booked pickup | One vehicle, a crew, your chosen window | You book ahead |
| Van hire | Depot both ways, fuel, deposit, your lifting | A day gone, and you load it |
| Your own car | Two or three trips, a rack for long boxes | Long cartons do not fit |
| Rideshare | A boot, and a driver who did not agree | Refused loads, no lifting help |
| Store delivery | Ordered at the checkout, on their timetable | Their dates, their own terms |
Van hire for a day
A rental only looks cheap until you count the day. You collect it, drive to the store, load it, unload it, then return it with the tank filled. If a carton is a two-person lift, you still have to find that person.
Your own car, twice
This works for a few small boxes and nothing else. A long bookcase carton beats most boots, and a second trip repeats the drive at both ends. Two runs across the city can eat more of the weekend than a hire day.
Rideshare and store delivery
A rideshare boot is a boot, and drivers can refuse a load nobody warned them about. Store delivery is the real alternative: ordered at the checkout, priced by the store, run to the store's schedule. Hold its charge against a quote.
Five variables, in order
A collection quote is built from five things, and the first two do most of the work.
| Variable | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Carton count | The vehicle, ute up to pantech |
| Floor, lift or stairs | The carry, and how long the crew is inside |
| Distance from the store | Drive time at both ends of the run |
| The longest carton | Near 3m or 150kg needs the bigger van |
| Someone home to receive | A missed handover becomes a second visit |
| Hidden cost | Which option carries it |
|---|---|
| Fuel and a deposit | Van hire, both ways to the depot |
| A second pair of hands | Hire, your own car, rideshare |
| A repeat trip | Your own car, or a missed delivery |
| Half your weekend | Van hire, and multiple car runs |
| Damage on the stairs | Any option where you carry it |
Count these before booking
- How many cartons, and the longest one
- Which floor, and whether the lift works
- Who is home in the window you pick
Cheapest with us: take the door tier and carry them in yourself.
Not the store: PicUp is an independent collection service, not affiliated with or acting for IKEA.
To compare properly: quote at picup.com.au/bookings, then hold that against the store's charge. Call 1300 174 287 for a large order.
Limits that set the vehicle
Google rating and review count pulled June 2026. Limits are per item. We publish no price figures, because hire rates and store charges move.
Flat-pack cost questions
Is a booked pickup cheaper than hire?
For one trip with big cartons, usually. Hire is sold by the day rather than by the journey, and the loading stays yours.
The parts people forget are not the rate. A rental wants a licence, a card for the bond and somebody willing to reverse a van they have never driven, plus two runs to the depot around the job itself. A booked pickup is one arrival and one carry, with nothing to bring back.
Can I split the order over trips?
You can, though two half loads almost always come to more than one full one.
Count cartons rather than products before you decide. A single wardrobe can leave the store as three or four flat boxes, so an order of four items is often ten cartons and wants a bigger vehicle than the receipt suggests. If part of it is out of stock, ask the store to hold the rest until the missing piece lands.
Does the floor number change the price?
Yes, because the floor decides the carry. A third floor with a booked lift is a quicker job than a third floor without one.
Measure the lift before you assume it solves everything. A long carton has to stand upright to fit, and plenty of passenger lifts are too shallow for a wardrobe panel, which sends that one box up the stairs while the rest ride. Send the internal depth of the lift and the length of the longest carton.
What if nobody is home on delivery?
The cartons stay on the vehicle and the run has to be booked again, which is the most avoidable cost on this page.
A parcel room will not take a two metre carton and a neighbour rarely wants it either, so a real person at the door is the only version that works. Leave a number somebody answers, plus the gate or intercom code. If your day slips, tell support inside hours rather than waiting to catch the driver.
Does the store deliver more cheaply?
Sometimes. It turns less on the headline charge than on what that charge actually includes.
Ask three things before you compare. Which room they carry to, whether you get a fixed date or a window to sit through, and what stairs do to the figure. A charge that stops at the building door is not the same service as one ending in your bedroom, and the smaller number is often the one that leaves you carrying.
Price the load, free.
Send the carton count, the floor and the store. The quote comes back in about a minute.