Why shop at IKEA when someone else can do it for you?

KEA is like IKEA and sells very similar stuff, but is chinese and cheaper!

And then another one added:

I just looked at the "kea" website, all the products are EXACTLY the same as Ikea and the prices are EXACTLY the same as Ikea, perhaps even a bit more expensive and if it is Chinese then we know the quality is worse...

And another:

I also cant believe that they have copied IKEA and that the prices are not lower.

And then one person finally read the KEA "About Us" page and translated it for the forum readers. Turns out there is a very good reason the KEA stuff looks exactly like products found at IKEA -- it's because they are from IKEA. Basically, KEA shops at IKEA for you and you pay a little more for the service. Here's how they explain it:

Ikea is the world's largest furniture retailer; it is well known for the design, practicality and personality of its products. But China only has a few cities with Ikeas, meaning that a lot of people don't have the means to shop there. The appearance of "yijia daigou" (Ikea stand-in shoppers) is an excellent solution to this problem. For a modest service fee, "yijia daigou" merchants will buy, package and deliver Ikea products to people who don't have the time or for whom it is too inconvenient to go to Ikea themselves. That way, people can simply use the internet or their phone to order anything Ikea product their heart desires. In order to use an "yijia daigou", customers have to pay the following: the product's original price at Ikea, a "stand-in buyer" service fee, and packaging and transportation costs. Among those, the service fee is the profit made by the "yijia daigou" merchant.

Chalk up another one for Chinese ingenuity.