I have always heard good things about these bookcases. I think there is a site somewhere on the web that discusses Ikea furniture but I do not have a link.
You can look up the original price if you do not beleive him and see the exacrt size he is offering and then compare the price. I would not worry about the quality.

Ikea Fans link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea Fans

I have a billy bookcase that I bought at least 12 years ago out of the as-is room. It's been tough. The shelves are sagging a bit but it's a fairly wide bookcase (over 3 ft) and I really overload it (every shelf packed with big fat coffee-table sized decorating books and textbooks). For the abuse it's taken, it's held up well - much better than the "commerical grade" bookshelves I got from an office supply place.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info. If you've had them that long with big books, they should last ds as long as he doesn't climb on them. He's still got mostly paperbacks, thin hardcovers, though he does have all the Harry Potter and Eragon series.

Since this guy was advertising they were nearly 45% off (if you bought all 4 he has), I'm going to ask for 3 for $200 instead of $225. Original price (with extra shelf) was $120 ea plus 6% tax.

Dilly_dally - thanks for the link - don't know if we'll have to take them apart/put them back together (definitely have to take extension off - too tall for truck). Seller might not have instructions any more.

Does anybody know about Ikea's warranty?

The only place to get the correct warranty info is from Ikea themselves:

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea Warranty

I would assume that if you are given the bill of sale, IKEA may honour their warranty, but do you think he still has it?

The regular birch veneer bookcase retails for $90, so for $75, they should be in nearly new condition.

If you can get a good deal, why not take all 4? Extra shelves will cost you $12 each, and I know I always wish I had an extra shelf or two.

Here is a link that might be useful: Instructions to assemble Billy bookcases

My DH is from Sweden and loves the billy bookcases. We have 2 in the beech color with doors, and they are fine if you don't move them around a lot. If you're buying them second hand, I'd really inspect them though, especially the backing as that is only secured with staples and comes off very easily.

Thanks lukkiirish for the warning about backs - I don't know if we're going to have to take these apart and put them back together - do you think that's better than trying to move them in 1 piece?

Homemaker - I have no room in my house for another bookcase this size (want to have custom 23"x94"x12" done for sides of bay window). But ds has lots of books so 3 to fill that wall in his room would be ideal.

Hi,
We love our Billy bookcases. We have 2 with 2 cd cases in between them. If you are hesitant, go to ikea or ikeafans.com and look at pics. They are a good value for what is out there. Ours hold heavy books, and junk and look brand new. You could definitely trim then out and they would look great. Do NOT think you will be taking the time to deal with a warranty with IKEA. Way too much hassle. I don't think this is a steal deal, but then again, I think 99% of the fun is the unpacking and assembly, almost like a kid getting legos at Christmas, so I'd pay more for brand new just to go to an IKEA store. Let us know what you decided.

They are good sturdy bookshelves, but that's not much of a deal, unless they have glass doors.

Thanks everyone - we looked at them, DH didn't care for them, the backs were really flimsy and I had concerns about securing them to the walls since the only place to secure them was with an L bracket at the top. The sides are only held in by camlocks, so if that came loose (one was broken, guy offered to take one out of 4th bookcase) the bookcase could still come apart and fall down with only the top still secured to the wall. We'll keep looking, even if we have to build custom ones or use the track type system from Closetmaid (not as attractive). This really has to be secure.

Ajsmama, just a thought: ask around and see whether any of your friends know a good carpenter. We found one who made and installed some bookshelves which look built-in, original to our home, and gorgeous, for about $200 more than it would have cost us to schlep a bunch of stuff home from IKEA and put it together ourselves.