My good friend Laurel (who is also a designer) recently said something brilliant about Ikea. She predicted that a lot of the pieces we buy from Ikea will one day become collectibles. I know this might sound crazy, but let's consider this: They have a team of excellent designers working to create well-designed affordable pieces that are current. They make and sell what we want. And they only produce a fixed amount of product ever. It might be a huge number, but it's still limited.
For example: I bought a stool from them about a year ago for $7 that is fantastic, very reminiscent of an Alvar Aalto piece, and it is no longer available. Because of that, to me its value suddenly increased. And it looks great between my two Arne Jacobsen Swan Chairs: 
I've noticed this with a lot of my favorites. Even small pieces aren't available forever.
Here is something I picked up recently that I'm hoping will one day be worth something, even if it's just a memento from 2010:
$5.99
