Used Pelotons Are Still a Good Deal (Even With the New $95 Fee)

The used market for Peloton exercise bikes has always been a strength of the brand. The bikes hold up well to years of use, there's no model-number churn to worry about, and you can reactivate a Bike you bought off Craigslist the same as if it were brand new. That's changing, though: Peloton will now charge buyers $95 to set up a used Bike.

The news comes from Peloton's Q4 shareholder letter, as reported by the Verge. In the letter, the company says that used equipment brings in a steady stream" of new subscribers, and they tend to stay with Peloton longer than rental subscribers. By the way, Peloton quietly ended their rental program for the original Bike (as of August 1, 2024), telling shareholders that they didn't have enough used Bikes to sell them as refurbished units and rent them out. They do still rent the more expensive Bike+.

How it used to work to buy a used Bike

When you buy Peloton equipment like a Bike or Bike+ (more on the difference between those two here), you need to acquire the equipment and you need to pay a $44/month fee for the All-Access Membership, which gets you the signature video classes and the other connected features of the Bike (like the power zone bar, and having your rides show up in your account on the phone app).

You can buy your Bike (or other Peloton equipment) new, or refurbished, or you can rent it. You can also buy used equipment the same way you would a used car or a vintage dress, by simply handing money to a person who has one and wants to sell it.

After you take your used Bike home, you need to activate it so that you can begin paying your $44/month subscription. Here are the current instructions for doing that, which don't yet mention the new fee. What Peloton is proposing is that you'll have to pay $95 to activate your new (used) equipment-or, as one redditor put it, You're asking people to pay a fee in order for them to pay you a subscription fee."

At least you get something for your $95

Peloton has not yet released the full details on how the $95 fee will work, but they did give a few bits of important information.

The letter describes the $95 as a "one-time" fee, suggesting that if you let your subscription lapse and then reactivate it, that doesn't seem like it would trigger a new charge. You buy your used Bike, you pay your $95, and then you're on the same footing as any other customer. Based on the shareholder letter, the fee seems to only apply to these secondary market" sales, and likely will not apply to refurbished Bikes bought directly from Peloton.

And hey-you get something for it! Peloton is framing this as a better onboarding experience" for members who have purchased a used Bike, so when you pay your $95 you'll be able to get a virtual custom fitting" to make sure your Bike is set up properly. This is a service that people have paid for, from third parties, so it may be enough of an enticement to soften the blow. That said, I'm sure plenty of new members would rather adjust the bike with trial and error and the provided instructions if it meant saving nearly a hundred bucks.

Peloton also says it will offer new members discounts on accessories, including shoes and spare parts.

A quick rundown of all the different ways to get a Peloton Bike (or Bike+) and what they cost

With the new fee, you'll need to add $95 to the purchase price of any used Peloton equipment to understand how much you're really paying to bring it home. Here's the comparison:

• Used, from a third party: I'm seeing prices in the range of $400-$800 for the original Bike, plus you'll need to consider the $95 fee, for a total of about $500-$900. The Bike+ goes for more, around $800-$1,200. These prices are all subject to change and will be different depending on your location, the condition of the bike, and other factors, so take them with a large grain of salt.

• Refurbished, from Peloton: $1,145 for the regular Bike, $1,995 for the Bike+ (no activation fee expected). Refurbished equipment comes with a warranty.

• Renting the Bike+: $119/month plus a $150 delivery fee. Peloton no longer offers rentals of the base model Bike. You can buy out your rental at any point, but you're not really saving money; the buyout cost plus past rental costs usually works out to be similar to the cost of buying new. (We have a more detailed breakdown here.)

• Buying a new Bike: $1,495 for the Bike, $2,495 for the Bike+, unless you catch a sale-in the past, big sale days like Black Friday and Prime Day have brought steep discounts.

All told, used Bikes (and Bike+s) are still by far the best deal. A few years ago, used Bikes were only a bit cheaper than their new or refurbished counterparts; these days, used prices seem to be at all-time lows. Peloton wants their $95 cut of those sales, but the prices are already low enough that adding $95 shouldn't deter you from buying used.