So many of us look back at those first few months —or years — of the pandemic with a mix of wistfulness and irritation.
For some, it was a great time to snuggle down into the comfort of home, learn to bake increasingly tricky foods and start a new hobby like cultivating beehives (guilty).
For others, it was a nightmare of chaos, as children roamed freely throughout the home, teachers went completely berzerk trying to contain them, spouses shot each other hard looks and houses became offices, classrooms, sickrooms and entertainment venues (also guilty).
But throughout all of that, one clear winner appeared to emerge in corporate America, as the pandemic dragged on and lockdown orders proliferated.
Normally active people who had their gyms close — and other now much more aspirationally active people who had nothing else to expend extra energy on that would not be interrupted by small, sticky children or demanding bosses — turned toward the one thing they felt they could rely on to transport them entirely.
That, of course, was the universe of Peloton.
The Tide Turns
Disciples of Peloton were quickly identifiable, primarily because if you owned a Peloton, bought a Peloton, though of buying a Peloton or even knew someone who had one that you saw once and thought you might want to try in case you someday decided you did actually want to own one, you told everyone about it.
We will not dwell on how often the Peloton stationary bike and its associated workouts appeared on social media feeds.
But for the company itself, everything was coming up roses. Peloton saw its share price soar as high as $167.42 in January 2021, as people dug in for the long haul and a new wave of Covid-19 began.
That was a whopping leap from the $25.76 per share the Peloton was worth in September 2019.
That level of interest allowed the company to report its first ever quarterly profit in September 2020.
But like all things that go up, those heady share prices, too, eventually had to come down again.
They did so with a thump as the world began to reopen and lockdowns were lifted: Peloton's share prices is now hovering around the $14 mark.
Suddenly, a good chunk of the 2.33 million current subscribers of Peloton's connected fitness membership began to look for ways to unload those pricey bikes now gathering dust at home.
Now is The Time to Strike
That means that if you have been thinking about buying a used Peloton bike, now is a pretty smart time to do so.
As the pandemic ebbed, more and more Peloton bikes began to show up on local marketplaces, including listings on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.
At the beginning of this trend, most users had snubbed the $700 trade-in offer that Peloton gave them if they wanted to return their bikes, and instead looked to recoup at least some of the average $2,245 sticker price for bikes bought in 2020.
While Peloton has since trimmed that price as it retrenches and it share price plummets — most users can grab a basic Peloton bike for just $1,195 these days — there are still major deals to be had of local neighbors across the U.S. just looking to offload the dang things.
So Where Do I Find a Deal?
Looking locally is always the first stop.
Before you approach online sites like eBay that will have to ship for you, check your local Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for Peloton bike deals.
There you can find prices ranging from name your best offer to around $1,300 for one of the more recent, advanced models.
There's also an unofficial Facebook group just for people selling Pelotons, so check it out here, and a subReddit thread that can answer basically every question you have.
Do Your Homework
Not sure which one to pick? Here are some helpful tips.
-- Make sure to look at what model the bike you want is, especially what generation it came from. That helps you know exactly which bike you are getting, so you can understand what features it has when you subscribe.
-- Used Pelotons are sorted like this:
- Gen 1 has QUARTZ on the monitor.
- Generation 2 Peloton bike has RB1V1 on the monitor.
- Generation 3 Peloton bike has RB1VQ on the monitor.
--Ask how many rides the bike has had — if it's a lot, you are getting a more-used product; if it's not a lot, you're getting one only lightly used.
--Don't forget to check the warranty options. Peloton has recently started offering new warranties for used bikes that have found new homes, a program it just rolled out in April 2022.
Let's Get it Started!
As blogger Leah Ingram found when researching buying a used Peloton for her second bike, activating a new one will require setting up an entirely separate account.
"I thought that I could use my existing subscription on the Peloton bike I wanted to buy used. But after chatting with Peloton support, I discovered that I would need a unique “key” to activiate my used Peloton bike," Ingram writes.
"So if you decide to look into buying a used Peloton bike like I did, keep this in mind: once you get that bike home, you cannot just plug it in and ride. You’ll need to call or chat with Peloton support to activate the bike first."
