Peloton is introducing a $95 "used equipment activation fee" for bikes purchased from outside its official channels in the US and Canada, aiming to boost revenue and maintain onboarding quality for new subscribers.
The fee has sparked criticism as it reduces the cost savings typically associated with buying secondhand equipment and diverges from practices in other industries, potentially discouraging used market purchases.
Peloton's hardware sales continue to decline, but subscription revenue has seen slight growth; the company still faces financial struggles despite cost-cutting measures and layoffs.
Yeah I mean I'm not surprised that this business is failing. It always just seemed like a worse and more expensive version of something that was always inherently pretty boring.
The tech world has become and endless conveyor belt of stupid greedy miseries.
No subscription-based company products should be in public schools. That would stop with inculcating model acceptance.
No federal agency should be using any subscription product, including any cloud products. Public data should not be capable of being held hostage or monetised.
Both are a waste of public funds and set a bad example.
We can put marketing teams in the fields and mines doing honest toil.
This is basically admitting that consumers don't actually value their subscription service for the cost. If users were buying used bikes and signing up for subscriptions Peloton would be thrilled, they would do everything that they could to encourage that like free trials. But it must be that most people who buy used bikes don't find the subscription worth it and cancel within a few months. Adding this fee both extracts more money and creates a sunk cost fallacy that will cause them to go longer before cancelling.
If the product sold itself they would just let people pay them subscriptions, its basically free money.
Wife and I bought a Peloton. It works well, we love it. I'm going to cancel the subscription and just use the damn thing without attending the classes etc like an old school stationary bike.
Sucks bc I enjoy a couple of the classes but this is BS
Peloton is introducing a $95 “used equipment activation fee” for bikes purchased from outside its official channels in the US and Canada, aiming to boost revenue and maintain onboarding quality for new subscribers.
I recently read that a baby crib did the same thing they charge an activation fee after it’s sold. First we had subscriptions now we have reselling activation fees. It’s just another way to get a little bit more money.
Is this even legal in some other countries outside of the US and Canada lol, I know there is some countries out there with quite strict consumer protection and I'm pretty sure second hand Market is one of the more regulated ones
They should have been more conservative in their business and expected that it was only surging because of the pandemic. They cashed in on the IPO but should have gotten out. Now they’re beholden to investors. Probably made enough money to not care if the company crashes and burns.
Havent heard anyone talk about this but its particularly inisidious because most likely consumers wont find out about this fee until AFTER they buy it...