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Peloton announces $95 “used equipment activation fee” (arstechnica.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology

104 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 4 months ago (1 children)

So they lost resale value and will have more trouble selling new hardware as well?

[–] billbasher 21 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

My thoughts exactly. This seems like a short term play to boost the stock price, let execs get out of the market, then sell off the company before it goes under.

Also how are they gonna prove you didn’t buy it before the announcement and just didn’t register/use it until after? Seems to me that’s gonna be sticky in the eyes of ~~copyright~~ terms & conditions

[–] piecat 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I don't get what it has to do with copyright?

It's as simple as they built the equipment to require an app. And it needs the cloud, so its either accept the license or stop using the hw.

It's happening everywhere.

[–] billbasher 2 points 4 months ago

Thanks, I meant terms & conditions, fixed. If I buy a product that does not have an activation fee in the t&c at time of purchase, legally I probably shouldn't have to pay it even if they implement it later and I waited to activate. That would maybe still require you to sign up even if you aren't paying to get the t&c then though. It could be argued that since the fee was not in place at time of purchase it shouldn't apply and that is what I meant by 'sticky' is all.

[–] rottingleaf 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

let execs get out of the market,

A new business architecture without this particular flaw seems to be in pretty capitalist demand today.

Maybe something about conflict of interest being illegal for such positions. Maybe just cooperatives with modern technologies to help make them more organized.