Used Treadmills - What To Know Before You Buy

Looking at used treadmills? One way to save money when buying a treadmill is to purchase one second hand.

Maybe your neighbor is moving and will sell you their used treadmill at a great price. Perhaps you can find a dirt-cheap treadmill in your local classifieds.

But before you buy a used home treadmill, there are some things you should know to steer clear of buying a lemon. This article will layout the benefits and drawbacks of buying a used treadmill.

Benefits of buying a treadmill used:

Obviously the main benefit is that you can save quite a bit when you buy fitness equipment second hand. You can often get 20-50% off department store prices, depending on the buyer, when they bought it and how badly they want to get rid of it.

Plus you can often haggle with them and talk the price down even further.

Tip - Look for moving sales as many people don’t often want the hassle of moving a huge, heavy machine. And if you have a truck and are willing to move the treadmill yourself, you can use this as leverage to get an even better deal.

Drawbacks of buying a used home treadmill:

While you can save quite a bit buying used, there are some strong drawbacks that most buyers are not aware of. If you don’t know these you can actually end up wasting money instead of saving it.

1) Most brand warranties do not extend to second hand buyers.

Say that the seller tells you ‘Don’t worry, it’s only a year old and still under warranty’. That sounds great in principle.

However did you know that most manufacturers will not honor the warranty if the treadmill changes ownership? So if it does break, you could be out a considerable amount of money to fix it.

There are a few commercial brands that will allow you to assign the warranty coverage to a second owner, however it’s hard to find a commercial treadmill for sale as most owners, if they spent that much on a treadmill, don’t want to sell their machines.

2) When you buy a used treadmill, you not only have zero warranty coverage, but you also don’t know how much the treadmill has been used.

For example, one treadmill could have been used for gentle walking by one owner 3 times a week for a year. Another treadmill could have been used for heavy running by 2 owners 7 times a week for 3 years. The second treadmill has a lot more wear and tear on it and will probably break down a lot faster than the first.

You could ask the seller how much treadmill has been used. But if they want to get rid of the treadmill, they may not be completely honest with you. And just walking on the treadmill is not an easy way to gage the wear and tear on it.

3) When you buy a used treadmill, you are usually responsible for transporting it back to your home. This is alright if you’ve got a truck and several strong friends to help you. However it may turn out to be a pain to move the treadmill, even if you get a great deal.

So those are several of the advantages and disadvantages of buying a used treadmill. Buying second hand fitness equipment can save you quite a bit - but there are also hazards.

And with many online treadmill wholesalers dropping their prices and giving you free shipping, many buyers prefer the security of buying new. Regardless of what you choose to do, remember to consider the needs of everyone in your family who will be using the treadmill before you buy.

Vienna Miller writes for Treadmill Review - a consumer oriented website focusing on the home treadmill market. For a list of discount treadmill stores that sell directly to the consumer visit the Discount Treadmills page.