- cross-posted to:
- internetofshit@suppo.fi
- cross-posted to:
- internetofshit@suppo.fi
- 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.
You must log in or register to comment.
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
The old EA project $10 never truly died
Why are we comfortable with not owning the things we buy :/
For everyone with a peloton, you can flash the bike with an aftermarket software.
Zwift or TrainerRoad
flash the bike with an aftermarket software.
Not a phrase I’d ever thought I’d hear.
I’m not which is why I don’t use photoshop or lightroom.
Pssst. You could always pirate them.
It’s unappealing to have software be hostile. Software that does what I want only if it’s creator doesn’t actively oppose it… that need not be on my computer.
They already charge a ridiculous monthly fee just to use the bike.
And sure, it’s a nicer exercise bike, but you can get a similar experience with a much cheaper bike and a tablet.
Yep. I’ve been doing this for a while now with a cheap old no-name bike and an ipad. Poor man’s peloton ftw.
How do you do this with a tablet? Can you buy like a wheel sensor or something?
I don’t have anything fancy going on with the tablet. Like it’s not tracking the bike or my workout or anything like that. I just use my watch for fitness tracking and put up either exercise videos or a stream or something to watch on the tablet.
Im not, I wouldnt buy one.
I would consider dragging my used equipment over sr mgmt’s face
Kinky
It’s not enough to not buy one. We need to demand that Congress and the FTC do their goddamn jobs and quit letting every company fuck over the public.
Yeah that isnt their job, thats just how they are marketed. The US is a corporation and everyone in it is doomed to the rat race.
So so many issues that just happen in other countries.
Do you see an alternative? Each year more companies move to a subscription model, even when it doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense. In many cases if you have the time to do proper research and/or a lot of technical savvy, you can find alternatives from companies no one recognizes. Most people don’t have the time or know-how, and the companies that like subscription models are spending billions making sure their names are the only ones people think exist.
Update consumer protection laws and actually enforce them. Laws that were written back when tech would come with the schematics.
I mean, there’s a reason almost nobody is buying their products.
For a subscription fee of [+$5/six months] your brand new pair of Peloton Underwear™️ won’t shit themselves.
Anti-shit underwear? Sign me up!
The downside: You have to shit them yourself.
Is this like an… idiot tax?
But this fee wasn’t there when people originally purchased this was it? If so, they will now have a less valuable product since they won’t be able to sell it as easily. Or are they only doing it for new units?
I cannot understand why lemmy gets up in arms over bullshit like this. If the idiots wish to pay, let them.
The people getting up in arms are upset because they see it as a slippery slope. First just the idiots pay for subscriptions, then it creeps into the lives of everyone. And eventually it’s harder to avoid the bullshit than just pay, and the whole market becomes more predatory. Like if the idiots give companies an inch, they’ll eventually take a mile
The “signing up for Planet Fitness membership but not actually using the gym” is the real idiot tax. Well, yeah, I guess this one is too.
Company: we’re limping, how can we recover and pick up the pace?
CEO: How about we shot ourselves on the foot?
Company: die
CEO: Why would customer do this to us?
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.
I mean it was already overpriced for what it was, and it was only really good/popular during covid. A lot of people now will either go to the gym for classes or just get a bike without a $12-$49 monthly fee. I just can’t wait to see how long until they lock the wheels without a subscription
So they lost resale value and will have more trouble selling new hardware as well?
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
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.
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…
I predicted Peloton’s failure on launch, two of my cryptobro friends laughed and dumped semi serious money into it.
LOLLLLLLLLLLL
Will no one think of the onboarding quality?!
So you’re saying there will soon be a scene dedicated to cracking Peloton software.
Cuz that’s what I’m hearing.
Already exists. The Peloton subreddit has a guide on rooting your bike and installing custom apks.
Damn. Might be time to pick up a used one.
Thanks for the heads up.
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.
So they shouldn’t lease buildings, or subscribe to water and power? Should they also not use document archival and storage services that have existed for decades?
Water and power still need to be reconfigured, obvs we’re not there yet, but they don’t contain my personal info and can’t leak it.
I’m not against govt working with entities when needed, but it’s become a lazy solution to outsource functions and often the blame for failure as well, rather than build a responsible solution.
It’s gotten too cozy and intertwined.
The tech world has become and endless conveyor belt of stupid greedy miseries.
Simpler. It’s easy to create artificial maintenance costs there as needed. That, of course, wouldn’t work well without oligopoly.
Government officials are interested in buying such products due to kickbacks, which means that everybody else directly or indirectly needs them for interoperability. Thus oligopoly persists.
It’s as if only radical solutions would work, be it radical authoritarian or radical libertarian.
It’s easy to create artificial maintenance costs there as needed.
That reminds me of the bricked polish trains, not only did they create artificial maintenance cost, they also tried to ensure that only they (and not their competitors) would be able to do that maintenance (unflipping the kill-switch)
In that particular case it was plain sabotage, I’ve read that article. They also denied knowledge of that kill-switch.
I meant cases where both the vendor and the buyer know how these are formed, but due to kickbacks are fine with it.
It’s the McDonald’s ice cream machine fiasco all over again.
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.
Should just be illegal. Either you buy a thing or you rent it. This is cheating.
Anyone who has already purchased a Prloton, should be able to resell it. If they can’t, then I see a class action coming.
New sales could do this I guess, hopefully people will stop buying from crap companies
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.
Uh… what? No
