Buying a used treadmill

I can see the positives of buying a used treadmill. As far as fitness equipment goes, treadmills are high up on the most expensive piece of kit you can buy.

Where should I look for a used treadmill?

I guess the obvious answer is EBay. There tends to be quite a few treadmills for sale on the site, both from individuals and companies selling used running machines.

As with all fitness regimes, unless you are dedicated and want to change your lifestyle they tend to fall by the wayside. Therefore many people buy a treadmill expecting to put in five miles a day, but the novelty wears off after a couple of weeks and the running machine then starts to collect dust in the garage. Therefore, many of the sellers are probably selling treadmills that haven’t taken too much of a beating.

What is usually for sale?

Not suprisingly, quite often the range of treadmills for sale are from the more consumer oriented brands, such as Reebok, York, Carl Lewis and Roger Black. Many of the running machines that I have seen for sale are collection only, so this may also limit the choice you have.

Catalogue Returns

If you see a power seller on EBay selling a treadmill, the chances are that the machine is a catologue return. These machines are usually purchases that people have made with the dream of putting in miles a day, but then realising after buying the machine, that for whatever reason running on a treadmill isn’t the fitness regime they want to follow. Usually the treadmill is returned to the store and these third party sellers pick them up to sell on.

Again, the range of treadmills tend to be along the lines of Roger Black treadmills, or from York as these are usually the brands that are for sale from the likes of Argos.

So what are the positives of buying a used treadmill?

It comes as no suprise that the main positive to buying a used running machine is that it is going to be cheaper than buying a brand spanking new model. So you have the advantage of being able to see if a treadmill is right for you without paying full price.

And the downsides?

Well your buying a used treadmill! Seriously though, when you buy a new treadmill its covered by a warranty so if anything goes wrong you’ll have that piece of mind.

As many of the pages on this site attempt to explain what you should be looking for in a treadmill, you certainly won’t have as much choice when buying second-hand. You may have to compromise on brand or features.

Some questions to ask…

If you’re going to go for a used treadmill, consider asking some of the following questions.

• How old is the machine – OK the machine is second-hand but don’t compromise too much.
• Has the treadmill been used much – You may find that the treadmill that is for sale was used solidly for a couple of weeks and is now just sat in the garage.
• Does it still have a warranty – Treadmills do tend to have at least a two year warranty on the motor, and potentially longer on the frame. Find out how long the warranty is and when it runs out.
• Can I get replacement parts – Even if the running machine is coming to the end of its warranty, if it does break down can you get spares so it could be repaired.