CEO Says Peloton Not For Sale As Peloton Repowered Marketplace Debuts

Peloton has launched an equipment and accessories resale marketplace called Peloton Repowered, as the company boss also slapped a ‘not for sale’ sign over the business.

Speaking at a Bloomberg event today, CEO Peter Stern insisted that he had not been brought in to find a buyer for the company but instead is looking to capitalize on new and existing customers with a range of initiatives, including the growing trend towards pre-used merchandise.

Initially eligible for sellers located in the Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C. metro areas, the marketplace will then expand nationally in the coming months and has been created to connect buyers and sellers in the same metro area, Peloton said.

In its testing phase it will launch in beta and until there is enough inventory will only allow users to list items, with the facility to buy and sell to be introduced in the next few weeks.

The platform will enable members to post their used Peloton equipment and gear and set a price with help from a generative AI tool, the company said, although sellers will have the final say on how much to list the item for.

Peloton Repowered sellers will receive 70% of the sale price and a discount on new Peloton workout equipment, adding to the discounted products it sells, which already include refurbished equipment, offering a peer-to-peer pre-owned option.

The sellers’ discount on new Peloton equipment will range from around $200 to $600, depending on what type of new equipment is purchased, while Peloton Repowered buyers will receive a reduced used activation fee for the equipment they purchase at $45, which compares with its typical used equipment activation fee of $95.

Buyers will be able to see the equipment’s history on the listing and have the option to get the item delivered for an extra fee, Peloton said.

Peloton Repowered Marketplace Rival

The Peloton Repowered platform works through the Archive platform, which has worked with fashion brands including The North Face, Dr. Martens and New Balance and Peloton said previously it had started to see a “meaningful increase” in the number of new members who bought used Bikes or Treads from peer-to-peer markets such as Facebook Marketplace.

The launch of Peloton’s new resale platform follows third-quarter earnings released last month that showed a 13% year-on-year fall in revenue to $624 million and a wider-than-expected net loss of nearly $48 million.

Peloton ended the third quarter with 2.9 million paid fitness subscribers, down 6% from a year prior.

Peloton’s stock value is a fraction of the peak in 2021, when enforced pandemic lockdowns led to a surge in home exercise and rocketing equipment and subscription sales. CEO Peter Stern – who was co-founder of Apple Fitness+ – took the helm in January and been trying to revamp the company, although he has so far been unable to reverse value declines which have seen the stock price fall by over a fifth since the start of the year.

Speaking at a Bloomberg event yesterday, Stern stressed that he had no intention of selling the company as he reaffirmed his commitment to reviving the bike and running workouts firm and keeping it “a standalone company.”

“I was not hired to sell this company,” he said. “I was hired to bring this company back to growth, reinvigorate it, and that is happening.”

Peloton Repowered Focus Shift

He said that Peloton must evolve into a more personalized coach powered by AI, while expanding its reach through retail, international markets, and travel, including a stronger presence in hotel gyms. The company has implemented several initiatives to steady the business, including 15% job cuts announced last year and shifting its focus to subscription sales over hardware.

The company last month also initiated a pricing strategy to offer discounted equipment rates for eligible educators, healthcare workers, first responders and military personnel in the U.S.

Peloton Repowered also seems to play to Stern’s assertion that the company must balance between hardware and software: “Our future is not to try to scale the app at the expense of that equipment business,” he said