Peloton and other companies should stop charging secondhand fees and undermining product ownership

When you buy a product, whether it’s a phone, a car, or a Peloton bike, it ought to be yours. That means you can use it, repair it or resell it if you choose. Despite this, Peloton charges a $95 fee on secondhand sales of its exercise machines. That’s absurd. We cannot allow companies to rewrite the rules of ownership by adding fees or restrictions on products they have already sold.

Peloton claims the $95 activation fee for bikes and treadmills sold through third parties provides a “high-quality onboarding experience.” Whether or not you personally feel the need to pay for that $95 “experience” is irrelevant. In response, consumers are urging Peloton to stop imposing these unnecessary fees on secondhand sales of their products.

Peloton’s interference in a transaction it should have no role in is part of a troubling trend, where manufacturers refuse to detach themselves from our software-powered, internet-connected products even after we purchase them. Those companies can use that software to dictate what we can do with products we legally own. If Peloton can charge $95 for a product it does not own, what’s to stop them from deciding to charge twice that? Using that same faulty logic, a carmaker could claim its software requires an “onboarding” fee for a car it has already sold to you. 

The Federal Trade Commission has already highlighted how restrictions in secondary markets harm consumers and stifle competition. It makes a mockery of free market principles if a manufacturer can penalize buyers and sellers of secondhand goods, especially when those sales compete with the sales of new equipment. That’s why we’re working to stand up for our right to own our stuff by calling out companies such as Peloton when they undermine users who expect freedom over the products they own.

Peloton isn’t the only culprit. Across multiple industries, manufacturers add surprise paywalls,  prevent affordable repairs, and turn off previously promised features on products we have already paid for and should have control over. All of these territorial practices fuel our growing electronic waste problem while frustrating customers and driving up costs. 

We need to empower consumers to know how long products will last, ensure access to repairs, and eliminate practices that make secondhand products less functional. That’s why we’re backing Right to Repair reforms and launched our Designed to Last campaign. 

It is time to act against unjustified fees and violations of consumer rights. By signing our petition, you can send Peloton a strong message: Consumers deserve fair trade practices, true ownership of what they buy, and a marketplace that benefits everyone.

This is about more than Peloton. When we don’t own what we buy, everything becomes disposable and keeps us stuck in a loop of buying, tossing, and repeating. Our purchases should be designed to last, repairable—and fully ours.