Buying refurbished fitness equipment can save your club money-if you know what to look for.
Most club owners visit trade shows with starstruck eyes and a tight wallet-sure, all that new equipment is really cool, but at the end of the day, a small club owner has bills to pay, and that doesn’t always stretch to outfitting every part of his club with the latest fitness equipment.
Fortunately, doing that’s becoming less and less necessary. While there’s no denying that equipment with all the bells and whistles will always be a member draw, buying used and refurbished equipment is no longer a backroom deal. Advances in technology-and constantly shifting design ideologies-mean plenty of perfectly good equipment gets replaced by big health clubs every year. Which means if you’re willing to pick up a treadmill in last year’s colors, you can save some serious money and update your equipment at the same time.
“You can save anywhere from 50 to 70% buying refurbished equipment,” says Mark Clayton of Fitness Equipment Source. Clayton says the exact numbers depend on the age and quality of the equipment in question.
Still, you’ve got to be just as careful purchasing refurbished equipment as you would be purchasing new equipment. “On remanufactured equipment you should get the same life expectancy of a new piece,” says Clayton. That means you need to thoroughly vet any resale company before you do business with them: Check with the Better Business Bureau, do a Google search, ask around to find out their reputation in the industry. “Make sure you do your due diligence,” Clayton says. Most important, make sure you’re buying equipment from a seller with a good service record since your equipment is only good if your members can use it when they want to.
Though you can get both good cardiovascular and strength equipment refurbished, be extra careful when you’re purchasing cardio equipment. “Cardio equipment is like cars-it has a lot of moving parts and involves electronics,” says Nick Pugh at Fit 4 Sale. “This means these machines have a lot of parts that need to be replaced during the remanufacturing process-with cardio, you’re looking at almost a completely new machine. When purchasing a remanufactured product, always look at what exactly has been replaced by the company that is performing the work.” Strength equipment, on the other hand, can last for years without needing anything more than the occasional new decal or fresh upholstery.
And brand matters, says Clayton, who recommends opting for brand names over lesser known ones when you’re shopping for used equipment. “You want proven products from leading manufacturers because they have service ability,” he says.
And there are advantages to buying some of your club’s fitness equipment used that go beyond price, Clayton says. “Every manufacturer comes out with new products, and every single manufacturer has problems with them. So clubs can let companies work the bugs out of the new equipment and can buy used and-just like a car-get a great value on great equipment.”
