Yesterday, we looked at how to cut costs for fitness equipment by purchasing from personal sellers, individuals who presumably haven’t even looked at the elliptical trainer or whatever from the time when they purchased it. In today’s post, let’s take a look at remanufactured or refurbished fitness equipment. This means equipment which has possibly been used before, but which has been repaired to a variable degree and is then marketed as being “nearly new”.

The marketplace for remanufactured equipment sprang up as many bigger gyms began to lease their equipment rather than buying it. This helped to reduce their set up costs , as well as making it less costly to renew equipment after a few years, to obtain the newest equipment relatively frequently, before it becoming overused and worthless. As a result of this, the second-hand machines are passed by the production firm to a refurbishing company, who go on to remanufacture and put the machine up for resell.

Another point is that some people think that “refurbished” indicates something flawed within the equipment. Correct, some refurbished equipment might have been sent back as a result of a defect, however many others would be returned because of customer returns for non-failure reasons. If the retailed has a high-quality returns policy, they will repay the customer’s money and give back the equipment to the manufacturer. From then on, the producer is not able to advertise the equipment by calling it “new” - it must be resold via the refurbishment market. More importantly this is relevant even in situations where the machine has been neither damaged nor faulty. Eg, if a treadmill arrives with the consumer, and the protective packagin is damaged, the customer can refuse to accept the package. Despite the fact that the machine itself is not damaged, the manufacturer cannot re-market the machine as if it were new to a different buyer. And in the event that there is damage, it might be only a minor scratch.

Similarly if the buyer purchased on credit, received the goods, but then went on to cancel the credit agreement under a a relevant consumer act, the machine might even be within it’s packaging, but again is limited to being resold via a refurbishment company. Additional remanufacturing reasons include: presentation machines which were too long on the shop floor; packaging which as been opened in error; or a machine which has missing items, and which are then swapped at some stage in the remanufacturing.

The key problem with remanufactured equipment is the issue of quality checks. Numerous companies will take products apart to their smallest parts, exchange everything that’s not working, comprehensively test the machine, perhaps even sandblast the paintwork and re-paint it, and finally market it. In spite of this, some companies may just give it a new paint job to conceal any corrosion patches, and do no more.

So before you hand over your money, the first thing to do is to inspect the remanufacturers’ background. Perform a number of searches online for articles about them, or look into whether you can contact other buyers by some other method. Then, confirm if the company offers a warranty or returns policy. Amazingly, it’s even possible get a guarantee on refurbished goods. This might mean it costs a bit more and the guarantee probably will not last as long as it does the corresponding new version, but it helps to reassure you that the company stands by their refurbishing work.

Next, as soon as you’ve contacted the business and have settled on which product you are intending to purchase, hunt down a user handbookx for that exclusive version. You might be able to order one from the refurbisher, or somewhere else on the internet. Take the handbook when you are ready to buy the machine, and check what’s shown in the handbook to make sure all functionality is working. If it’s feasible, ask for a background on the machine: why has it been entered into restoration? Plus, seek advice on how to look after the machine.

Summing up: Obviously, there are various gambles when purchasing remanufactured exercise equipment, but provided you stick to the advice described in this article, you should be that much nearer to receiving an outstanding machine at an equally tremendous fee.