Many people think about buying a treadmill for their home gym, but they are not always able to afford one. An alternative is to look at used treadmills rather than brand new ones. In fact, no matter what type of equipment you buy, whether you are looking for baseball pitching machines for kids or treadmills, used equipment will be significantly cheaper than buying a brand new one.

As with buying any used equipment, especially that with motors and internal parts, you do need to exercise caution before buying one. It is important that the treadmill’s internal parts are still in good condition, otherwise you may end up with a lemon; something that stops working soon after you get it home.

It is best, whenever possible, to get a warranty even though the equipment is second hand. If it is not too old, there is a good chance it is still under warranty and in many cases that can be transferred to a new owner. If buying from a store, ask what type of warranty they are willing to give you and negotiate for longer if possible.

You will also want to ensure that it can keep up with whatever pace you set, without losing speed or grinding to a halt half-way through your workout. Go for something with 2.0 continuous horsepower. If the salesperson tries to use peak horsepower as a selling point, don’t listen to him. You need continuous horsepower!

Normally you will want to research the different treadmills before setting out to buy a used one. Write down all of the models that are known to be durable and hard-wearing; those are the ones that you will want to choose from when actually making your purchase. While other models may be cheaper, it is generally not worth taking the risk and buying a cheaper one if it’s overall quality is not known.

Author is a sports expert who likes to write about any sports related topic such as an air hockey table buyers guide, sports history, fitnnes or a commercial weight lifting equipment review.