What About My Treadmill?: Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms
An unused treadmill is taking a room you need. Sell it and let someone else use it. Ari Kimmelfeld on the Minimalist Moms Podcast with Diane Boden.
The hardest things to declutter are often the big investments that once stood for our best intentions: the treadmill, the bike, the sauna. On episode 434 of the Minimalist Moms Podcast, host Diane Boden talked with Commonplace founder Ari Kimmelfeld about why decluttering often fails because of guilt, not laziness, and how to move forward honestly. Diane's own example was an Echelon in her garage.
Listen to the episode: Why You're Still Holding Onto That Treadmill (And What to Do About It) | Ari Kimmelfeld (EP434), Minimalist Moms Podcast with Diane Boden, aired February 3, 2026. Listen on Spotify.
Key takeaways
- Look at the space, not the equipment. Ask what that corner of the garage or bedroom should be used for now.
- Guilt comes from two places: what you paid, and knowing you should have let it go already.
- Selling eases the guilt. You get some value back, and someone else uses it for the reason you bought it.
- Clutter reflects a season of life, not your character.
- Start with the smallest thing. One item off one shelf counts.
- Do not turn decluttering into a scoreboard. Reconnect with who you are now instead of reinventing yourself.
What does Commonplace do?
Commonplace picks up big items you are done with, including the treadmill in the spare room, and pays you at pickup. Listing is free. The point of the episode is not a gadget. It is the expensive thing that used to mean a goal, and now means clutter, and how to move it on without a meetup.
I started a company called Commonplace... a marketplace for wellness and fitness equipment. So think Pelotons, but also cold plunges, hot tubs, saunas, home gyms, things that are heavy, typically expensive when people purchase them, and really hard to move or assemble, disassemble... So we basically manage all of the logistics for people getting rid of these things or buying something secondhand and not having to buy it new.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 03:01
We actually started this just because we saw and heard that problem over and over again. Somebody bought something like an Echelon or a treadmill or an infrared sauna, and you typically spend a lot of money on it. It's heavy, it's bulky, it's a really big headache to get rid of it.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 04:33
Start with the space, not the equipment
Ask what the room should be used for now. If the answer is not the treadmill, the machine is in the way of that answer, however good the purchase felt. Selling it is how you get the room back and let someone else train on it. The decision starts with the space, then the listing.
Diane said the hard part is the future version of you who will get back on the bike: "Realistically, if we're not doing that now, what makes us think we're going to do it in the future?" Ari turned the question around.
What is that Echelon doing there now? And what should be in that space? Think about the space, think about the function.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 04:06
Why "new year, new me" brings guilt
A new year makes the unused treadmill louder, because it was supposed to be the new you. That guilt is about a past intention, not about a moral failure in the present. The machine can leave. The goal, if you still want it, does not have to live in that particular piece of equipment in that particular room.
Diane asked what drives the push to finally get organized each January. Ari said the framing is the problem.
Fundamentally we think that there's something broken, that something there needs fixing, and I think that is a mindset that typically brings in guilt. It's not the greatest perspective.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 05:40
I'm not trying to become someone else by doing these things. It's more so that I'm reconnecting with what I do every day. And sometimes that shifts in different seasons, different years.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 08:14
Why do we feel guilty getting rid of things?
Ari sees two kinds of guilt. You paid good money, and you already know you should have let it go. Selling answers both. You get some of the value back, someone else uses it for the reason you bought it, and it does not go to the junkyard. The guilt was never proof that you should keep it.
I think the feeling of guilt comes from two main things. One, I think, is knowing that you paid good money for something... it was a $5,000 sauna, and I bought it, and I wanted to use it, and I did use it, but you really know that right now it's not getting the use. And so you also still feel bad about getting rid of it because you paid good money. And then the other thing I think is knowing that you should have done this already, and being honest with yourself: this is not something I'm currently using.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 09:18
What helps, Ari said, is getting something back, and knowing the item will be used.
You're not just getting rid of it, you're selling it, and obviously you're not going to get exactly what you paid for it. But giving some value alleviates a little bit of that guilt... Somebody else is taking it, and they're going to be using it for the original intention and the purpose of why I bought it.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 09:18
The full answer is in why you feel guilty getting rid of exercise equipment.
Clutter is circumstance, not character
A messy room is often a season: a new job, a new baby, a routine that changed faster than the furniture did. It is not a verdict on your habits. The treadmill can belong to a season that ended. Naming it that way makes it easier to sell the object without selling a story about who you are.
Diane had been snowed in all week with the kids home, and her house showed it. Ari said that mess is not a verdict on her.
That mess is not attributable to your character or your habits... There are cycles, there are seasons, there are different transition points in life. People get new jobs, they have kids, priorities change. And sometimes I think these transitions happen faster than we learn to deal with them or cope with them.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 12:16
Is winter a good time to declutter?
Winter is when you feel what your home is doing for you, because you are in it. Spring cleaning gets the reputation, but winter is a fair time to notice what is only taking space. A treadmill you are not using is easier to see in January than in a busy May. That is a good time to list it.
Winter is typically a time where people can take that as an opportunity to hunker down, whether it's getting on a treadmill or spending more time at home just because it's cold outside. And so because of that, we are seeing an uptick in traffic, in both people listing their products and also people wanting products that they can use at home.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 14:43
More in is winter a good time to sell fitness equipment.
How do you save time and energy when you declutter big things?
The time sink is the messages, the no-shows, and the plan to disassemble a treadmill yourself. Hand that to a crew. You list it, they take it apart and carry it out, and you are paid at pickup. The energy you save is the emotional energy, too, because you are not hosting a stranger to do it.
One of the reasons why we built Commonplace is just to take the friction out of all of those back and forth Facebook Marketplace messages. People messaging you 20 times a day, 'Hi, is this available?' But then nobody shows up, and people have lives, people have jobs.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 16:51
If you want to sell something, it's free to list. And once it sells, we just pick it up, and we pay you immediately upon pickup. So you don't have strangers coming to your home. You don't get scammed with payments.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 16:51
Be kind to yourself, and skip the scoreboard
Keeping score of what you spent, and what you 'should' have done with it, is how the treadmill stays. The kinder move is to stop treating resale as a report card. Get a fair pickup, hand the machine to someone who will use it, and let the room be for the life you have now. That is the whole win.
Asked what he most wanted listeners to hear, Ari said:
It's just important to be kind to yourself. What's super important is not to just try to reinvent yourself in the new year, and I think that's probably the biggest mistake. It's super easy to be harsh... and turn even decluttering into performance metrics of how many items am I getting rid of... treating this as a sport instead of just a way of optimizing life for functionality and connecting with yourself right now.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 19:35
The hardest part is getting started
The decision sits for months because starting feels like it will take a weekend and a truck. It does not. Starting is the listing, with photos and a price. After that, the pickup is someone else's job. The hard part is the first honest look at the machine, not the bolts.
The hardest part is really to get started. And you can get started with the smallest thing, and that counts as getting started. The smallest pebble is enough to get the biggest snowball rolling... even taking something off the shelf. I think that's enough, because once that happens, it's a mindset shift, and you start to want to do more.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 21:11
What to do with the big thing you are still holding onto
If you are not using it, sell it while it still works. A treadmill has a used market, and the value question is public: what buyers pay, not what you paid. List it, have it picked up, and get paid at the door. Holding it is a choice to spend the room on a goal that already ended.
I put real money into it, getting rid of it is a logistical challenge, and so I don't want to get rid of it, but I know that I should... It's totally easy to list. We literally come, we pick it up, we disassemble it if it's a treadmill or a hot tub or a sauna, and then we deliver it to the next person that's going to use it.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 22:27
It's easier to be honest with yourself when it's easy. When the truth is hard, it's hard. But when the truth is easier, I think it's easier to be honest with yourself.
Ari Kimmelfeld on Minimalist Moms EP434, at 23:41
Step by step: what to do with a treadmill you don't use. For the price question, read what a used treadmill is worth. To list one, start on the treadmill, home gym, or sauna sell page.
Categories in this episode
These are the two or three categories this conversation covers. Shop the used listings, or open the sell page when you are ready to let one go.
- Treadmills. Selling one: sell your treadmill.
- Home gyms. Selling one: sell home gym equipment.
- Saunas.
FAQ
Why do I feel guilty getting rid of exercise equipment I don't use?
Ari Kimmelfeld sees two sources: you paid good money for it, and you know you should have let it go already. Selling it helps with both. You get some value back, and someone else uses it for the reason you bought it.
How do I start decluttering when it feels overwhelming?
Start with the smallest thing. Ari's advice: even taking one item off a shelf counts, because it shifts your mindset and you start to want to do more. Be kind to yourself and do not turn decluttering into a scoreboard.
Is winter a good time to declutter?
Ari said winter is when people spend more time at home and notice what adds function and what is just clutter. Commonplace saw more people listing, and more people shopping for equipment to use at home.
What should I do with a treadmill I don't use?
Think about what that space should be used for instead. If the answer is not the treadmill, sell it. On Commonplace listing is free, and when it sells a crew takes it apart, carries it out, and pays you at pickup. Sell a treadmill.
Thank you to Diane Boden for having Ari on Minimalist Moms Podcast. Quotes are from the episode, lightly edited for reading. Listen to the full conversation on Spotify.
More from Ari's podcast interviews: questions Ari answered on podcasts and every show he has been on.
Let it go to someone who will use it
List it free. We pick it up, take it apart, and pay you at pickup.