upCYCLING Membership

Don't understand this. I have 3 kids and 4 woom bikes. My third kid has outgrown the woom 1 now ... So was looking to get on this to start upgrading, but this requires bikes to be less than 2 years old?So who is this for? Only people with a single child who want a nearly annual upgrade? Bc if you have to buy the new bike before returning the old one, and old one has to be less than 2 years, you have a very tight window.

This is really a horrible program and a money grab. As others have said, not only is 40% a joke, but kids don’t outgrow their bike in 2 seasons sometimes. Great bikes with high resale value. Selling them on marketplace will get you 70% of purchase price. My son wasn’t ready for another bike for 2+ years. I would rather have a loyalty program since I have had 6 bikes purchased and multiple “upcycle” dumps. Fooled me twice. Shame on me.

If it was an upcycle without the cost to purchase the program that may help BUT for $60 to be allowed to trade in ruins the whole thing. So I purchased a $250 bike and if I trade in you will give me 40%. 250 x 0.4 = $100. But minis the $60 fee that's only $40 off the next bike that is not much of a discount since the next step up is $400. A 10% discount for trading in a perfectly good bike. That is the worst deal ever. I can easily sell the original bike for $150. I get $150 for the next bike and the person I sell it to gets $100 off the original. Same goes for the next bike. I can resell a $400 bike for at least $250 or even $200 and the trade in will only give me $160. You need to completely rehaul your trade in program because it is a joke

We got the Woom 1 for my son and it's a fantastic bike. The weight allows him to maneuver it around and he's doing spectacularly on it. I was curious what the upCYCLING looked like, just to prepare for the next level, and seeing this is a massive disappointment. I was so excited for the program because it meant not having a bunch of unused, too small bikes in the garage. However, getting $80 back (minus what other are saying about $20 shipping?!), there is no incentive to do this. I could probably sell locally and get more than $80 back.Unless I can find another kids' bike brand that is equal to Woom's quality, I will continue to buy them (until, at least, my son cares to pick out his own bike). But I'm not spending $60 more on this program. Please reconsider how upCYCLING works! It was a big reason we bought Woom in the first place.

I agree with Dmitry's comment. Also, one additional issue is that the bike I would actually buy now is currently not even available from the shop, and I doubt that my kids are going to postpone their birthdays because of supply difficulties.

One of the biggest reasons to get a woom bike is the resale value. Say if you buy one for $400, you can resell it after a year or two for $300 and you'll get to ride a better bike than a $100 amazon bike that you toss after a year or two. Here, you're being offered $160 back if you return that $400 bike. But you also need to pay $60 'membership' and some shipping cost, plus the hassle of putting it back in the box and paying to ship back. This makes 0 sense when you can put this on facebook marketplace and have someone come pick it up for cash. To make this worth anything, the upcycle option should be free. They should give back 40% of previous bike cost on ALL new bikes without extra charges AND pay return shipping. And it would STILL be a great deal for the company and just an 'ok' deal for the customer. Think about it.

You can sell your woom bike in the woom Facebook group for the same cost if not more. So, this program doesn't necessarily help anyone or provide any benefits for people spending an absorbant amount on a bike. Companies also shouldn't guilt people into selling back their old things for a fraction of the current market value for donations. Companies who actually care would donate regardless. Hopefully one day there will be a bike for younger, low weight kids that is more attainable. Until then, the only way to size up when you are lower-income, is to actually sell your old bike at market value.

I've just purchased a Woom for approx $600 all in and did the math for your Upcycling program. Adds up to about $120 credit for my next bike after all costs which is laughable considering the next bike up wont be any cheaper than our current bike. Please scrap this program and start over with another that actually incentivizes the customer to upcycle with you vs other options e.g Selling it or donating it for a tax write off.

This review is purely about Woom's buy back policy and not about their awesome bikes! We have two Woom bikes for our 2.5 and 4.5 year old boys (Woom-1 & 3), and now our youngest boy is ready for Woom-2. When I saw the "40% off the original purchase price buy back policy" I thought it was a great deal but after reading up more I realize it is not even an okay deal. Woom-1 costs $199, and 40% reimbursement implies you get back ~$80. However, to avail this option you need to purchase upCycling Membership worth ~$60, and on top of that you need to pay $20 for shipment of bike you are returning. So, after factoring this in you get nothing back. In short, it is an okay deal only if you buy more than three bikes (if you started with Woom-1), or more than two bikes if you started from Woom 1 Plus and above models. Our boys absolutely love the bikes. Our first son hated bikes for almost two years until he sat on a Woom, and he was pedaling in under three weeks. So I guess we will still buy the Wooms, but their buy back policy makes little difference to us at this time.

After watching a neighbor’s child take off and ride on his Woom bike & watching other neighborhood kiddos teeter around on their enormous ‘big kid’ bikes with training wheels for months - I thought I’d give the Woom bike a try. I will admit to having reservations about the price & I’m pretty sure my husband thought I’d lost my mind. We were amazed at what a difference it made! We ordered the Woom 3 for our 5 year olds birthday (after several years on a balance bike). Of course, we had to go up to the school the very next day to learn to ride it! And, of course, dad had to work! So there I am by myself, with little brother holding onto my leg, trying to run & push this tiny bike, while filming with my phone in case there’s a miracle - lol and behold .... he just takes off riding! First try! And we had the (very shaky) video to prove it. I am a believer! We just ordered the Woom 4 and an Upcycle membership for his 6th birthday and we will definitely be starting little brother on his own bike when he turns 4 in the fall - worth every penny! The best part about this bike is that’s it’s lightweight enough that he’s already learned how to stand up & pedal so he gets up most hills on his own - no more pushing!

I absolutely love the Woom bikes, and as a professor teaching sustainability at Princeton University upcycling is a very important concept. But having worked for 10 years in bicycle retail growing up I know that the markup on bikes is about 40% so a 40% refund is basically the same as a sale price on a typical bike after the model year has ended. If you really believed in the concept I think an investment in at the very least a 50% off the price - especially considering you state some bikes are still used for "marketing purposes." As a bike shop employee we used to get special deals of 20% below the shop cost on bikes so that we would be riding and "marketing" the bikes for the company, and I think the Upcycling concept is worth at least as much investment as what all the bike shops gave us bike mechanics back in the day. Still, I'm so sick of the major bike companies making heavy Hi-Ten frames that I'm still going to invest in your program and I think other morally driven environmentally aware people should. But I think a much larger impact would be made if you tried hard to make good on upcycling and not make money.

I am a believer! Worth every penny. My daughter (3.5) has spent the last several months on a balance bike and is now ready to move on to bigger things. I purchased an inexpensive kid's bike from a local retailer, and my daughter was met with defeat and disappointment. There were tears. She lasted less than 10 minutes. She was so accustomed to being able to lift her balance bike, walk beside it, easily mount and dismount it, etc. She could do none of those things on her new pedal bike. She felt overwhelmed. I disassembled it and took it back the next day. I had been wanting to try a Woom, but I was hesitant because of the price tag. The difference in my daughter's response to the Woom was immeasurable! Smiles, giggles, confidence. She has been out on it twice without the pedals so she can learn to brake properly. She loves it! She has been coasting down inclines, enjoying the rush, feet off the ground, and stopping safely! I can't wait to have the freewheel installed so she can start to pedal!! Off to a great start! Thank you Woom, for a fabulous product!