Pepper Robots are starting to appear on the second hand market, ebay etc. Some are even "not working" models for around $2500 US. Shipping from Japan sometimes appears to be more expensive than the robot itself.
I was considering buying a broken one and my logic was I get the casing servo's motors screen in a professional robot shell, but not really sure the level of complexity in hacking these and integrating servos cameras sensors with EZ-B and if it is really worth the money or better off building an inmoov or similar. I printed an inmoov hand and forearm but time 3D printing cleaning up, servos etc... and I can't use in a business setting as the license is restricted.
There is a tear down with photos here but not really a lot of details. https://tech.nikkeibp.co.jp/dm/english/NEWS_EN/20150625/424978/
Haha well, Gael is a super passionate and talented artist and doesn’t care about business or money - he prioritizes recognition for his work. Perhaps if you created something based on inmoov that had commercial value, it would also include significant awareness - maybe that would change his mind. He just wants to be recognized and awarded for his passion. A commercial viable application may provide enough recognition that I bet he’d consider an exception to the licensing.
Consider the fragility of an inmoov. Have you ever seen one that fell over? Not a pretty sight. Even if the license allowed it, I wouldnt dream of putting one in a store unsupervised. I wouldnt even dare put one on wheels full stop.
From what you describe, I dont really see why you would want a humanoid robot though. It makes everything more complicated an expensive, while at the same time, a non humanoid robot could be more fun and much more practical. Unless you achieve near perfection, a humanoid robot will always look awkward and, well, not very professional because we expect humanoid to move and behave like humans, which we know is really hard to pull off. OTOH, who wouldnt want to be guided to the correct isle by something resembling a Wall-E ? and that would be far easier to achieve