# Worth listing?



## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Hi all. After 6 months of trying to manage with the ALTEPG service I've given up. I use my TiVo mostly for my little boys programmes and the ALTEPG data for kids TV is really lacking (and it records most shows twice) so I bought a Freeview recorder instead. 

I see allot of people are giving away TiVos but I'd like to cover some of the costs of my new box (it wasn't that much). Is there any money to be made on a 'well known auction site' from listing a TiVo and if so how much should I list for? My TiVo has a large HDD and a network card. Installed Tivoweb, Tivoweb+, buffer, now playing with sort and several other popular hacks. I've lost track of exactly how many I've installed over the years. Any advice would be great. Thanx.


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## replaytv (Feb 21, 2011)

that will tell you if there is any demand for it.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

There have been a couple listed lately but they weren't offering 'cards, larger HDDs or ALTEPG so not of good comparisions. Hence my question to the good folk on the forum.


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## davidshack (Aug 17, 2002)

Typically a cachecarded TiVo with large drives etc etc has been going recently on Ebay for around £50. A standard TiVo for £10-£25. Out of that you wil pay ebay & paypal fees, plus have the hassle. After all, they are ten years old, have run 24/7 and have no warranty.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

You can't even give them away these days.


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## Richard42 (Dec 27, 2000)

I don't understand the large number of Virgin tivo's for sale on that site  - surley you'd need a virgin sub and thus would get a new box for free. Or am I missing something ?


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Such a shame. I've worked on my TiVo and I'd hate to just give it away. I wouldn't even want a lot (not even £50), just a few bob to cover the Freeview recorder. I guess when factoring in eBay and Paypal fees (if posting) I might as well stick it in the loft forever more. A sad day.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Richard42, I agree. I can't get my head around that. It's not the same as buying a Sky / Sky+ / Sky+HD box from eBay where you could get some services without a sub'. With a Virgin TiVo box my understanding is you need a sub' to get anything?! Maybe it's cheaper than buying a box from Virgin directly.


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## kandinsky (Jan 16, 2005)

I m looking for a network card for a tivo....


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

I agree with davidshack. I've been watching TiVo prices on eBay for the past year and after a brief rise in value in July/Aug they've plummeted again.

A Turbonet card by itself is worth £20-25 (vs. £35 new from John in NZ), or if it's a Cachecard then about £45-50 (vs. £70 new from TivoCentral, or £90 from Tivoland).

Unfortunately the rump is then only worth £5-12. Perhaps slightly more if the person can collect (and thereby avoid postage charges).



Edit: I meant to say that the postage charges really hammer the price potential - i.e. a complete Tivo+Turbonet/Cachecard will actually sell for *less* than the value of the parts due to the £15 delivery charge making it very pricey to the buyer. Most people only want the network card so will discount the larger HDD and the AltEPG - this obviously affects how much they will bid.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

My box has a Cachecard not a Turbonet card. I think the drive is 300GB or maybe 250GB. I'd be happy with £30 or £40 quid but as you say someone would have to be in my part of the world although I think I'm going to offer free postage on eBay. I know of one courier, whom I've used before, and they only charges in the region of a fiver.


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

Yes I think it's possible to get postage for about £9 (inc vat). Hint: a boxed TiVo weighs 7.2 kg (I think from memory).

Edit: mind you, if you only want £30-40 then personally I would sell the cachecard separately and scrap the rest - you would end up with more in your pocket at t'end of day.
cachecard on eBay this week


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

WOW. With a capital WOW. Why are the cards going for so much and the boxes for so little? Can they be used for something else? I think my RAM is 500MB as well. Can I tell someway? Via TiVo web perhaps? I'll be listing my 'card today!


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Richard42 said:


> I don't understand the large number of Virgin tivo's for sale on that site  - surley you'd need a virgin sub and thus would get a new box for free. Or am I missing something ?


No. You're absolutely right. I have been assured that VM are "all over it" but they don't seem to be doing too good a job of it. Or maybe it's eBay that aren't acting quick enough. Not sure.


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

rickynumber18 said:


> Why are the cards going for so much and the boxes for so little?


Because new cachecards are £70 or £90 (depending on where you get them) and unlike discs they don't really wear out!  So they hold their value.

Plus as I say (in the edit to my post above which you might not have seen since it was timed after your post IYSWIM) it's the postage cost which makes a whole TiVo expensive to the buyer.

There should be a little sticker on the ram chips saying what size it is. If not then tell me the number written on top of one of the chips (they should all be the same) and I'll look it up. (Or I think when you switch the TiVo on, the cachecard driver says how much memory its found).


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

The Cachecard driver is displaying 500MB so that answers that. I'd have covered postage for the TiVo box but it's not worth it when I could get £50 for the Cachecard. Maybe I could throw the TiVo in for free, if the person buying was near me. I'll post again when the Cachecard and RAM are listed.


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

Just for "balance" there was this one which had 500 GB HD and Cachecard which went for £68 + £15 postage. However I think that was a bit pricey (£83 to the buyer).


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Thanks for that. That's interesting. I wonder why a buyer (and 5 bids total) were willing to pay so much. Maybe for parts? Broken down they may make more than that back. Now I don't know what to do. My HDD isn't 500GB. To list the whole TiVo or just the 'card? Decisions.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

I think I'll do a all-in-one listing for now. Throwing in the TiVo, Glo remote, RT2Link TP and a free Sky receiver. Can't hurt, it's just the listing fee I stand to loose and if nought comes of it I'll break it up into parts in the New Year.


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

:nods: Sounds good. If you mention that it is already configured & working with AltEPG, and with Freesky thrown in (so it just needs a £20 "free" card from Sky if the buyer doesn't have Sky already) then you make it more attractive to new-to-TiVo-people as well as we techno-f*rts


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

I think with all the bits I have to throw in and free postage someone might bite. Does anyone know from TiVoweb or TiVoweb+ how to tell how big my hard drive is? I can't remember what I put in some 5+ years ago!

Space Usage DetailsUser Space
By Name	2	1295 MB	0.5%	1:04:04
Season Pass	44	21043 MB	8.8%	17:16:51
Live Cache	1	2048 MB	0.9%	0:48:03
Used User Space	47	24386 MB	10.2%	19:08:58
Reserved Space
Used Reserved Space	0	0 MB	0.0%	0:00:00
Space Summary
Total Space	-	238336 MB	100.0%	195:47:52
Total Used	47	24386 MB	10.2%	19:08:58
Total Free - Medium	-	213950 MB	89.8%	175:45:51
Deleted**	12	5315 MB	2.2%	4:22:08


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

Looks like a 250GB. TWP usually lists the hdparm info on the "Info" page. This will show the disc make & model number as well as the number of disc sectors (under "geometry"). Disc size in GB = number of sectors * 512 /1000 /1000 / 1000


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Thanks. 

geometry = 16383/16/63, sectors = 490234752


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

250 Gb


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Thank you Sir.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Hi. I've listed the TiVo on 'that well known Internet auction site', item no. 120830732831. I think with free postage it might be worth something to someone just to break it down for parts to relist. If they can be bothered.

If anyone thinks I've missed anything in the auction please let me know. Thanks for all your help today. Merry Xmas.


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

now that's interesting... my sis' lives in your town  ...


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Is your sis' Devo Adler? I see she/he is in Essex? You could get yourself a free Sky box thrown in.


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

oi, you trying to start a biddin' war?


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

I should be so lucky!!


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

cwaring said:


> No. You're absolutely right. I have been assured that VM are "all over it" but they don't seem to be doing too good a job of it. Or maybe it's eBay that aren't acting quick enough. Not sure.


Hi, Carl.

Does one purchase the Virgin Media TiVo from VM, thus owning it (and therefore being free to sell it or use it as a boat anchor or whatever) whether or not one subscribes, or continues to subscribe, to VM cable and TiVo service?

Or do the boxes actually remain the property of Virgin Media?

Can they be used in even a limited fashion if not hooked up to VM cable and subscribed?

In other words, is there any resale value, even of the black market variety?

Oh, do you guys have Craigslist over there?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

rickynumber18 said:


> Thanks.
> 
> geometry = 16383/16/63, sectors = 490234752


Multiply sectors by 512 to get bytes.

At least for the older, non-advanced format, drives.


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

unitron said:


> do the boxes actually remain the property of Virgin Media?


Yes, you always rent VM equipment, never own it.

That's despite high "activation fees" for installs which many think is buying the equipment.

After you cancel, VM can and often do ask for the equipment back a while later.
- they'll charge you £150+ if you have lost/sold the box... yes even stories of using debt collectors on that amount.



> Can they be used in even a limited fashion if not hooked up to VM cable and subscribed?


That's what's so confusing - cable encryption is better nowadays with nagra3, so they are useless even on the black market AFAIK.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Thanks to mikw for answering the questions posed. I was out so didn't see the original post 



unitron said:


> Oh, do you guys have Craigslist over there?


I was just going to say no, but then I did a Google search and it seems that we actually do 

A reminder:


cwaring said:


> Basic S1 box; no network but does have larger (200GB I think) hard drive in it.
> 
> Pick-up anytime by pre-arrangement.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

mikerr said:


> Yes, you always rent VM equipment, never own it.
> 
> That's despite high "activation fees" for installs which many think is buying the equipment.
> 
> That's what's so confusing - cable encryption is better nowadays with nagra3, so they are useless even on the black market AFAIK.


So they're being offered for sale by people who don't understand them to buyers who don't understand them?

Assuming that when one pays for it one actually gets it.

Isn't listing it on eBay basically saying "Hey, I've got some stolen property here"?

Does law enforcement over there take the trouble to drop by in person to thank them for being so helpful?


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

unitron said:


> So they're being offered for sale by people who don't understand them to buyers who don't understand them?


No. VM *know* they're only rented. And customers *should know*.



> Isn't listing it on eBay basically saying "Hey, I've got some stolen property here"?


Pretty much, yeah.


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## spitfires (Dec 19, 2006)

Nice one Ricky  Let me know if they collect rather than post, so I can adjust my mental record of sale prices.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Hi there. Thanks. I can't believe it went up to £90! OMG. Another unit sold yesterday with the same specs' as mine for just £51 + postage so I didn't think I'd get above £50. 

Have now received payment (thanks to the buyer if you're on here) and will hopefully get the box shipped to it's new home during the week.

Merry Xmas everyone have a great day.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Many thanks Spitfires. You were bang on with 7.2kg. Although that was after packaging had been added in my case. Cheers.


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