# Subscription fee



## opus472 (Jul 4, 2007)

Currently have an HD, looking at Roamio Pro. Called Tivo to see what they could do on a lifetime subscription. They offered $99 on the HD, but that doesn't do me much good on the Roamio. Finally, they agreed to cut my monthly fee to $6.95 on the HD and then transfer that fee to the Roamio for its lifetime.


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## Keen (Aug 3, 2009)

What's pretty common for upgraders like yourself is to buy the $99 lifetime on the old Tivo, then sell it. The lifetime means the Tivo is worth way more than one without lifetime, even old Tivos like your HD can fetch a couple hundred dollars with lifetime.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Keen said:


> What's pretty common for upgraders like yourself is to buy the $99 lifetime on the old Tivo, then sell it. The lifetime means the Tivo is worth way more than one without lifetime, even old Tivos like your HD can fetch a couple hundred dollars with lifetime.


True, but as time passes, the value for HD units are dropping. I did get $200 a piece for my S3's about 6 months ago, but your mileage may differ. I am not sure I would bother spending $100 and going through all the trouble of selling it for any less then that. Shipping costs and all the trouble may not be worth the profit.

How long have you had TiVo's? Did you discuss the loyalty upgrade program with TiVo?


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## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

bradleys said:


> True, but as time passes, the value for HD units are dropping. I did get $200 a piece for my S3's about 6 months ago, but your mileage may differ. I am not sure I would bother spending $100 and going through all the trouble of selling it for any less then that. Shipping costs and all the trouble may not be worth the profit.
> 
> How long have you had TiVo's? Did you discuss the loyalty upgrade program with TiVo?


I would have to agree on this as Series 4 with lifetime are averaging -200 to 300 depending on model. I picked up a XL4 lifetime and a mini for $320.


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## opus472 (Jul 4, 2007)

bradleys said:


> How long have you had TiVo's? Did you discuss the loyalty upgrade program with TiVo?


Bought the HD in 2008. We didn't specifically discuss loyalty upgrade (first I've heard of that), but I asked what they could do for me on the Roamio. Only thing they came up with was allegedly knocking $100 off the Roamio lifetime sub, to $399. The unit itself would still cost me $600, as opposed to approx $450 at Amazon (or Best Buy with price match). Think it's worth calling back about the loyalty upgrade?


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

opus472 said:


> Bought the HD in 2008. We didn't specifically discuss loyalty upgrade (first I've heard of that), but I asked what they could do for me on the Roamio. Only thing they came up with was allegedly knocking $100 off the Roamio lifetime sub, to $399. The unit itself would still cost me $600, as opposed to approx $450 at Amazon (or Best Buy with price match). Think it's worth calling back about the loyalty upgrade?


Some people have received the loyalty discount even if short of the 10 years by some years. With it, you'd pay full price for the Pro but get lifetime for $99, and so saving over the Amazon price plus $399 multi-TiVo subscription discount price. It can never hurt to ask, in my opinion--who knows what they might say . . . .


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

opus472 said:


> Bought the HD in 2008. We didn't specifically discuss loyalty upgrade (first I've heard of that), but I asked what they could do for me on the Roamio. Only thing they came up with was allegedly knocking $100 off the Roamio lifetime sub, to $399. The unit itself would still cost me $600, as opposed to approx $450 at Amazon (or Best Buy with price match). Think it's worth calling back about the loyalty upgrade?


The loyalty program was for customers who have been with tivo for 10 + years.

They didn't offer you squat, that is the standard multi unit discount / PLS coupon price - and you can buy your tivo anywhere and get that...

What is your current monthly service fee?


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## gespears (Aug 10, 2007)

I just sold my two TiVo Premieres for 340 and 350 on eBay. These were the 2 channel versions with 2TB hard drives.

You might want to use Spherular's coupon. It's about the best deal around. His site is http://spherular.com


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## opus472 (Jul 4, 2007)

bradleys said:


> What is your current monthly service fee?


Paying $141 annually

My understanding is that the $6.95 monthly fee would apply to one unit (currently the HD, then the replacement Roamio)


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## opus472 (Jul 4, 2007)

gespears said:


> You might want to use Spherular's coupon. It's about the best deal around. His site is http://spherular.com


Amazon usually has the Pro for around $450, looks like lifetime sub would be additional $250 thru this site ($700 total), payoff in about 3 years at $6.95/month


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

opus472 said:


> Amazon usually has the Pro for around $450, looks like lifetime sub would be additional $250 thru this site ($700 total), payoff in about 3 years at $6.95/month


Not quite sure where you're getting that $250 figure from--from what I've seen, it's $499 regular price, $399 as multi-unit discount or with a code, or less but if you're doing a unit + subscription deal (TiVo loyalty offer, eBay package deal offer). Individual deals may be available by speaking with a TiVo rep.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

idk, but it sounds to me like his best bet would be to accept the $6.95/month service transfer option they mentioned from his HD unit to his new Roamio. It would take about 5 years of paying $6.95/month (~$84/year) to break even on any MSD lifetime payment of $399 and ~6 years if no MSD. Who the heck knows what technology will be out in 5 years, especially with cablecards going the way of the Dodo!

I would ask TiVo if they would honor the service transfer for a Roamio bought at retail instead of direct from them and also look into maybe buying the Plus instead of a pro and then just upgrading with a larger 3TB HDD yourself to save a few more bucks.

If it were me, I'd take that deal and run for the hills!


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

bradleys said:


> True, but as time passes, the value for HD units are dropping. I did get $200 a piece for my S3's about 6 months ago, but your mileage may differ. I am not sure I would bother spending $100 and going through all the trouble of selling it for any less then that. Shipping costs and all the trouble may not be worth the profit.
> 
> How long have you had TiVo's? Did you discuss the loyalty upgrade program with TiVo?


On Jan 9th 2015 I got $210 for a TiVo HD (with Lifetime) on E-Bay, but after paying shipping/E-Bay fee/PayPal fee I had a net of $168.


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## gespears (Aug 10, 2007)

lessd said:


> On Jan 9th 2015 I got $210 for a TiVo HD (with Lifetime) on E-Bay, but after paying shipping/E-Bay fee/PayPal fee I had a net of $168.


Yeah I cringe every time I have to use Fleabay because they take 10 percent which I feel is outrageous. Now, they even take 10 percent of what you charge for shipping. Then you have the paypal fees and then you actually have to ship it. Out of the 690 I got for both premieres I only cleared a little over 550.


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## opus472 (Jul 4, 2007)

Mikeguy said:


> Not quite sure where you're getting that $250 figure from


Assuming spherular is legit, they're showing $700 for a Pro with lifetime. The Pro is generally available at Amazon for around $450, which means I'd be paying an additional $250 for lifetime using spherular. Plus $50 for the coupon, I guess, it's not very clear.


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## sangs (Jan 1, 2003)

opus472 said:


> Assuming spherular is legit, they're showing $700 for a Pro with lifetime. The Pro is generally available at Amazon for around $450, which means I'd be paying an additional $250 for lifetime using spherular. Plus $50 for the coupon, I guess, it's not very clear.


An additional $250? I used spherular and got a couple Roamio Pros with Lifetime for $699 each, plus the $49 code. The Amazon route ($450 + $499 or $399) is between $100 to $200 more per Roamio Pro.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Got it, opus472: you're just calculating, in you head, what the breakdown cost of the PLS kind of amounts to under the spherular package route, assuming a low-ish box price such as seen at Amazon.com. Of course, it's all a mental game, in the end, given that if you purchased a box at Amazon at its low-ish price, you would have to pay significantly more to buy the PLS separately, as sangs notes above.

For whatever it's worth, I have only read here and at eBay positive comments about the spherular offering. And his deal gets the PLS down to around what I paid for PLS almost 10 years ago--given the continuing increase of that subscription price, that's a very good thing. And yes, as I understand it as well, you pay the additional eBay amount to spherular for his service (various people have commented here that you can ask for a discount on that price, as a forum participant, and spherular indicates at his auction page that he'll entertain lower offers, if I recall correctly).


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## raqball (Feb 23, 2015)

Mikeguy said:


> Got it, opus472: you're just calculating, in you head, what the breakdown cost of the PLS kind of amounts to under the spherular package route, assuming a low-ish box price such as seen at Amazon.com. Of course, it's all a mental game, in the end, given that if you purchased a box at Amazon at its low-ish price, you would have to pay significantly more to buy the PLS separately, as sangs notes above.
> 
> For whatever it's worth, I have only read here and at eBay positive comments about the spherular offering. And his deal gets the PLS down to around what I paid for PLS almost 10 years ago--given the continuing increase of that subscription price, that's a very good thing. And yes, as I understand it as well, you pay the additional eBay amount to spherular for his service (various people have commented here that you can ask for a discount on that price, as a forum participant, and spherular indicates at his auction page that he'll entertain lower offers, if I recall correctly).


My experience using spherular's service was outstanding!

I paid $40 for the code (which arrived within minutes of paying) and then I ordered a Roamio with lifetime for $450 direct from Tivo.

Price breakdown on my order was:

$40 for the code
$150 for the Roamio
$300 for the Lifetime subscription

Without using the code I would have paid $700. My savings, even after including the price of the code, was $210 and I ordered direct from Tivo..

Can't beat that..


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

raqball said:


> My experience using spherular's service was outstanding!
> 
> I paid $40 for the code (which arrived within minutes of paying) and then I ordered a Roamio with lifetime for $450 direct from Tivo.
> 
> ...


I had the same experience except that spherular will cut the code cost down to $29 for us (TCF) if you E-Mail him.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

raqball said:


> My experience using spherular's service was outstanding! I paid $40 for the code (which arrived within minutes of paying) and then I ordered a Roamio with lifetime for $450 direct from Tivo. Price breakdown on my order was: $40 for the code $150 for the Roamio $300 for the Lifetime subscription Without using the code I would have paid $700. My savings, even after including the price of the code, was $210 and I ordered direct from Tivo.. Can't beat that..


In the illustrious words of many here:

"That's VooDoo math, you're not _really_ saving anything!", just like they say for all cord cutters.


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## opus472 (Jul 4, 2007)

sangs said:


> An additional $250? I used spherular and got a couple Roamio Pros with Lifetime for $699 each, plus the $49 code. The Amazon route ($450 + $499 or $399) is between $100 to $200 more per Roamio Pro.


True, but also need to calculate the payback period. With a purchase price of $450 and $6.95 monthly fee, would take about 3 years to reach $700 total. Plus, I now have $130 credit with Tivo after switching from my annual payment to the monthly fee, not sure whether they'd refund that in cash. If not, that's another 18 months of "free" service I'd be giving up.


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## sangs (Jan 1, 2003)

opus472 said:


> True, but also need to calculate the payback period. With a purchase price of $450 and $6.95 monthly fee, would take about 3 years to reach $700 total. Plus, I now have $130 credit with Tivo after switching from my annual payment to the monthly fee, not sure whether they'd refund that in cash. If not, that's another 18 months of "free" service I'd be giving up.


Gotcha. Then again, if you have it for more than about 3 years...


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