# FS: TiVo Roamio w/Lifetime - Model TCD846500



## eherberg (Feb 17, 2011)

Selling my last TiVo -- Model TCD846500 - 500 GB HD -- with Lifetime service.

Decided to list here first before Ebay. I was watching a couple of Ebay listings end and saw in both cases legitimate individuals who would have probably been actual users get sniped during the last 5 seconds by 'professional' Ebay'ers who probably don't give one rat's behind about the TiVo - but are just buying to sell for something else.

Hey -- I'll take money from an Ebay sniper too -- but I thought I would give somebody who actually would use the TiVo a shot before listing it on Ebay.

So -- pic is attached. Comes with the Roamio, remote, power cord. I even found the Quick Start poster.

Ok -- that last part was a lie. My wife actually found the Quick Start poster. I didn't even know it existed until she dug it out. But it's now packed in the USPS box with the rest of the stuff so you're getting it whether you need it or not.

Anyhoo -- it works fine. No hiccups. It's even still on Gen3 if you're one of them Hydra-Haters.

How does $300 on the nose sound? I'll even throw in the shipping at that.

If no takers - I'll post to Ebay in a couple of days and see how that goes -- but thought I would give users here a shot at it first. Oh -- shipping from the US -- and to the US. I don't know how many Canadians may see this -- but nothing against you, eh? Look, I love Trailer Park Boys as much as the next person ... but covering shipping costs to Canada is going to cut into the big-ass antenna I'm looking at that this TiVo is going to finance.

Link to ImgBB-hosted picture of the actual TiVo sitting on the edge of the chaise -- right before my wife stuffed it in the shipping box wrapped by more bubble-wrap than I've ever seen in my life.

Oh -- she also went nuts taping the box shut too. You *will* need a knife to open. Maybe a machete ...


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

eherberg said:


> Selling my last TiVo -- Model TCD846500 - 500 GB HD -- with Lifetime service.
> 
> Decided to list here first before Ebay. I was watching a couple of Ebay listings end and saw in both cases *legitimate* individuals who would have probably been actual users get sniped during the last 5 seconds by *'professional'* Ebay'ers who probably don't give one rat's behind about the TiVo - but are just buying to sell for something else.


Good luck with your sale. But I felt compelled to give you a bit of feed back on your "story." Your understanding of how Ebay bidding works and how Ebay in general works is both substantially lacking and unnecessarily biased regarding what you term "legitimate" vs "professional" Ebayers who you deem somehow "illegitimate" apparently. 
First off, because of Ebay and PayPal fees, to buy Ebay items for the sole purpose of resale, is extremely hard to do "professionally" i.e., with sufficient profit to make it worthwhile. In the rare cases where this can be done, it is almost always because the seller has not done any homework what-so-ever and incorrectly lists their product, period. 
Regarding the "sniping" issue, the only folks who get upset about this are individuals who find an item they would like to "win" for the lowest absolutely possible price...and then religiously follow the item as they watch their latest bid be surpassed by some other bidder until the end of the auction when they find they were suddenly outbid by someone else entirely. What these folks actually accomplish in most cases, is great for the seller who likes nothing better than to see a few of these folks bid up the price, often beyond what they could have paid a "buy it now" listing. Any smart seller welcomes all bids even if they come in the last few seconds because it give them a bit more profit.
Besides the fact that unless the "greedy" bidder was not trying so hard to get the absolute lowest price, they could simply use Ebay's own bidding process in which the bidder simply enters the maximum bit they would be willing to pay for the item at hand and forget about it for the time being. If they then win, great and if they lose, well, do some homework and try again.
BTW, the best way to try and figure out an item's actual value is to simply search the "sold" listings for that same item. 
tcd846500 lifetime | eBay
PS. Your asking price is just a bit high by my count, and remember, to figure in approximately 15% for Ebay and PayPal costs.


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## eherberg (Feb 17, 2011)

I don't know -- I would rather sell it to somebody who isn't using sniping software. When I decided to start leaving TiVo, I gave away a couple of Premieres w/lifetime rather than sell them because I would rather see it used by somebody who would likely appreciate it. Seeing a couple of auctions I was watching get bid on by people with single or double-digit transactions -- only to lose out faster than they could refresh the screen by somebody with a gazillion transactions. Well - I would prefer to see the little guy get one from those chumps.

I figured a price set here was about in the middle range of what I saw other's going for. Some of the auctions didn't put the model number in. Hell - I'll list it in a couple of days on Ebay and take a sniper's money, but around the $300 total seemed to be about in the middle. What seems nuts is what people are listing the CM DVR+ for. Yikes!

It's wild seeing how much the release of the Vox has dropped TiVo resale value. When I decided to move away from TiVo to a system with more functionality (for me) - I started looking at Ebay sold listings when either giving or selling the TiVo's prior to this one. The ceiling for that value has dropped approx $100 just in the last 2-3 months alone. When I started this process of either giving away or selling, the cable/antenna Roamio (even with 500 GB HD) was fetching a minimum of mid-300's - and often into the 4's. Now it looks like they are fetching low end of $260 ... with a top end I saw of $350. Big change since I started this.

I thought about holding on to the last TiVo -- but it isn't going to be used in our new setup. And the family doesn't want to do anything with it (everybody given the choice of one or the other moved to Plex by choice). TiVo is a good fit for traditional viewing - but I already gave one of my TiVo's to a friend's parents (who will like it for what it is just fine). And with Dish, my parents have no use for it. Even though I have a good antenna set up for them in their rural location - I can't convince them to drop Dish. Damn RFD-TV ... Porter Wagner and Branson jubilee shows have their talons deep into my parents. 

So - I thought I would try here first prior to Ebay. Plus - having a user who is familiar with the process in account transferring is a bonus. On a TiVo Premiere that I gave to a friend (who I was able to convince to drop their satellite TV for OTA) - the transfer of the TiVo to him could not have been more painful through the overseas call center. And we were both in the same room when I was setting it up at his place. I couldn't imagine trying to duplicate that experience with somebody through Ebay messages. Maybe I just got a bad one -- but none of the transfers in the last 3 months have been super-smooth, and the one referenced above was down-right agonizing.


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

eherberg said:


> I don't know -- I would rather sell it to somebody who isn't using sniping software. When I decided to start leaving TiVo, I gave away a couple of Premieres w/lifetime rather than sell them because I would rather see it used by somebody who would likely appreciate it. Seeing a couple of auctions I was watching get bid on by people with single or double-digit transactions -- only to lose out faster than they could refresh the screen by somebody with a gazillion transactions. Well - I would prefer to see the little guy get one from those chumps.
> 
> I figured a price set here was about in the middle range of what I saw other's going for. Some of the auctions didn't put the model number in. Hell - I'll list it in a couple of days on Ebay and take a sniper's money, but around the $300 total seemed to be about in the middle. What seems nuts is what people are listing the CM DVR+ for. Yikes!
> 
> ...


I am at a loss on how you equate the number of purchases made by an ebayer to be inversely proportional to how much they would appreciate your tivo. Simply no logic to that. I've bought many, many items on eBay and I appreciate them all or I wouldn't have bought them.

BTW, I almost always sell my stuff on eBay using buy it now with sometimes make an offer. I set a price that I think is reasonable and go.

I've bought and sold several TiVos on eBay and the transfers could not have gone smoother.


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## eherberg (Feb 17, 2011)

Goodness - I never realized the Ebay love that is out there. I take it all back. I'd nominate the snipers for sainthood, if I could. 

But seriously, I was actually looking at Amazon selling and I may go that route. It will take 3 days to get my scanned ID and bank documents approved, but that may be the way to go. Fees look to be much better - and prices seem to be much more. I've seen my model listed there *without* lifetime that is still in the $200+ range. I'm not sure how often they sell, but can't hurt to try. I would still probably list mine around the middle range of what Ebay auctions are going (if it is still available). Hell - with lifetime included it is going to look like a steal compared to some of the other listings.

For me, transfers have been kind of sketchy. I've now given away or sold at a deep discount 4 TiVos / minis since deciding to go to the new system. None have been super-smooth - but only one was an absolute disaster. Fortunately it was a friend where I was over setting it up for him. The escalated rep we finally got confirmed that the previous 2 reps that had attempted it had completely mucked it up. Fortunately, it finally got straightened out. I couldn't imagine going through that single experience again with somebody through messaging. But hopefully you're correct and recent transfers are better again. I may have got the overseas rep filling in from the mattress section of the call center.


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## MHunter1 (Oct 11, 2007)

fcfc2 said:


> best way to figure out an item's value is to search the "sold" listings


Be Wary of Using eBay for Price Research


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## chicagobrownblue (May 29, 2008)

Your non-VOX remote might go up in value. Using the voice button on a VOX remote puts a Roamio or Bolt into upgrade to gen4 software mode which I don't want.

As far as price is concerned, a new Roamio OTA with lifetime is $399. You can buy and install a cable card bracket to turn it into a cable or OTA Tivo -- albeit at a hassle. So your price is about right. GL


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

MHunter1 said:


> Be Wary of Using eBay for Price Research


It is still absolutely the "best" way to estimate actual real world prices of items like Tivo. I have sold several thousands items on Ebay and bought a smaller fraction of that. I have come across buyers who do not complete the transaction in less than .25% of cases and when purchasing only 3 times when a seller did not follow through with a deal or cancelled the auction after a sale. 
If you know of a better way to "guesstimate" a current sale price or value for Tivos please do share it. 
It is not hard to find Blogs or other sources of criticism of Ebay and their practices, I could write one myself and if someone was trying to research a rare or uncommon item there may be no good source of estimation, but fortunately this is not the case with the ubiquitous Tivo.


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

eherberg said:


> Goodness - I never realized the Ebay love that is out there. I take it all back. I'd nominate the snipers for sainthood, if I could.


I snipe, but not because I'm going to resell what I am bidding on. If you put in your maximum bid "early" people can drive up your bid just to test what your maximum is. Could even be the seller or a "friend" (if they do it it's illegal, called shilling) but some do if they sell similar type items, just keep the current value up. Bottom line, if you want the best price possible sniping most likely the best way to go, has nothing to do with reselling, just getting the best price for what you are buying. You MAY miss out as you won't have time to make a higher bid if your first or second fails but that's the way it goes 

I do like your attitude towards getting an item to someone who will be using it at a fair price. I do that sometimes too, best to try local first if possible. Even give away occasionally, better than giving to a thrift store that will overprice so no one buys, then it gets pitched. Avoid fees, shipping costs, and if they need help easy to do local. As for Amazon, they might seem cheaper fee wise (on electronics at least) but almost everything else VERY expensive. And watch out for their "return policy", they make you take returns, even on non defective items for 30 days (or 90 if during holiday season). Not only do you get stuck with shipping, probably both ways, Amazon even charges YOU fees on a non defective return they FORCE you to take. Plus they have all kinds of other "fees", well if you use them you will find out......................


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## eherberg (Feb 17, 2011)

Just an update: TiVo has sold.


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## travisc77 (May 26, 2005)

eherberg said:


> Just an update: TiVo has sold.


You said it sold, was it Ebay or on this board? $300?

I'm cutting the cord, been a great 15 yrs on Tivo, but alas my kids have moved on from cable. Streaming is all I need now, especially with Hulu with Live TV. I'm about to package up the following and list on this board first to see if anybody is interested as a package...

- Tivo Premeire Lifetime 500 gb (with USB wifi thing)
- Tivo Roamio 500 GB
- Two Tivo Minis
- All remotes, plus one bluetooth with the keyboard.

I haven't listed this stuff yet, just getting started...


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## eherberg (Feb 17, 2011)

travisc77 said:


> You said it sold, was it Ebay or on this board? $300?
> 
> I'm cutting the cord, been a great 15 yrs on Tivo, but alas my kids have moved on from cable. Streaming is all I need now, especially with Hulu with Live TV. I'm about to package up the following and list on this board first to see if anybody is interested as a package...
> 
> ...


A combination of this board and Amazon. I didn't use Ebay. I listed it on Amazon. Buyer saw this thread - saw the discussion regarding Ebay/Amazon - and found it on Amazon. Regarding Amazon fees - Amazon took about $25 for their part of the process.


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