Sell TiVo Bundle or Individually?

I'd suggest you visit eBay and do a search for each specific item you're trying to sell. You can then filter search results for completed items that have been sold and see how much other sellers have been getting for the Bolt Vox (without lifetime service) and Mini Vox. That should give you an idea of how much total to expect for those items.

I've sold a fair amount of stuff on eBay and my hunch tells me that you're going to get more money overall by selling each item individually, although that will require more hassle on your part too: listing three separate items, dealing with three separate buyers, and packaging and shipping three separate boxes.

If you're willing to deal with local buyers, you might consider craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp or other similar apps/sites that don't take a commission. (Remember that eBay will take a 20% cut of your sales price, plus the buyer will have to pay for shipping, or you'll have to take it out of the sales price if you offer free shipping.) You might have a decent pool of local prospective buyers since you're in an area with both Verizon FiOS and traditional cable (e.g. Comcast, Altice, etc.). So wouldn't hurt to figure out how much you might get for the whole bundle on eBay, if you sold them individually, but after deducting for fees and shipping, and then list all three items together for that amount on local sites/apps and see if you get a buyer. If not after a couple weeks, then just list them on eBay.

 

If you're in a web browser on a desktop/laptop computer, after getting your results page, look at the filters on the left side of the page and check the box "Sold Items" under the "Show Only" header. Here's the results page for "Bolt Vox" with that filter checked:

bolt vox | eBay

Looks like the 4-tuner Bolt Vox (which can do either cable or OTA) without lifetime service is selling for about $45 to $65, plus an extra amount to cover shipping.

For the Mini Vox (which always includes lifetime service), used ones appear to be selling for anywhere from about $75 to $125, plus shipping.

tivo mini vox | eBay

I'd say it's reasonable to expect that you could sell the Bolt Vox for $55 and each Mini Vox for $100 (plus shipping costs for each). So that adds up to $255. But eBay will take 20% of your total sales amount including shipping, which might reasonably be about $45. So 20% of $300 is $60. So deduct $60 off of $255 and you're left with $195.

If I were you, I'd try listing the whole bunch on free sites/apps for $195 and see if you get any takers. Of course, that presumes that you're comfortable meeting up with strangers during a pandemic to make a sale.

 

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Local Goodwill had a Bolt Vox for $20.00 a couple of days ago when I dropped off some stuff. Any TiVo without lifetime service is not worth much today. Goodwill online has a couple now bidding around 10 bucks each (plus shipping.)

I would still list them on Ebay as induvial items. Nothing to lose. Selling on Craigslist requires a handgun to complete the transaction.

 

LOL. Yeah, craigslist can be a bit dicey. I think that's why Facebook Marketplace and Next Door have become popular for selling stuff -- you have some idea who you're selling to, so seems safer. But the reality is that for a niche product like TiVos, you might never find buyers on those kind of sites, where a listing will get far fewer views by anyone actually looking for such a product. Could get lucky there but it's far more likely that he'll end up needing to sell them on eBay (which is why they can charge a 20% commission).

 

Just for clarification, Ebay's fees are 10%, plus the paypal fee is 3%, so 13%.

 

Ah, thanks for the correction. It's been quite awhile since I've sold anything on there and I misremembered.

Just now looking back at a spreadsheet I used to keep of stuff I bought and sold and, yes, I have the formulas set to reflect a 10% eBay commission on the total (including shipping) and a PayPal fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, which a quick Google search seems to confirm are still correct.

I sold my used TiVo Roamio OTA with lifetime for a total of $319.23. After spending $18.59 on shipping and paying the fees, I was left with $259.16. Not bad at all considering that, IIRC, I bought it for about $330 new including tax.

 

What I've found to be an extra help is to let Ebay calculate the shipping based on where a customer lives. Then, when you pay for the shipping, you can get some great discounts. The discounts pay for the Paypal fee.

 

Yeah, I often did that. Some shippers (including USPS, I think) give you a discount for purchasing via eBay.

 

Now it is USPS, UPS and Fedex. I think the package I just sent for FEDEX 2DAY was cheaper than any USPS rate. But, it really depends on where the shipping company's hubs are.

 

Still pretty high. That's why I prefer to sell Tivo stuff here or Facebook marketplace (0%).

 

I've sold all of my previous TiVo's as well as a host of other A/V gear on craigslist (plus a bunch of furniture), and it has always been an easy and pleasant transaction for me. And the buyers got some primo deals since I take good care of my equipment.

I seldom purchase from craigslist myself, but one time when I did the item (a Sanus TV wall mount) had an undisclosed defect. However, I contacted the manufacturer and they sent me a free replacement part.

As with most things in life, you just need to exercise due caution and use common sense to avoid pitfalls.