You can't sell Virgin Media TiVo/V6 boxes (or Sky Q boxes) on eBay!

Got something to sell to us on eBay or Gumtree etc? Post about it here. :H
spotify95
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You can't sell Virgin Media TiVo/V6 boxes (or Sky Q boxes) on eBay!

Postby spotify95 » April 21st, 2020, 12:00 pm

I've always suspected that this has been the case, but now it is confirmed.

I recently created a forum thread on the eBay community, about why eBay tend to always delete Virgin Media listings, but not those of rivals (e.g. Sky+ HD boxes).
This is because of my recent findings, whereby listings of Virgin Media TiVo boxes almost always get deleted within a couple of days of them being listed.

Recently, I tried bidding on a couple of TiVo boxes, whose starting bids made them good value for money, considering the purpose I was going to use them for (e.g. extracting the 500GB hard drives, and using the drives for PC storage). They were fine until today, and I was still the highest bidder.

Fast forward to today, and both listings had mysteriously vanished, with an error page...

So it seems that even bidding on a TiVo box does not make it safe from being deleted.

With that, I contacted eBay Customer Support about the issue. They stated that, whilst they were "not able to share the main reason why the listing has been removed by eBay", there were only "3 reasons why a listing is being deleted".
Out of these reasons, the only one that makes sense is "if they have committed listing violation" - basically, something that breaks the terms and conditions of selling an item on eBay.

This infers that you are not allowed to sell any Virgin Media TiVo boxes, because this happens to almost all TiVo boxes that get listed on eBay - not just the odd one or two - and therefore it cannot be a coincidence, nor can it be "a compromised or suspenders seller account". This tallies up with the discussion that took place on the eBay community, i.e. you are not allowed to sell these boxes.
Which is a shame, because they are a very useful source of cheap hard drives...

Nevertheless, I shall still be on the lookout for TiVo boxes that slip through the net, so to say, as they make for cheap sources of 500GB drives.
An alternative way of getting around this is to disassemble the box yourself, junk the innards, and sell the hard drive itself on eBay - as hard drives are sold all the time and there is nothing to say you cannot sell a standard PC, desktop or laptop hard drive. You'll probably get more money by doing that as well - provided you have the right equipment to do so, i.e. a set of Torx Security screwdrivers (as well as standard Philips).
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pinkteddyx64
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Re: You can't sell Virgin Media TiVo or V6 boxes on eBay!

Postby pinkteddyx64 » April 21st, 2020, 4:06 pm

The reason is simple, you never own anything given to you by Virgin Media, only rent it, and if you successfully manage to buy anything such as TiVo boxes from eBay, you are effectively handling stolen goods, which can potentially land you in a lot of trouble.


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spotify95
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Re: You can't sell Virgin Media TiVo or V6 boxes on eBay!

Postby spotify95 » April 21st, 2020, 5:35 pm

pinkteddyx64 wrote:The reason is simple, you never own anything given to you by Virgin Media, only rent it, and if you successfully manage to buy anything such as TiVo boxes from eBay, you are effectively handling stolen goods, which can potentially land you in a lot of trouble.

Indeed, which is what was stated in the eBay community thread.

But if that is the case, then surely the wireless hubs/routers, remote controls, etc etc are also rented by the customer (though if they are renting it, it's then rather naughty for Virgin to charge for the aforementioned boxes, e.g. a V6 upgrade). However, the routers and other equipment are absolutely fine, they're still on eBay. Its the boxes that aren't.

Don't worry, I wouldn't intentionally handle anything that is stolen.

The only time that people are even able to sell Virgin boxes is due to being out of contract and/or switching providers and Virgin then stating that they don't want the boxes back - hence trying to sell them (until they get removed, that is). If that is the case, then it's better for someone else (such as myself!) to component salvage from the boxes, rather than them ending up in the skip (or e-waste).


spotify95
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Re: You can't sell Virgin Media TiVo or V6 boxes on eBay!

Postby spotify95 » April 25th, 2020, 2:13 pm

So, from what I've found out:

With Sky Q and Virgin TiVo/V6, you rent the boxes from the supplier - meaning that you have to return it and/or dispose of it at the end of the contract. Hence, you can't sell them (as mentioned in the OP) and if you did try and list them, they may get deleted (especially with the Virgin boxes).

With Sky+HD boxes, they are yours to keep and therefore you can do what you want with them.

But ultimately, if you have one of these boxes that is surplus to requirements, and the provider has stated that they don't want it back, then tear it apart and sell (or keep) any usable components, such as the HDD and power/SATA cables.

Or you could try a more successful route here: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=3438



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