No. You will have to pay the $5/month fee no matter what. Also, be careful buying from eBay, or anywhere private. It is likely a leased unit that Directv will probably not activate for you. Try to get the RID and ask Directv if it is a leased unit.
Don't even mess with it - too many pitfalls to maybe save too little $ - just ante up with them & get the box. You know what you are getting into then for sure!