eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « on: February 25, 2026, 10:32:55 PM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
I have been seeing reports from some collectors that have been claiming that eBay has been starting to remove large numbers of listings for non-LED lighting. I have this feeling that in less than 10 years from now, non-LED light sources will become virtually impossible to find online due to websites forcing the removal of non-LED lamps. I have this feeling that this may mean that at some point, searching for vintage non-LED lamps, ballasts, and fixtures will become years-long efforts instead of months-long efforts. Lately, I have been seeing that lamps such as the H38AV-100/DX mercury vapor lamps have now become almost IMPOSSIBLE to find virtually OVERNIGHT. I recall how common they used to be not too long ago.
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Desire to collect various light bulbs (especially HID), control gear, and fixtures from around the world.

DISCLAIMER: THE EXPERIMENTS THAT I CONDUCT INVOLVING UNUSUAL LAMP/BALLAST COMBINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES.

	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #1 on: February 26, 2026, 01:47:39 PM » Author: dor123
I've noticed that HID lamps are very expensive at eBay, as well as their shipping.
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	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #2 on: February 28, 2026, 05:56:03 PM » Author: suzukir122
... I literally just purchased another Thermo-Matic magnetic HPF R.S ballast from Ebay, just minutes ago. Hopefully this isn't true, since 95% of my living room lighting gear came from Ebay. Heck, that very rare cold temp HPF Trigger Start F15T12 single lamp strip fixture that I recently bought, came from Ebay. I do wonder... wouldn't Ebay see some sort of backlash from both buyers and sellers, if they banned the selling of lighting products that aren't LED? I'm willing to bet... HUGE backlash.
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend

	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #3 on: February 28, 2026, 09:42:57 PM » Author: xmaslightguy
Quote from: suzukir122 I do wonder... wouldn't Ebay see some sort of backlash from both buyers and sellers, if they banned the selling of lighting products that aren't LED? I'm willing to bet... HUGE backlash. eBay could care less about the small sellers, and generic low-profit old stuff like fluorescent lighting. I honestly doubt there would even be much of a backlash...sure a few sellers & buyers would complain, but fact is these days, most of the 'general population' doesn't want anything to do with fluorescent lighting. If whats said here is true, eBay could be doing it because some places (Colorado for example) have banned the sale/import/manufacture/etc of basically anything fluorescent...and you could pretty much get around it buying on there.
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	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #4 on: February 28, 2026, 10:01:54 PM » Author: suzukir122
I really hope this doesn't end up being the case. That would be incredibly depressing. I've stocked up really good in terms of fluorescent lighting and certain fixtures, but when it comes time to move on towards a larger home, and when it comes time to purchase lighting that I prefer even more than the lighting that I've got now, just knowing that it could be impossible to obtain it, would be very depressing. I think it's wrong of them to dictate what kind of lighting you can buy or sell... I understand that the majority of the common people favor LED's, but that should never mean that LED's be forced upon those who don't want to buy them. My next (and original) concern after that, of course, would be a law banning the use of lighting that is not LED.
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend

	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #6 on: March 01, 2026, 12:06:44 AM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
I have this feeling that non-LED lamps might become exponentially rarer and more expensive to purchase as a result of sellers being banned from shipping non-LED lamps and fixtures because I feel that they will be forced to recycle their lamps, ballasts and fixtures. I have this feeling that the cheapest non-LED light bulbs will eventually cost something like many thousands of dollars a piece as a result of pressure to recycle new old stock lamps rapidly to the point that they will become virtually unobtainium. For example, a single F40T12 tube might start costing as much as $50,000 USD or a single 400W H33 mercury vapor lamp might cost somewhere around $500,000 to $1,000,000 USD due to rapidly increasing rarity from forced recycling of new old stock lamps. Lately, I have also been dealing with cases where some Japanese proxy shopping services have blocked the shipment of some fluorescent lamps that I purchased a few days ago. So far, I have been in the process of stocking up on some fluorescent lamps and will see if they will go through this time on another Japanese proxy shopping service that I have been using.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2026, 12:42:27 AM by WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA »		Logged

Desire to collect various light bulbs (especially HID), control gear, and fixtures from around the world.

DISCLAIMER: THE EXPERIMENTS THAT I CONDUCT INVOLVING UNUSUAL LAMP/BALLAST COMBINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES.

	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #7 on: March 01, 2026, 10:36:14 PM » Author: NeXe Lights
OK, now I doubt that non-LED lamps will ever become that expensive. Chances are a new, better lighting technology will come around before non-LED lamps will become that expensive, and maybe then us lighting collectors will start collecting LED stuff.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2026, 10:40:34 PM by NeXe Lights »		Logged

Efficiency will be the death of culture.

	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #8 on: March 01, 2026, 11:16:23 PM » Author: wide-lite 1000
Simple way around all of this . List your "Contraband Lighting" by using vague generic terms that the eBay A.I. sensors won't catch !  EXAMPLES I'VE SEEN :  Incande$cent , "not LED" , high intensity lightbulb , lightbulb , tube light , light .  As for the extrodinarily high prices , NEVER GONNA HAPPEN !! All that is is fear mongering ! NO ONE will list something for a crazy price like that knowing damn good and well that NO ONE WILL PAY IT !!
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Collector,Hoarder,Pack-rat! Clear mercury Rules!!

	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #9 on: March 01, 2026, 11:24:14 PM » Author: suzukir122
Could part numbers also be a potential work around this?
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Interests:
1. Motorcycles, Cars, Women, and Lighting (especially fluorescent)
2. Weightlifting/staying extremely athletic
3. Severe Thunderstorms of all kinds
4. Food and drinks. So gimme them bbq ribs
Lighting has ALWAYS been a passion of mine. I consider everyone on here to be a friend

	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #12 on: March 12, 2026, 02:30:01 PM » Author: Lcubed3
Yes, the "suggested" lamps are there because the sellers paid to boost the listings. As for insane prices, tell me: how much does a carbon filament lamp cost? They haven't been produced since the '40s or '50s and they have been banned for a couple years now. It comes down to simple economics, my friend: supply is low, but demand is also low, the price will remain low. The price would only skyrocket if everyone suddenly decided they wanted to transition back to MV and such, in which case they would probably start producing them again.
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	Re: eBay wants to make non-LED lighting rare and unobtainium « Reply #13 on: March 12, 2026, 02:38:26 PM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
@suzukir122, I often rely on part numbers myself such as “FC8T9/CW” when I want a halophosphate 22W T9 circline fluorescent lamp.
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Desire to collect various light bulbs (especially HID), control gear, and fixtures from around the world.

DISCLAIMER: THE EXPERIMENTS THAT I CONDUCT INVOLVING UNUSUAL LAMP/BALLAST COMBINATIONS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED UNLESS YOU HAVE THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INJURIES.