Why are large vintage fluorescent tubes rarely sold on eBay? « on: October 11, 2021, 04:32:55 AM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
As I have been looking to expand my lighting collection, I have been easily able to source some vintage HID lamps on eBay pretty easily, but I somehow have a hard time finding vintage fluorescent tubes on ebay that are longer than 2 feet such as North American VHO tubes and HO fluorescent tubes from bygone eras. In addition, I also notice that even North American halophosphate F40T12 fluorescent tubes such as F40CW tubes are rarely sold on eBay too. Why are there so few listings for vintage fluorescent tubes that are longer than 2 feet on eBay? I am wondering if there are any online stores where I can easily source vintage fluorescent tubes longer than 2 feet from around the world and expand my collection.
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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: Why are large vintage fluorescent tubes rarely sold on eBay? « Reply #1 on: October 11, 2021, 04:39:41 AM » Author: Medved
There is transport problem. Fluorescents are just extremely fragile to be handled by regular shipping services. Bulb selling e-shops had arrangements with shipping companies and enough experience how to pack them to survive the delivery, but for ordinary people the shipping damages would be just way too frequent.
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	Re: Why are large vintage fluorescent tubes rarely sold on eBay? « Reply #2 on: October 19, 2021, 02:24:09 AM » Author: xmaslightguy
It used to be pretty common to see older 4' florescents on eBay, but... * Simple fact is its all about LED these days, the average person doesn't want anything to do with fluorescent. * eBay sucks now for small sellers, plain & simple*.   and the bigger sellers just have whats common stuff/sells best * Anything longer than 4' is a pain (& expensive) to ship. (*= sadly there's no decent replacement, if there was I make an account there)
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	Re: Why are large vintage fluorescent tubes rarely sold on eBay? « Reply #3 on: October 19, 2021, 03:41:38 AM » Author: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA
Quote from: xmaslightguy on October 19, 2021, 02:24:09 AM It used to be pretty common to see older 4' florescents on eBay, but... * Simple fact is its all about LED these days, the average person doesn't want anything to do with fluorescent. * eBay sucks now for small sellers, plain & simple*.   and the bigger sellers just have whats common stuff/sells best * Anything longer than 4' is a pain (& expensive) to ship. (*= sadly there's no decent replacement, if there was I make an account there) In that case, ReStores are some of the best places for finding vintage fluorescent tubes. I would be interested in looking for places other than ReStores where I could find vintage fluorescent tubes. In addition, I am also interested in getting help with finding vintage lighting in countries outside the US besides eBay.
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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: Why are large vintage fluorescent tubes rarely sold on eBay? « Reply #4 on: October 19, 2021, 08:59:24 PM » Author: xmaslightguy
Quote from: WorldwideHIDCollectorUSA In that case, ReStores are some of the best places for finding vintage fluorescent tubes. That depends on where you live... Here for example the ReStores do not accept donations of fluorescent lamps or fixtures (with the occasional exception of corporate donations of new stuff). So you basically ain't gonna find anything there.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2021, 09:03:56 PM by xmaslightguy »		Logged

ThunderStorms/Lightning/Tornados are meant to be hunted down & watched...not hidden from in the basement!

	Re: Why are large vintage fluorescent tubes rarely sold on eBay? « Reply #6 on: October 20, 2021, 11:35:24 PM » Author: wide-lite 1000
My ReStores won't accept anything with mercury in them .
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	Re: Why are large vintage fluorescent tubes rarely sold on eBay? « Reply #7 on: October 21, 2021, 01:19:53 AM » Author: xmaslightguy
@mainstreetprod: Ge pinks?...that's some awesome stuff right there! Duro Test made some unique/interesting/cool stuff.
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ThunderStorms/Lightning/Tornados are meant to be hunted down & watched...not hidden from in the basement!

	Re: Why are large vintage fluorescent tubes rarely sold on eBay? « Reply #8 on: October 22, 2021, 03:19:25 PM » Author: nicksfans
My local ReStore still has fluorescent lamps, but it's been a while since I found a vintage one there. I would suggest Facebook Marketplace or similar services; that's about the only way I can find vintage fluorescent stuff anymore, and even then I only see good stuff occasionally.
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	Re: Why are large vintage fluorescent tubes rarely sold on eBay? « Reply #10 on: November 08, 2021, 08:18:09 PM » Author: funkybulb
Also I found fluorescent tubes in the dumpster. I have found some bari made osram tubes,  GE UK made trimline lamp.  And couple of mainlighters that way.
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