I want to convert a wallpack to SOX, but I got into this hobby late, and I am priced out as far as SOX lamps go. If I was going to spend a ridiculous amount of money on SOX lamps, I would keep them for my collection and not want to use them, even though they aren’t rare per se. I can buy weird mercury vapor lamps that haven’t been made since the 1970s for less than the price of a common SOX lamp.
Does anybody have any cheap or used SOX lamps they could sell to me?

They're sold on Alibaba for a relatively cheap price.

Yeah the Alibaba lamps are fairly reasonable, and probably cheaper what Philips SOX lamps cost here when they were still in production. I do wonder what the all in cost is after shipping. Anyone in the US or Canada had experience ordering them?

I know in the UK where SOX was more prevalent, there are eBay sellers and companies that imported the lamps in bulk to sell locally on eBay, etc but I don't think I've someone here do it.

Since Alibaba is a wholesale site that is usually for buying cheap items in large quantities, would I go about getting just one or two lamps by "ordering a sample"?

I have no experience buying from Alibaba so I can’t say much.

There is a member selling used Philips SOX-E 26W lamps on eBay for $60 each with free shipping. That is currently the lowest priced option on the site, especially if your looking for a genuine Philips.

When I am a bit older and have a job, I might order a sizeable amount of those Chinese SOX lamps and sell them on eBay for reasonable prices (under $30) to try to get the prices for SOX lamps back to normal again.

Since Alibaba is a wholesale site that is usually for buying cheap items in large quantities, would I go about getting just one or two lamps by "ordering a sample"?

I have bought from ALIBABA and it is VERY different from AMAZON/EBAY in the fact that you are dealing with the VENDER DIRECTLY with ALI being a "service provider" / "gateway"
the listings show "MOQ" that is the number you NEED to order
you will then CONTACT the seller and "negotiate" the price and terms a LOT like a business to business transaction
it is NOT quick but the seller I worked with did everything to help facilitate the transaction
it will take a few DAYS to get the sale done as time zones and direct communication with seller
also be prepared to install messaging apps on your phone as E mail / TXT is NOT DONE in Asia