Hey everyone, it appears eBay is now confiscating SOX lamps when sent through their new "International Shipping" service. I know people have had this happen with Mercury Vapor lamps for a little while now, but just yesterday I learned the hard way that this is now happening with SOX lamps.

This makes me worry for the future of this hobby even more as it seems like eBay, the prime source of this stuff, is now increasingly cracking down on ALL non-LED stuff. I never thought this would ever happen with SOX lamps given their efficiency, but yet here we are. Let's just hope the government doesn't treat old lighting tech as "illegal contraband" someday.

Here's a snippet of the email I got. I put in an order for 6 55w LPS lamps (a good deal since I made an offer) but after sitting at their processing hub for over 2 weeks, I got a sudden refund and cancellation email. I've never had these issues with their old Global Shipping Program based out of Kentucky, but it looks like their new International Shipping service has tighter rules.



Just a PSA for everyone so they can avoid this from happening. Use a private freight forwarder from now on, NEVER eBay's service... or just ask the seller to ship directly to you. Usually eBay destroys things anyways.

Sad to see  First they banned incandescents and now LPS? If this is based off of sodium content, HPS may also be at risk. If they are going for inefficient technology or mercury (any hazarous chemical) content, MV and older fluorescents may be banned. I'm not so sure about MH and other miscellaneous HIDs. Just like the bans, maybe special purpose lamps will be allowed.
Ebay is now LEDbay.

It has been that way for a while now. I sold some SOX lamps to an international buyer probably over 6 months ago now and the order was canceled for the same reason. As the seller, I didn't complain though. eBay canceled the order and refunded the buyer but I still got to keep the full amount the buyer paid. So eBay covered the refund on their end. Since I was unaware of that I was just happy I still got to keep the money. I still get interested buyers of SOX lamps messaging me asking if I ship to their country and I just inform them of that time and what happened. Sucks because the interested buyers for SOX lamps always seem to be outside of the US.

Don't use the international shipping service. Make the shipping label and all the customs declaration stuff yourself, and then send it to the seller, and have them use your label.

I use the eBay international shipping because it's better as a seller. I'm only responsible for the package until it reaches the eBay international shipping center. Once it gets there if anything happens to the package after that it's on eBay. If I ship it directly myself then if anything happens to the package it's all on me. Plus eBay has or had other seller protections on their global shipping program I don't know if they still do. With how many times a buyer has tried to scam me out of a free item I'm all about seller protection now. I even block buyers from purchasing if they message me and I get the feeling they are going to end up being difficult to deal with. eBay is just a mess now that's why I haven't put much effort into selling anymore. Too much effort needed to barely make any profit. That's part of the reason prices are so high you can't make any money unless your prices are marked up sky high and buyers don't seem to understand that. I just had another ridiculously low ball offer on an item from a potential buyer a few days ago I just declined not worth my time.

Yeah it's been a thing for at least a year now, it's part of the reason why I don't really bother with the international shipping on eBay.

Oh and a little tip, the confiscated items usually get relisted on eBay under a seller that specializes in selling the confiscated items, with the description and the pictures copied from the original listing for US only buyers for 10% cheaper than the original list price.

The confiscated items get sold again? That means they don't actually have a problem with shipping those, and just have petty regulations

I use the eBay international shipping because it's better as a seller. I'm only responsible for the package until it reaches the eBay international shipping center. Once it gets there if anything happens to the package after that it's on eBay. If I ship it directly myself then if anything happens to the package it's all on me. Plus eBay has or had other seller protections on their global shipping program I don't know if they still do. With how many times a buyer has tried to scam me out of a free item I'm all about seller protection now. I even block buyers from purchasing if they message me and I get the feeling they are going to end up being difficult to deal with. eBay is just a mess now that's why I haven't put much effort into selling anymore. Too much effort needed to barely make any profit. That's part of the reason prices are so high you can't make any money unless your prices are marked up sky high and buyers don't seem to understand that. I just had another ridiculously low ball offer on an item from a potential buyer a few days ago I just declined not worth my time.

This is actually kind of interesting thing to hear. I myself have never been trying to sell anything on ebay due to all the fees over here making it too bothersome but I have been selling excess stuff in local ebay equivalents for about 20 years and within last 5 years selling has become more way difficult due to buyers either trying to scam, offer 10% of asked price, asking pointless questions in which for many there is already answer in the ad, offer junk in return (no, I don't want slightly used couch in return) or just bid with no intent to buy. Seems like this isn't local "national" thing but larger change in people.

The confiscated items get sold again? That means they don't actually have a problem with shipping those, and just have petty regulations

The confiscated items get sold domestically not internationally. Since the items are not allowed to be sold internationally.

This is actually kind of interesting thing to hear. I myself have never been trying to sell anything on ebay due to all the fees over here making it too bothersome but I have been selling excess stuff in local ebay equivalents for about 20 years and within last 5 years selling has become more way difficult due to buyers either trying to scam, offer 10% of asked price, asking pointless questions in which for many there is already answer in the ad, offer junk in return (no, I don't want slightly used couch in return) or just bid with no intent to buy. Seems like this isn't local "national" thing but larger change in people.

Yeah a few days ago a buyer offered me $150 for an item I'm asking like $400. I replied with $300 counter offer and I told them I'm not selling them that cheap I paid over $500 for them. They then counter offered my $300 and went back to their original $150 offer. I just declined. People are getting so cheap it's ridiculous. Like they expect free handouts.

I purchased a SOX 18 wallpack from a US seller and had fleebay do that to me and got refunded and the seller got to keep his cash and the light went MIA and it never pinged on my searches BUT if they outright DONT ship internationally I can NOT EVEN see the ad unless I follow a link to the item directly - wont show up on searches - wont show up IF I select the sellers see other items ETC

I’d guess it’s more of a fire risk?, can you imagine metallic sodium oxidising deep within a cargo hold of a plane?, it’s bad enough transporting Teslas in shipping!

This is *sigh* once again why I don't buy lamps off of eBay...

I'll sell items that eBay confiscates directly through a PayPal transaction. Just need the buyer to reach out to me. I still have 24 of those SOX-E26 lamps. I have had a bunch of watchers on that listing but no sales I have a feeling most of the watchers are international.

I’d guess it’s more of a fire risk?, can you imagine metallic sodium oxidising deep within a cargo hold of a plane?, it’s bad enough transporting Teslas in shipping!

Fire is a realistic scenario, when some automated parcel sorting system bowls around the probably pretty light box with one or two SOX's in it, shattering the tubes inside which slowly absorb moisture from the air, creating hydrogen, sodium hydroxide and heat...
However - that risk has always been there and i would assume that back in the heyday of sodium lamps, there would have been proper protocols for shipping them without issues. It's a mystery why it's only now becoming a problem. Just another example of the enshittification of online platforms, i guess. I think ebay is being overly careful to not ship dangerous or illegal things,

Either way, perhaps it would be an idea to have a specific open-to-the-public forums section where people can list stuff they wanna sell to the public? I know the sales section here is hidden which is perfectly fine if you wanna sell something to a vaguely known and trusted collector under the assumption they aren't just buying something to scalp it, but it might help people get rid of unwanted lamps if there would be a larger number of people who can see the advertisements.
In other words - as an addition to the members only wanted/for sale section, one that is open to be read by the public.

Once that's there,  you could try and draw in people to advertise here. Put some QR codes with the URL in any box of lamps you ship, or in the order confirmation, put the link with 'I also sell SOX lamps, but not via ebay, follow this link to see..." etc. I don't know if you can contact the people watching on ebay and point them to a platform that doesn't have weird shipping restrictions, but if you can, it would be possible.

You could also still use non-ebay classifieds sites of course. Ebay kleinanzeigen (you don't ship via Ebay, just via any local carrier of choice), Marktplaats.nl, craigslist... hell, you could try facebook marketplace but i LOATHE facebook and the extremely dodgy people who buy there - at least over here.