Some people are skeevy on eBay and sometimes you'll run into some sketchy vintage item but if you order it, you'll get the wrong item. I don't buy from sellers with lower than 98% ratings. Some people are impatient with sellers, so they write bad reviews at the sellers expense.

Lampwizard hit the nail on the head.  The money is in selling to people who want a vintage item for use and decor purposes, but are not collectors.  Collectors are comparably cheap.  Collectors would rather buy something original and do the work themselves, other buyers dont have the faintest clue and want something they can trust, if not they'll get a reproduction.  And the (in this example) $400 price tag is often cheaper than a reproduction.

Thank you Dan and Lampwizard for understanding. Though I would love this light for myself, I can't afford it. Some business owner will get it and they can be happy.

When I saw that electronic ballast, I almost puked. I guess as long as it's a Sylvania Quicktronic (Highest quality HF ballast, yes?) and programmed start, it's okay. 

yes. The instant start 4x32 versions are bullet proof, way better than the advance crap. The only ones I've had trouble with is a 2x15 unit that overheated on me and stopped working.

Are Fulham ballasts that great? I repaired a 20 watt fluorescent fixture for someone using a Fulham WH2 and it seems to do pretty well.

The fixture originally had a Universal F20 instant start ballast that almost blew the lamp. I switched it on and there was a bright flash of orange, immediate blackening then swirling. That's why I replaced it as I didn't trust the original ballast. I replaced it with a WH2 because it had these specialty shunted lamp holders.

Fulham ballasts are strong enough to survive a black hole. They will squeeze every tiny drop of life from an EOL lamp and it will not give it any mercy.

My Fulham WH2 has fried over a dozen fluorescent lamps, and it's still running. I've even tried running it at a reduced input voltage, and it doesn't care at all.

I'm excited to see what will happen to the lamp when it reaches EOL! I have this junk Philips Alto lamp with 2 broken cathodes. I might stick it on that and see what happens. Might not do anything as the the lamp doesn't look too used...

It just depends on how much rmitter is left on the filaments. To deplete it for a good EOL show you can connect the ballast to the broken cathode and spent the emitter coat.

Well, I guess at the end of the day, the fact that those auctions didn't sell and were eventually removed says something about over-zealous sellers and not enough dumb buyers, lmao!