Buying used light bulbs

[kevindub]

I think I already know the answer to this one but it doesn't hurt to ask. I have been offered a 3 month old MH bulb at a good price. Is there any way to verify how old the bulb is without a receipt? I'm afraid it's really older then that. I can buy a new bulb but the price of this bulb is more then half off new price and it is "broken" in already.

 

[Anonymous]

Broken in is not a advantage. You won't pay more for a car because it was break-in at 2000 miles.

The reciept is no good unless it got a serial number on the bulb.

With that say, most reefers are honest bunch, and I am sure if he/she says it is 3 month old, it probably is. You just have to decide if buying it from an individual is worth the saving. Other aspect that you need to consider is the warranty, and return policy. Good luck.

 

[IceMan0124]

the break in period is about 100 hours, thats about two weeks at 8 hours a day, so thats not a big deal, are you buying this sight unseen?, do you actually know this person or just from online? There are a lot of things I prefer to buy used, bulbs arent one of them, if it is really 3 months old, and has been used correctly, it should have roughly 66% of its usable life left. thats based on 9 months of useable life, roughly 2/3's left. What bulb is it? I use 250 watt mogul bulbs, and the preices range from 55-85 + shipping, I recently bought a xm 10k for right at 75 bucks shipped, in all reality the bulbs arent terribly expensive, I dunno, I probably wouldnt do it, and if I did I would pay 25-30 bucks max, if it was only a week or two old I'd say 85 to 90% of the cost