Why is the price of ballasts dropping like crazy?

A few months ago I thought I got a good deal on 1000 watt Galaxies at 250 a pop, but now they're 91 bucks online. Anybody know why this is happening? Lumatek too, 108 for a Lumatek online. Meanwhile Gavita and Hortilux are 4 times the cost!

Gotta do taxes in two weeks so inventory not bought must be counted as assets...

or they are refurbed. either by the manufacture or by the seller. beware! $250 for a 1000w galaxy is a fantastic deal. almost unfair for the store actually but smoke em if ya got em!

Must be an accountant talking! That maybe true but the price of every thing is going down quickly.

New lighting technology on the way maybe?

thats way 2 low to trust IMO. but there is a lot of new tech coming to ballasts that are bringing prices down. the $350 lumatek ballasts are down to $250 in store.

thinking about switching to these since i am upgrading to 1000w ballasts
http://www.solis-tek.com/matrix.html

price is pretty steep, but its so cool!

vilify that thing is crazy cool.

Did you see in the specs it can run a 1000 , 600 , or 400 watt bulb now that is worth it for that price.

vilify said:

thats way 2 low to trust IMO. but there is a lot of new tech coming to ballasts that are bringing prices down. the $350 lumatek ballasts are down to $250 in store.

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lumateks MSRP price is so expensive that they don't sell and become dead stock. they have to sell them that cheap just to get em off the shelves. they are only making about $40 a ballast at that point.

Grow equipment in general is going down in price because it is popular stuff right now, but mainly because the market is flooded with sellers of grow equipment. I have been buying digital ballast for a few years, and you can definatley get them cheaper now. Carbon filters? I bought one on E-bay, but there were so many for sale I actually looked for hours at different makes and models, and I was amazed at how many of some items have sold (it is listed, and some were like 200 sold) so competition has lowered the prices on stuff and thats all good for us. HTG Gardens always holds no-reserve auctions on good stuff, I saw a brand new dimmable Digital Greenhouse 600 hps/mh ballst go with no reserve, for $80 plus $20 shipping. I should have snagged it , because it was in my watch list. That is a fuking steal
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400283674942?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Wow, that is a steal! I just bought a used non-dimmable Galaxy 600 from a buddy for $85.

I wish the fans would come down.

ANC said:

I wish the fans would come down.

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Funny you say that. I went looking yesterday only to find the big stores don't have them in stock for a couple of weeks (seasonal) and the horticulture shop was charging a ridiculous amount.

So there is this thing called the invisible hand which works its wonders via supply and demand and the technology curve. New technology is expensive and costs a lot right when it comes out and supply is low and demand high. As the supply increases and the companies make back their research money prices go down. As new technology hits the market demand decreases for old technology and the prices drop even more.

I thought they still taught Econ in school...

Add in the explosion of legal states which increases competition and boom, even lower prices. And everything is getting cheaper, not just ballasts. Hoods are cheaper, fans, filters, ...

Swisher Sweet said:

Funny you say that. I went looking yesterday only to find the big stores don't have them in stock for a couple of weeks (seasonal) and the horticulture shop was charging a ridiculous amount.

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I suspect this has something to do with the rising cost of copper for the motors.
What is even more of a bugger is that despite there being tonnes of US fan assemblies available at fair price, you guys are still useing 120V outlets. This would at the minimum entail another expense for a stepdown power supply and more waste of power, as no transformer or SMPS will be 100% efficient.

A medium power 6" inline fan of about 450cfm is roughly $250 over here.

I was wondering, would there be any issues useing a cooltube without a fan (i got a cooltube reflector on the way I picked up for a steal).

Could you please show me link of these cheap ballasts. I suspect you were watching auctions, not sales. I would love to buy a truck load of these lumatek ballasts for $109

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=600w+lumatek&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=280516005862310661&sa=X&ei=QjJuT-TXN6jjiAKg5vWGBQ&ved=0CGkQ8wIwAA#scoring=tp

$125 shipped is what I'm finding via a simple google search. (600w lumateks)

Gastanker said:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=600w+lumatek&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=280516005862310661&sa=X&ei=QjJuT-TXN6jjiAKg5vWGBQ&ved=0CGkQ8wIwAA#scoring=tp

$125 shipped is what I'm finding via a simple google search. (600w lumateks)

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Gotta be careful with those google searches. That's really the price for a 250w. If you change the wattage in the drop down menu after you link to a vendor, you can see the price jump closer to $190.

It's a shame really. I see people going to good shops with fair prices for good advice and then buy the stuff on-line or at a discounter.

You can buy anything in china in any color or shape, even a quantum housing in lumatek colors . Buying something from China and distributing it doesn't take a lot of research and development.

Quality, new technology and good service are always a bit more expensive.

ANC said:

I wish the fans would come down.

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Just for your info I could not find a fan last week anywhere but a horticulture shop and outrageously expensive. Walmart got them in over the weekend (seasonal). I bought 2 16" 3 speed oscillating fans for $19.94 apiece. Had 18 inch fans same specs for $29.94.

PJ Diaz said:

Gotta be careful with those google searches. That's really the price for a 250w. If you change the wattage in the drop down menu after you link to a vendor, you can see the price jump closer to $190.

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You are correct about that. I didn't bother looking that close because I don't shop online, I just get the numbers so I can talk down the grow shop if need be. I got a good deal anyhow, 1000 watt select a watt Galaxies for $200 bucks each.