Why is the price of ballasts dropping like crazy?

whazzup said:

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.

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Gr0wGreen said:

and those people wonder why they get fucked at the hydro store, its because they can smell internet shoppers. try being a regular customer and see how the discounts and hookups start rolling in. how about just having a shop to return defective equipment too rather than dealing with shipping. that and some of you need human contact.

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Reloader said:

I buy just about everything online except soil, and nutes. My local hydro store is outragous in their prices. I needed a 8' inline fan for my filter, checked at local hydro store, the Hydrofarm fan I wanted was $169.00. I got one (Hydrofarm) off Ebay with a speed controller for $96. You cant ignore those savings. I am not willing to shell out nearly double the price just to friends with local hydro shop.

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fir3dragon said:

well i went to a local htg supply.. they are out dated on the prices and had the mini floralux for 95.00 i told them its in the book for 67 and he discounted it... but im sure if i never said anything they would have charged 95.00 for it.. i also bought a cool tube from there, it said 85.00 on the box.. i told him its on ebay for 70 and he discounted it again.. shouldnt have to say stuff like that they should change the prices... anyone agree?

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PJ Diaz said:

I agree. My local Hydro shop is an ehydro.com shop, and yesterday I went in to buy a new Digilux 600w HPS bulb. They tried to charge me $104 plus tax. I asked if they could give me the online price, which is significantly less at $62 (http://www.ehydroponics.com/DIGILUX-600-HPS.html). First he tried to say he would give me that price, but had to add the $15 shipping charge that they charge for online shipped purchases. I argued that that was crazy talk, because they shouldn't be making any money on shipping, and all I was asking for was the same price they have on their own website. The dude was cool, and gave me the bulb (list $115) for $60 plus tax. I agree that I shouldn't have to argue for that price, especially when it's their own online price. Online and in store should be the same price for the same merchant.

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kamie said:

I agree with PJ, I shop at south bay hydroponics as well and i hate how they mark up everything and i'd always have to tell them another local shop has it for this price in order for them to give me the cheaper price and to beat it. Why not just post the price that every other local store has it for and give a discount after everything is rung up? i keep coming back because they do beat everyones prices out there but every time when they ring me up they would charge me msrp and i would have to tell them to check back on my account for the price they charged me before. Who here likes nagging about discounts? not me for sure. Just give me a discount without asking and i'd keep coming back without having to check prices at other spots.

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kamie said:

I agree with PJ, I shop at south bay hydroponics as well and i hate how they mark up everything and i'd always have to tell them another local shop has it for this price in order for them to give me the cheaper price and to beat it. Why not just post the price that every other local store has it for and give a discount after everything is rung up? i keep coming back because they do beat everyones prices out there but every time when they ring me up they would charge me msrp and i would have to tell them to check back on my account for the price they charged me before. Who here likes nagging about discounts? not me for sure. Just give me a discount without asking and i'd keep coming back without having to check prices at other spots.

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Gr0wGreen said:

you cheap entitled assholes think you should get everything for free. these people run a buisness and buisness is supposed to make money. if you want to buy that digilux for $62 which is $2 over cost than fine, go ahead and give your money to some internet blowhard who doesn't do any work other than make sure his .com is online but don't expect the hardworking people at a local shop to put themselves out of buisness. they can smell online shoppers too so don't be suprised when they try to get one over on you because guess what, when you give your buisness to some website you're making it harder for them to survive because in reality, you are the one fucking them over. also don't expect any help warrantying your broken item you bought online and don't expect them to give you product or grow advise when you need it.

a fair price is the product catalogs MSRP with a 10% or 15% discount depending on the product. 20% if your spending a few thousand dollars. you'll save about as much money as the dealer makes on your purchase. that's fair. everyone should be able to feed their family for god's sake.

support small buisness, support your community, support your local grow store.

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richinweed said:

i noticed the part were u said "they check back on my account"...wtf, dood, i think you should bow outta the account shit....most growshop owners will gladly hand out that account shit when they get popped backing a grow or one of thier own....wow!

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Gr0wGreen said:

ballasts are becoming cheaper because shity chinese ballasts are flooding the market. prices on the good ballast hasn't dropped a penny. more people than ever are becoming online sellers that never actually see the product. you order, they send your order to the distributor, distributor drop ships to your door. since they arn't actually doing any work they will sell the ballast super cheap and make maybe $25 on it. they have no rent to cover, no employees, no insurance, nothing. it fucks up the market and puts people out of work.

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Gr0wGreen said:

ballasts are becoming cheaper because shity chinese ballasts are flooding the market. prices on the good ballast hasn't dropped a penny. more people than ever are becoming online sellers that never actually see the product. you order, they send your order to the distributor, distributor drop ships to your door. since they arn't actually doing any work they will sell the ballast super cheap and make maybe $25 on it. they have no rent to cover, no employees, no insurance, nothing. it fucks up the market and puts people out of work.

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