I've noticed around my town, that while uncommon, it seems like the GE 201SA/Eye 100w Sunlux/DTL-1.5-1704 combination fail prematurely more than I've ever seen.  Most of them go through their life cycle and simply burn out, some will cycle on and off.  As the lamps age, they start out looking like a clear mercury lamp for the first 1:15 and then slowly turn pinkish orange.  The newer the lamp, the brighter the orange.  So does anyone think it's the lamp, the fixture, or the ignitor, or the photocontrol?  What are your thoughts

It is not just you.  I've noticed a number of GE HPS bulbs going EoL sooner over the past several years.  150W GE bulbs for the parking lot that were installed into new fixtures around 2014/2015 at one of my church buildings as well as smaller wattage GE bulbs such as 35, 50, and 70 at a few other buildings.  We usually only use Sylvania as that is what is sent to us by church HQ who has a contract with Sylvania, however we will occasionally purchase GE from Grainger when we need to do something quickly and don't want to wait the several weeks for the Sylvania's to be shipped to us. 

It is not just you.  I've noticed a number of GE HPS bulbs going EoL sooner over the past several years.  150W GE bulbs for the parking lot that were installed into new fixtures around 2014/2015 at one of my church buildings as well as smaller wattage GE bulbs such as 35, 50, and 70 at a few other buildings.  We usually only use Sylvania as that is what is sent to us by church HQ who has a contract with Sylvania, however we will occasionally purchase GE from Grainger when we need to do something quickly and don't want to wait the several weeks for the Sylvania's to be shipped to us.  

Grainger is a ripoff.  They try to sell a GE M250R2 for $380+ dollars when I can get it from the distributor for $194.00

Grainger is a total rip on anything and everything electrical, I dont know any contractors that use them. I wonder who is keeping them in business

I think they do bulk sales. The more you buy the cheaper they sell it. (Per item. Cuz 10,000 of something is a whole lot more expensive than one item. Even at Grainger's individual sale price.)

Otherwise I can't figure out how they stay in business selling stuff at such ripoff prices.

Btw, I own one of their books. Number 404. I forget what year. It's huge! Over 4000 pages!

I think they do bulk sales. The more you buy the cheaper they sell it. (Per item. Cuz 10,000 of something is a whole lot more expensive than one item. Even at Grainger's individual sale price.)

Otherwise I can't figure out how they stay in business selling stuff at such ripoff prices.

Btw, I own one of their books. Number 404. I forget what year. It's huge! Over 4000 pages!

If I were to buy 5,000 M250R2s from the distributor I got my first one at (M2RR25S0A2GMS3358), it would cost me $970,000 plus tax.  Now, I tried an experiment where I "bulk ordered" from Grainger and added 5,000 of the same fixture to my Grainger cart, and the image was my subtotal before tax.

As you can see, I am paying $1,000,000 more dollars ordering from Ripoff Grainger than if I were to order through my original distributor (Winlectric)

Winlectric - 1=$194.00
Grainger - 1=$379.75

So in conclusion, nope, you don't save any 💰 by buying in bulk from Grainger.  Which takes us back to the original question, WHO keeps them in business?