I have a 1980s or so Norelco Mercury vapor fixture which I installed on the exterior of my new shop (picture included just for anyone curious; temporary installation for test purposes only, it will be installed correctly when the siding is put on.) I bought said fixture about a year ago along with 2 cheap Caster branded lamps which I am sure won't last long; they were $11 for a 2 pack and I figured once it was all up and working I would stock up on better lamps later. Now when I look for them, I cannot find barely any for sale; some random websites have them for absurd prices, and there are 4 results on eBay which aren't what I am really looking for; but it seems that just last year there were pages upon pages of MV lamps, ballasts, and fixtures for sale and now there are basically none at all.

Normally, when something is out of production you would expect the supply to slowly dry up and the prices slowly rise, but not disappear over night; I can't find any evidence eBay has banned the sale of mercury containing lamps or anything, there are still PAGES of HPS, MH and fluorescent lights; so what gives?

I did find this one listing which claims to be for metal halide, but these look much like mercury lamps and say H39, so I think theya re listed wrong; but they also look like cheap lamps selling for a premium..

I am considering taking this fixture down and putting up a high pressure sodium light instead because of this.. I have 3 lamps now, but I don't want to burn through those and then be completely up the creek; I have a lifetime supply of incandescent and fluorescent lamps in the sizes I use, but no HID lamps as I figured they would stay for a while.

 https://www.ebay.com/itm/178297995385

Yikes, I really hope this doesn't happen to fluorescent lamps.

Here's two listings if that helps:

H38 DX https://www.ebay.com/itm/227441269246
Westinghouse 250w https://www.ebay.com/itm/188466892866

If you live near Charlotte, you can see if Light Bulb Depot has any too they have some old stock lamps at a range of prices

@Walter Knox - Sent you a PM for a listing of 6 lamps.
Unfortunately, this is the wave of the future...no HID anything. eBay does indeed have an anti-Hg policy...seems that they haven't figured out that MH & HPS contain the dreaded element too.
@Emersyn - Yep, they're coming for the fluorescents too...I've seen it first hand.

Kind of in the same spot here too. Wanting to get more mercury lamps but I've found zero so far. It really sucks to be honest

@Burrito - I posted a Westinghouse Lifeguard H39KB-175 in the web finds that's listed on Etsy.

I know, but they don't ship it-it appears.

Demand is going down because for the past 15 years people have been mostly buying LED outdoor lighting, brick and mortar shops in return are therefore not reserving expensive shelf space for them.
I've seen people post pictures here of MV lamps on shelves in american DIY stores in the past year though.

It's really not hard to find.
Search, "H39" or "MV" or "MV Lamp"
Or "Large Industrial 8" Bulb"
And if worse comes to worst, I can always send you a box of twenty or so high quality Lifeguard lamps as a lifetime supply.

Over here stores stopped selling MV lamps close to 10 years ago, you had to go to specialty retailers to get them. IIRC in the US Home Depot and Lowe's still stock MV lamps, even in places like California.

As for fluorescent, you can still get them in most stores for now but they're on the chopping block in a lot of places by 2030.

It's really not hard to find.
Search, "H39" or "MV" or "MV Lamp"
Or "Large Industrial 8" Bulb"

Unfortunately, those search terms are not supplying returns like they did just a year ago... 

Over here stores stopped selling MV lamps close to 10 years ago, you had to go to specialty retailers to get them. IIRC in the US Home Depot and Lowe's still stock MV lamps, even in places like California.

As for fluorescent, you can still get them in most stores for now but they're on the chopping block in a lot of places by 2030.

My store doesn't stock them sadly.

I’ve started using Mercari (offers shipping) and OfferUp (local pickup) for Mercury lamps. Limited selection but better pricing, unlike eBay’s almost-non-existent listings and higher prices.

Local stores here have mostly dropped them.

If you find one at a local store, most likely it will be modern junk and not be worth buying.

If you find one at a local store, most likely it will be modern junk and not be worth buying.

Most likely a China bulb

I did some extensive searches... most, if not all of the listings I saved are still up... but not shown in search results. They are purposely suppressing the searchability of these items...
But they do exist.
Why did eBay suddenly start giving a damn all of a sudden about Mercury lamps?