It's just the ebb and flow of currency. I wouldn't read too much into it.

I can't believe it's that big a deal to you? I have considered eBay for lighting collectibles, but even for me in the States, shipping itself is usually ridiculous. I rarely purchase off eBay anymore.

Believe it. Everytime i refresh the page of items im watching the CAD price jumps up a few bucks each day.  The US dollar the seller has doesn't change, but the converted total in CAd does. You don't have this issue as you live in the US. So even though I find your response crass, I will give you a break as you being a US citizen you do not have Cad to USD to worry about and don't know how frustrating it is to have to pay 40% more than someone in the us does.

And no im not buying collectibles. Im buying every day lighting stuff. The sellers prices themselves are not the problem, its what i have to pay to make it equal their price in US. And shipping is also not a problem, i live near the boarder, its just that the cost of shipping still is high when converted to Cad. Where else am i going to buy lighting equipment like ballasts or sockets? Ebays all i got. Your 1000 bulbs and other sites dont even ship here.

Anyways I'm just frustrated, probably one of millions feeling that way, I thought others would feel this way on here considering alot of members use ebay for buying lighting stuff (not just collectibles) but seems none of the Canadian members are backing me up here. I'll live so don't worry.

The shipping is usually OK for me, I go through the GSP so thats probably why. I find the shipping is cheaper from sellers with GSP compared to ones using direct shipping. once I seen a ballast with shipping asking 200$ + with like USPS or UPS lmao

TBH, I always tended to avoid buying lighting stuff off eBay and online in general due to the high shipping costs, even for stuff that's shipped within the country. The added costs to import is another thing too. I'll have to say though, the GSP seems to have gotten better in the past few months. I bought a 175w remote MV ballast that was huge and only cost like $20 to ship and wasn't charged customs although that was due to the lost cost of the item itself.

Most of my stuff like the fixtures, ballasts and lamps have always been from local places like the Restore, antique markets, lighting suppliers etc. I pretty much only consider stuff online that's unavailable locally or super rare that I probably won't see again for years. Some of the stuff I got off eBay that fell under those categories include my 50w MV ballast that I imported and the 1930s Eagle traffic light that I got from an Canadian seller. The 4 way traffic light on the other hand was local, it would have probably cost an insane amount to get that shipped lol.

The same kind of applies for one of the other things I collect, vinyl records. I always found the local record stores cheaper than buying online when you factor in the shipping costs. Even Amazon with it's free shipping over $35 isn't that competitive compared to local.

TBH, I always tended to avoid buying lighting stuff off eBay and online in general due to the high shipping costs, even for stuff that's shipped within the country. The added costs to import is another thing too. I'll have to say though, the GSP seems to have gotten better in the past few months. I bought a 175w remote MV ballast that was huge and only cost like $20 to ship and wasn't charged customs although that was due to the lost cost of the item itself.

Most of my stuff like the fixtures, ballasts and lamps have always been from local places like the Restore, antique markets, lighting suppliers etc. I pretty much only consider stuff online that's unavailable locally or super rare that I probably won't see again for years. Some of the stuff I got off eBay that fell under those categories include my 50w MV ballast that I imported and the 1930s Eagle traffic light that I got from an Canadian seller. The 4 way traffic light on the other hand was local, it would have probably cost an insane amount to get that shipped lol.

The same kind of applies for one of the other things I collect, vinyl records. I always found the local record stores cheaper than buying online when you factor in the shipping costs. Even Amazon with it's free shipping over $35 isn't that competitive compared to local.

Yeah I always try to buy local for sure lol but with most local sources being dry ebay was all i had left. Hoping things will go back in a few months so i can make some orders again. I did manage to get a good deal on a lithonia turret on ebay before helll broke loose so thats good


Lol now the us dollar is $1.46 Cad as i wrote this  

 So even though I find your response crass, I will give you a break as you being a US citizen you do not have Cad to USD to worry about and don't know how frustrating it is to have to pay 40% more than someone in the us does.

You don't need to give me a break! Let me have it, I can take it.

This is a very fluid situation, maybe in a week or two your luck will improve. As it is, if you have something you are watching, probably most people aren't in the mood to buy things these days so it likely will still be available when the needle swings. And it will swing back to your favor.

You don't need to give me a break! Let me have it, I can take it.

This is a very fluid situation, maybe in a week or two your luck will improve. As it is, if you have something you are watching, probably most people aren't in the mood to buy things these days so it likely will still be available when the needle swings. And it will swing back to your favor.

Nonsense im not gonna give ya a hard time haha, makes sense hopefully you are correct. I'll give it the ol' wait 'n see approach and see how my luck turns, maybe it'll be better then before allowing me to buy more of my watched goods lol

Yeah I always try to buy local for sure lol but with most local sources being dry ebay was all i had left. Hoping things will go back in a few months so i can make some orders again. I did manage to get a good deal on a lithonia turret on ebay before helll broke loose so thats good


Lol now the us dollar is $1.46 Cad as i wrote this 

Same here even though I've been collecting less nowadays. There's still some stuff I want but nothing that I can easily find locally. I'm mainly looking for stuff like the older Powerlite luminaires, a OV15 (used on my street before the LED conversion) and a louvered fixture. I have a couple turrets already and I don't think I have room for more unless I start installing them lol.

Same here even though I've been collecting less nowadays. There's still some stuff I want but nothing that I can easily find locally. I'm mainly looking for stuff like the older Powerlite luminaires, a OV15 (used on my street before the LED conversion) and a louvered fixture. I have a couple turrets already and I don't think I have room for more unless I start installing them lol.

You know, as  the days pass I thinking this usd/cad issue is likely going to solve itself as @takemorepills said, it seems like Canada's government (and provincial governments too) are doing a pretty good effort attempt to try and take care of us and minimize the damage to the economy and jobs. Obviously its not going to be perfect by any means but im still pretty impressed how much they have tried. The US I fear is going to take on more damage unfortunately because it is larger and has more governments and state governments which have different laws and systems to manage themselves. So will have to see how it goes i guess and maybe I'll see the day soon were we are close to a dollar for dollar