Massive price range on ballasts, is there really a difference?

K

KarlJay

Well-Known Member
I looked around locally and on eBay and noticed a massive price range on ballasts. I see them from about $50 to near $400 just for the ballasts.

Is there really a difference?

I know price and quality don't always match, and theres always someone asking too much for what they have, hoping for a sucker to pay.

I'm looking for a low price usable ballast. It doesn't have to run both HPS and MH, but that would be nice. I'm probably looking at a 600W.

I'm also probably going to make a hood, I do metal fab as a hobby, so a hood should be too hard and I hate being raked on price/value.

I'm not interested in used equipment, as I've heard they have a limited life span and you never know what you'll get when buying used.

Any one have luck with some lower priced ballasts on eBay or Amazon?
 
I'd say go with someone who will stand by the ballast they sell. Someone who won't sell it and then be hard to get a hold of.

We can help you find some, and we have access to more then what's on our website if you prefer something else.

I'd recommend a digital ballast, however if you're budget is too tight a magnetic one will work well enough.

Check out our website, and if you are interested in working with us further on getting a ballast, shoot me an email joey@gjvhydro.com
 
Yeah, I grabbed a 1000 Watt HPS + MH Digital iPower off Amazon for about $300. Just harvested my 2nd grow using it and haven't had a problem. I use it in a 4x6 tent, utilizing 4x4 of actual growing space. I probably should've gone with a 600, but it's switchable between 50%, 75% & 100%.
 
A good rule of thumb for all things in life is: It's not the price that's important, it's the terms.

How easy will it be when/if the Apollo broke and you needed to get a warranty honored. Look into this before purchasing, and if you feel it's good then go for it.

Otherwise I have plenty of options, and I'm not hiding, if you ever have an issue you know where to find me.
 
I've never had to deal with these sellers before, that's one of the reasons for asking here. I was hoping someone that's used one of these lower priced units and how it worked for them.

For example, I use HO T5s that were about 1/2 the price of every other ones I've seen, yet they are working great.

I know that quality usually costs more, but if the same or nearly same job gets with something cheaper, why not use it.

I see many home made clone machines, they aren't that hard to make, yet the professional ones sell for hundreds and I can't see where they'd do anything better than the home made ones.

I'm not trying to bash anyone, just looking at options and wondering about the large price difference.
 
Difference in price is related to individual or company which sells them & depends on a couple of things...

Bulk buying of a product can reduce over all cost of a unit there for lowering selling cost & becoming more competive on the market than some one who buys a few units and needs to sell at a higher price to meet profit margins.

Companys & shops may form a trade deal being like you stock our products only you get a really good dealing on buying stuff in, making profit margins greater.


Smaller wattage ballests will always be cheaper than the larger wattage counter parts also depending on whether they are magnetic ballest or digital will make a huge differnce in cost... more of old tec is cheaper than newer tec equipment.
 
A single digi MH/HPS set-up-- no matter the wattage IS worth <$200... w/ shipping to your door-- JMO.
plants don't give an F what BRAND ur using-- its the spectrum they want from the bulb
No matter what BRAND u spend on-- that light will b paying its worth daily-- or f u pay close enuff attention-- Hourly.
 
KarlJay said:
I've never had to deal with these sellers before, that's one of the reasons for asking here. I was hoping someone that's used one of these lower priced units and how it worked for them.

For example, I use HO T5s that were about 1/2 the price of every other ones I've seen, yet they are working great.

I know that quality usually costs more, but if the same or nearly same job gets with something cheaper, why not use it.

I see many home made clone machines, they aren't that hard to make, yet the professional ones sell for hundreds and I can't see where they'd do anything better than the home made ones.

I'm not trying to bash anyone, just looking at options and wondering about the large price difference.
Click to expand...

The price difference is a matter of how many hands has it passed through before getting to you.

A sells to B who sells to C sells to D

Or A sells to B who sells to C

If you beat D to the product it will probably be cheaper. Apollo is likely a chinese manufacturer copying one of the name brand ballasts, and then selling below wholesale costs to undercut the name brands.

They may even have in-house workers who sell directly on ebay. So instead of going from manufacturer to wholesaler to retail store to you, it's just manufacturer to you.

Now like I said this can be good or bad. They could sell you something that works great for 2+ years, and in that case fantastic. Or it could fail and then you're stuck trying to get the warranty. The terms are important, how easy is it to honor that warranty, how much bs do you go through.

I'm not bashing Apollo or saying they suck, I'm just saying this is the answer to your question, and these are important factors to consider.
 
They are all made by the same company in China. Ipower, Apollo, quantum, etc .... you can actually order them and have your own name put on them, and get them painted any color you like. I don't have the link for that ... LOL
 
I use Ipower with no issues. I did have one of the Ipower fail on me. It was during really bad weather and the power kept cycling on and off ... over and over. It finally blew the ballast. Emailed amazon about it. They had a return label to me within an hour. And, they immediately sent out a replacement ballast (free 2 day shipping). Had my new light up and running in 48 hours. They gave me a month to ship the broken one out to them ... after which, I would have to pay for it. No questions asked, no problems, easy replacement. I'm on my second grow with the same system with no issues. If you get it through amazon, usually amazon will make it right for you ... if there are any issues with it.
 
Muttt said:
I use Ipower with no issues. I did have one of the Ipower fail on me. It was during really bad weather and the power kept cycling on and off ... over and over. It finally blew the ballast. Emailed amazon about it. They had a return label to me within an hour. And, they immediately sent out a replacement ballast (free 2 day shipping). Had my new light up and running in 48 hours. They gave me a month to ship the broken one out to them ... after which, I would have to pay for it. No questions asked, no problems, easy replacement. I'm on my second grow with the same system with no issues. If you get it through amazon, usually amazon will make it right for you ... if there are any issues with it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you found a good vendor, then so that's great! Typically Amazon doesn't sell the products, it's kind of like ebay.

KarlJay this is a good story and what I mean, now you have someone else vouching for this with a good replacement story, that's my main point.

Mutt thanks for sharing.
 

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