Where are you guys getting your lamps?

[Autumn]

I have been all over the place looking for lava lamps. I check all the thrift stores, antique stores, vintage stores, flea markets, and etc. I also post regularly on craigslist and scan other cities craigslist pages. And finally I check ebay often for new auctions. I gave up on garage sales because I have yet to find a single lamp of any kind from one and I went to at least 50 garage sales.

Overall I dont ever find anything very rare. Here is my current collection.

11 midnight bases

2 midnight starship bases

1 silver starship base

2 silver streak bases

2 gold century base

1 silver century base

1 gold aristocrat base

1 americana base

1 silver 32oz china base

2 silver wizards base

1 black wizard base

2 8oz starship bases

3 silver blip bases

2 black aristocrat bases

1 gold silver streak base

1 blue liquid white lava 52 oz china globe that overheats quickly

2 gold century globes with red lava yellow liquid, one is cloudy

1 gold aristocrat globe with very cloudy yellow liquid and green lava

1 gold 32oz globe with yellow liquid and red lava

2 02 globes. One globe the yellow is faded, the other doesnt flow

2 03 globes. One is faded

2 09 globes. One is slightly clouded

1 10 globe

1 21 globe. Cloudy and doesnt flow correctly

1 22 globe

5 24 globes. One is slightly cloudy

3 25 globes. Two are faded to clear/white

1 28 globe

2 32 globes

2 33 globes. One doesnt flow.

1 8oz blue/yellow

1 8oz yellow/purple

I also have several knockoffs that I dont feel like listing. This list is also not 100% accurate.

Out of the 27 I listed 11 have something wrong with them. Since there is very little to find locally I do a lot of craigslisting and ebaying and in the pictures the lamps look fine but I keep getting duds... Does everyone seem to get as many bad lamps as I have been getting? 

Maybe its just bad luck but I am starting to get frustrated with all of the crappy lamps I have sitting around. I traveled over 50 miles to check out some flea markets in another town and only came up with one lamp and it doesnt flow...

This is all I seem to be able to find. Where do you guys get the good stuff? I have yet to come across any of these locally.

Any resin or ceramic base.

Anything from the 60's or before like a consort.

Starships.

Electics.

Princesses.

Coach, saturna, aladdin, carlisle.

Gemlites.

Basically anything other than a couple wizards and standard 32oz lamps!

So to keep this from being a general bitchfest I would like to hear about your lamp finds! Where did you find your rarest lamp?

I guess my 2 best finds were from craigslist. Some woman contacted me through my items wanted post and sold me a silver and gold century. The bases were in good condition but the globes were cloudy.

But the best deal I ever got was 2 midnight starships with blue/yellow globes in very good condition for $20+shipping. The guy was really cool about it and even sent the lamps before I paid him the money!

I would be very interested in hearing your guys stories about your lamp hunting.

[mandysbus]

....some weekends i go to 100 yardsales in one day.....
i have had good luck at auctions..... boxed gemlight 17.00
mandy bought one of the coach lanterns for 1.00 at a local auction.....

maybe pennsylvania is better for finding lamps...
i dont even buy midnights anymore unless its a rare globe......

[Autumn]

What type of auctions? Its something I have not tried yet so I am up for it.

[Jonas Clark-Elliott]

I've found them in all of those places, bit it takes hunting. Lots and lots of hunting. You're going to the right places. Look up a company like Palmer Wirfs that does traveling antique shows, and go to a few of those - the bigger, the better. Up here (Seattle area) they usually fill the floor of a sports arena or exhibit hall, and I've never been to one that didn't have at least one or two lamps.

Not to say you're not already doing it right, since I don't know, but hit yard sales, flea markets etc. early. A lot of the hardcore salers will be there at opening. But here's another suggestion that has worked well for me at times: Go to all your local thrift stores. At each one, ask when the person who handles lamps/electrical is working, then talk to him/her and ask them to keep an eye out for lava lamps for you. Ask if there's any way they can leave them priced, but back on the bench, for a day or two after they come in, or if they can call you when they find one. Not all, but many of these guys are willing to help out.

Craigslist is so-so, as are thrift stores. One way to guess which thrift stores maybe better is by what sort of neighborhood they're in; this can be the deciding factor between whether their main flow is composed of "We've had it for years and we got tired of it taking up space" or "We bought it last week at Wal-Mart and decided to get rid of it". Ditto garage sales: not to say that the latter won't occasionally have gems, but I find better stuff at sales in older neighborhoods than I do in modern developments; the latter seem, at least up here, to be 90% baby and kid stuff that new families are selling off when Junior got older. Also, if you're at sales in older areas, ask. You never know; I've seen "Hey, Bob, do you want to sell that old ___ you've got in the basement?" happen a few times, related to various things I collect; in one case, it was a boxed lava lamp they got as wedding gift. I got the impression it had run along the lines of, "Oh, why, a Lava Lite, that's..lovely... Elmer, put this in the hall closet"

Stories? Hmm... I got a Decorator in an antique store where the lady running it insisted that "The Alien" had appeared in the stalagmite formations at warmup one day. One antique shop netted me a working Crestworth-style copper Lantern. Best hunting story: I've been collecting all sorts of stuff since I was a little kid, and in one shop I'd been going to since I was 7 or 8, the owners had told me for years about a pair of Princesses (wall sconce model) they bought at auction in the 70s. After many years of asking, the wife started mildly bugging her husband to consider selling them; finally, about two years ago, he agreed to sell me one of them for $50. I have a large pyramid-like lamp display, with about 30 working lamps, and those top the whole thing - Lantern at the very top, with the Princess hung just above it, flanked by three Planters; two brass, and a homemade "Midnight Planter" with plastic fiber-optic flowers.

Keep huntin', try the antique shows, and make friends with thrift stores' electrical guys.

[storm98]

It all comes down to patience, and a lot of it. It took me well over a year to complete my Midnight rainbow. You've found way more items than I ever have outside of eBay, which has always come through for me, at least. Craigslist sucks for MN and local thrift stores are right there with it. The best luck I have had at one was a Salvation Army store.

Ask as many questions as you can! Ask for pics of it running after a couple hours, is it clear or cloudy, any blemishes or dents, offer a buy it now price, etc. There is always a deal to be had on eBay. I just bought a pink/pink midnight last night for $15 buy it now.

You are doing everything right, it just takes time and patience. Good luck!

[Chris Lea]

I know what your trouble is - you live in the wrong country!!!
LOL
Every weekend here in Britain at least half the population (well, it seems like it sometimes) heads to the fields and disused runways and large car parks to indulge in a few hours of car booting.
We've owned something like 200 assorted lava lamps over the past five years - and at least 90% have come from boot sales - and at real bargain prices. We've pruned that total to perhaps 40 or so now by selling (on eBay, inevitably) but we keep adding and adding. Can't resist a nice lava lamp for £1!!!!

So, arrange for a few weeks over here and browse everywhere.....who knows what you'll come up with!

[alan lovedog]

lucky you - either nobody in oxfordshire has any lamps for sales at bootsales or an insane collector is picking up everything five minutes before i arrive.

[Autumn]

I have figured it out! I reworded the way I sent emails to people on craigslist and I am now at a 50% success rate! Before only about 10% of people responded to my emails
Here is what I have coming in. Shipping on every lamp is $15.

$15(each) 2 Coach lanterns
$5 1 blue glitter silver wizard
$20 1 midnight starship with a #27 red/blue globe (very excited about this one)
$20 1 jester(maybe, still waiting on seller to finalize the deal)

It may not be as cheap as something I can find locally but it is a whole lot cheaper than ebay! I also spent about $60 on gas and I only got a blue glitter silver wizard the past few weeks so I think I am done driving out of town in search of lamps. I spent $60 on shipping and I will be getting 5 GOOD lamps.

[Autumn]

I am on a hunt for a blue/yellow giant and all I am finding are grandes. The closest grande is 4 and a half hours away so I am going to pass on that one. If you come across one and want to sell it to me let me know! :)