Mathmos Questions

So I had my eye out on 2 Mathmos lamps on the US Ebay. 2 Questions: well, actually 3:

1) Will they ship that to me?

2) Will they automatically convert the money? I've never ordered anything from ebay that was out of the US....and

3) I know I can't just plug the thing in here in the states, what do I need to covert the current or whatever over so that I can run my lamp?

Hey, what can i say?? I'm dumb when it comes to that stuff......Electricity and me are not friends, lol!!!

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Permalink Reply by VOXul on July 6, 2014 at 11:36am

I will start with Mathmos lamps are awesome

You may want to contact the seller quick, if you can, to see if they will ship overseas. Most of the auctions will state that they will or will not. There may be customs fees once the lamp arrives but I am not sure.

Ebay and PayPal will automatically convert the currency. The Sterling will be displayed as USD underneath the auction price in brackets. Once you log into PayPal it will show you what you be paying in USD.

The voltage does need to be stepped up if you keep the lamp original (I kept my Astro original as that is part of the beauty of the lamp).I use one of these to run my Astro.

Keep in mind that the smaller Mathmos lamps (Astro/Astro Baby) tend to use Euro SES based bulbs. They can usually be found on Ebay but there tends to be a premium on them as they come from overseas as well. If you decide to convert the cord to run US voltage you will also be converting it over to a US style bulb so there is that perk to a cord conversion.

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Permalink Reply by Carol on July 6, 2014 at 4:53pm

Wow, sounds like a pia to get the bulbs!!! Do the bigger Mathmos lamps take regular us bulbs or no? Ok I will contact him. It does say what the us dollars are. It's much more in our dollars. Do you know if the shipping overseas is REALLY expensive??? I don't wanna contact the seller and then be all like "ok, well I really don't have that kind of money to ship the lamp, lol". Oh well, I'll contact him or her anyway.......

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Permalink Reply by VOXul on July 6, 2014 at 5:02pm

yea, the price I have seen on the two Astro Babies seems about right on. I know a lamp ships in the US for about half that so the overseas quote seems about right. All of the Mathmos lamps are going to take a UK bulb as they run 240v compared to our 120v. There are Ebay sellers that provide proper UK bulbs, they are around 5 bucks each with shipping being free. They are obtainable you just have to wait for them to arrive, haha

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Permalink Reply by Carol on July 6, 2014 at 5:07pm

WAIT??? What's that?? Omg, I'm not good with that waiting stuff. The only thing I'm patient about waiting for is my lamps to heat up and start flowing, lol!!! Did you see the 2 I'm talking about? The one I just noticed said the lava showed signs of age. Glad the seller was honest. I'm not confident enough to do a regoo let alone on a mathmos!!! and the other had some sort of really weird looking wiring to me. It looked scary, but the lava was a beautiful shade of green. Might leave that alone for now. I really do want a Mathmos though. Wish I could get a new one.......

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Permalink Reply by VOXul on July 6, 2014 at 6:37pm

Yes, I saw the two babies you are talking about. That orange one is supposed to have purple fluid too, the green looks nice. The red Jet with the aged lava could be a fixer upper but the photos seem to show it flowing nicely. I am unsure if the seller is correct about the old wiring though, clear wire like that seems to be a newer style on that lamp so I would say it should be a 90's baby but I could be wrong. Yea the bulb waiting game can be a bummer, when I buy the bulbs I get at least two so that after one goes out, I can put the backup on and know that is the time to order a new set of 2+.

I am currently trying to figure out a lava issue on a classic Century I just picked up. The auction shows it very smooth and clear but the lamp I received has a haze and some nice white chunks throughout the wax. The haze is hopefully clearing, seems to be at least, but the white chunks really kill the look and I am unsure those are getting better. I almost want to dip a long handle tea spoon into the lamp while hot to try and scoop them out as they raise to the top. I need to be patient though as I have been told they might melt back down and disperse through the goo again.

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Permalink Reply by Carol on July 6, 2014 at 8:34pm

I just received a blue swirl that looked clear in the pics on ebay, but compared to my Enchantress, blue is definitely showing a haze. Nothing in the water though. I'm figuring the day it came, it was 95 here. The mail lady had it in the front of the truck but i'm sure it got a little shaken when warm. From far away it doesn't look too bad, but when i come up on it, I can notice that is is a bit cloudy. I know what you mean about white stuff and haze driving you nuts. I had to get rid of my purple 52 oz neon. I'm gonna have it glittered at some time down the road. I couldn't look at it anymore. My ocd wouldn't let me. So many nights I was ready to go get distilled water and crack that top!!! I definitely know how you feel. At least we have a chance with the USA lamps. I'm going to be patient too and just keep running it. Ya know these lamps sometimes play tricks on my mind, i swear!!! Sometimes I'm like "um, I think it looks a little clearer today", then the next time I fire it up it's like um, now it looks cloudy again!!! I really like that green Mathmos though. God, I would luv to order that. Oh, that reminds me, I have to check my email to see if he will ship to the states.

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Permalink Reply by Carol on July 7, 2014 at 9:00am

Well, I received my answer. He does ship to the states and says he normally doesn't have a problem with it. My problem is the shipping is estimated at 42.00 which I don't think is bad considering the lamp is still at low bid and it's ending soon, but I don't get hubbie's next check until the 18th. This bi-weekly pay schedule is killing me!!!! lol!!! Might have to wait for a Mathmos after all.

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Permalink Reply by Carol on July 7, 2014 at 9:17am

Is this legit? Trying to find out if this seller "Lights" is in the US and obtaining the Mathmos lamps and shipping them out of the US or are they in the UK....hummm, can't seem to find out where they are shipping out of or am I blind and is this allowed?

http://www.amazon.com/Telstar-Rocket-lamp-Mathmos-Violet/dp/B00B4FD...

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Permalink Reply by Keith on July 7, 2014 at 1:56pm

It's legit. Sold directly by Mathmos. It's not a patent infringement because the globe is not the classic lava lamp shape so they are allowed to sell it legally.

Carol Morrow said:

Is this legit? Trying to find out if this seller "Lights" is in the US and obtaining the Mathmos lamps and shipping them out of the US or are they in the UK....hummm, can't seem to find out where they are shipping out of or am I blind and is this allowed?

http://www.amazon.com/Telstar-Rocket-lamp-Mathmos-Violet/dp/B00B4FD...