Depends upon who you buy it from but "as is" to me says it's not going to be in servicable condition without a lot of work and probably parts.
If from a large respected company such as Bash/Fourth
Phase than what they
call "as is" might be exactly as they use it or perhaps and more likely a little worse for the wear. Otherwise they would be specific as to what's wrong with it. That "as is" however would be a large red flag for me even with them. When we sell equipment as a similar company, it's in at least "used" condition meaning still servicable and pulled directly from
stock, to resale. It will function and not be missing anything, just might have some rips to the
cord's sleeve and lacking fresh paint for instance.
Since it's simple to make the gear look good, there is no reason not to sell it with some pride. Such gear fixed up will also be worth more for resale so why sell it as is?
Normal used condition from us, most companies like any gear I bought from Bash, is 100% working, freshly painted to look as new and completely functioning and clean. Put a
plug and lamp in it if it's not coming with and it's ready to go. That's the gear that you want to be buying - no surprises, bad lamp bases, broken alignment screws, dings will be pounded out, and they will at least have a satisfaction guarentee to them.
If "as is" than I expect it's something like a
par can that's all dinged up, rivets are coming loose, lamp bases are trashed, wiring if any is substandard and fried and other parts are missing or broken. I just spent 16 hours fixing up a bunch of lamp bar fixtures someone bought as is. For the money they had to pay me to fix them they could have bought normal used gear. AS IS - you get what you pay for. Original
asbestos wiring, bad lamp bases, ripped cords, melted
wire nuts attaching to tourched wiring, burned up strain reliefs, chipped or green lenses, broken off attachment screws into the frame
etc.
Could be something that's pulled out of
stock and while dirty might be otherwise just fine but I kind of doubt it. Ma and pop dealers and places will sell off their gear and if they don't have the ability to bring them back up to factory spec it's going to be "as is" but also very chancy as to what's wrong with them. As is also says you can't
return what you buy most times. Get them to take a photo or give you a warranty or guarentee on the equipment for your satisfaction than check it really well before you pay for it. Lots of places learn how to do stuff off their gear than sell them off when they
advance.
I have a bunch of mini
wash lights that would be considered as is were I to sell them and not work on them. Have not been used for years so there is probably some rust pockets, plus back than the equipment will not have been taken care of so they will be missing parts and in general bad condition. Some missing yokes, some with bad lamp bases, wiring
etc. That's as is for me. If you can completely rework them with time and parts, sure they will function as per design, but it probably would add up to as much time and money as per a normal used
fixture that's ready to go.
I have given away lots of fixtures that were once state of the art for how they are done but they outlived their usefulness and the way they were constructed or wired is no longer acceptable. In such "AS Is" conditions, the fixtures are worth a little more than they will have been as scrap metal and depending upon the
fixture, under $50.00 each, or say under $20.00 for a
par can that's as is and with bad wiring
etc.
Hope it helps. Short of a photo and warranty, I would avoid the fixtures.