Marty, I would test the bulbs before taking possession if you can. Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are not taking a risk on old bulbs every time you light them . Sometimes they are good and the next time they will smoke up inside.I will not ship bulbs commercially without the person receiving understanding that they are taking the risk if they do not light up on their end because of how fragile they are and the high failure rate. If they don't want them under those conditions then it is not worth the aggravation for me to sell them . I typically take a picture of the bulbs lighted before packing to show and email the buyer that they are tested prior to shipping. A big/over size box with plenty of bubble wrap around the bulb with no space for movement inside the box is the only way to go when shipping commercially is the only alternative in my experience. I test all of my bulbs before I put them on the shelf so I know what I can reasonably count on later. With that said even sitting on the shelf undisturbed over a couple years it is annoying but not a unusual fact that some of the same tested bulbs will smoke up while testing again before shipping I have shipped and received probably close to a hundred commercially . I typically try to transport them by car myself when buying because they are so fragile after all these years. That of course isn't always feasible. I typically only buy them remotely without transporting myself where the seller guarantees that they will work upon shipment arrival because of the high failure rate. If I buy a dozen and test them before going home after a few hundred mile drive even well padded I typically end up with at least one or two smokers . Even with heavy padding I don't trust the USPS . UPS is my preferred choice with FedEx second. Just my perspective for the discussion.
