IIRC, back about 10+ years ago, I had a Lincoln MIG welder I bought at HD and I thought the Argon CO2 starter tanks used to cost around $70-80 and refills were $30-40. I sold it a few years later during a move.

Fast forward to today. I purchased a HF combo MIG welder and Northern Tool said $200-ish for the starter tank ?!?!?! Are there any more cost effective places / ways to buy these?

I'd be open to used as well. Are there any issues with out of date threads, nozzles, limitations / unwillingness of vendors to accept older tanks as trade-ins, etc. ?

Welcome to 2023 and the effects of money printing, and everything now being called hazardous material. Compressed inert gas had something like an $11 hazardous material surcharge per refill at my local welding supply.

Not sure what you’re calling a starter tank. A couple years ago I bought an extra 4’ argon bottle so that I’d always have a full bottle on hand. Somehow a tank always runs out on Sunday that tank was about $200 and a refill of argon was $80 for my last refill.

You can look into leasing a full size bottle but at my last supplier it didn’t make financial sense for my situation.

Have you tried a local welding supplier? I've found mine quite reasonable on tank prices and they also make it very affordable to move up or down in tank size if my needs change.

Fuji apples at a buck each. 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream for $6.79 (not the fancy stuff either). Eggs? The new cottage industry in my neighborhood. Free range for the coyotes to feast on (those birds that have survived the flu). $5 a doz. Bring your own carton or buy a used one. Just grind up any embryos. Don’t forget to wash the eggs when you get home. Adjust or do without.

Local welding shop is similar here. Luckily I don't weld much so my tank will....should last a while.

Yup expensive for sure. My local airgas charges 150 per 120 sized tank of argon prior to my discount. Expensive

I got mine off Facebook marketplace. Think I paid around 80 about 3 years ago. It was I think $100 to fill it from the local gas place.

Airgas is slippery. I went to my local one, they took over the welding place I'd been going to for years, and got a large spool of Mig wire. Put it on my account.
When I got the bill, there was a charge for "gas".
I called and said I bought welding wire, they said anything that leaves their place gets the "gas" surcharge.

Trust me I know spend about 100k a year with them at work

It's all about energy. They're just taking air and processing it into the gases that we want. Natural gas too I guess.