Some of the fluorescent fixtures (labeled as grow lights) I've been looking at come with bulbs (6400k or 6500k) but if I get one without bulbs I'd probably just order something like this or maybe this. Seems a bit weird that the first link is for a 5 pack though. I've seen no fixtures that hold 5 bulbs.

That is what I do - and already mentioned few times. Most of my plants are in the basement. I "reversed" day for night for them; having lights on from 7pm to 7am. That is 'Off-peak' time here billed just a touch over 50% less comparing to daytime/'On-peak' time. I adjust timers to go on at appropriate time, when they change biling for the winter (Nov 1-April 30).

I am using some CFL bulbs (some 23W and some higher; I was given lots of them for free few years ago), some LED tubes and I have one T5HO - quite a mix, but that is what I accumulated over the years. There are also couple of T8 fluorescent tubes. Lights are quite close to plants, distance about same as Bob mentioned. I have couple of 5' tables, five of 12' long shelves, and few shelves that are 3' long.

This works very well in the basement, where there is hardly any natural light: windows are quite small, and I covered most of them to make sure there is appropriate dark period.

I have some plants upstairs, in windows on shelves, without lights. These are all 'lower light' succulents like Haworthias and Sansevierias, and even some jades.

I bought two of this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019J3UPUS/

Lights that are labeled as grow lights are usually more expensive than other lights that have the same capabilities but don't have the grow light label. Fluorescent or LED lights that are labeled as "Daylight" (6500k) put out strong light for plants. I have a lot of plants so I use 4 foot shop lights and position them about 3 inches above the plants.

I thought I might be paying a bit more for the "grow light" label but mainly I went with something grow light labeled because they would clearly come with a power cord already wired in and some hardware for hanging the lights is included. From looking at pics of non grow lights I wasn't sure if I'd need to do some wiring for connecting to power and I'd have to figure out what to buy to hang the lights. Plus, it seemed like everything that powers 8 bulbs was labeled as a grow light. Hopefully I didn't pay too much extra. I am a bit worried I bought something that is outdated. I guess I could have bought something like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FD2GJ4C Those do clearly come with mounting/hanging hardware but would've needed to make a lot of holes in the ceiling for hanging the lights.

I think they should be very good; description says 6500k T5HO bulbs. I have only one T5HO bulb.

Not as expensive as here in Canada. 1 bulbs is about CD $45...

I too use the 4 foot shop lights with T8 L.E.D bulbs 'daylight' and boy do they do a great job on my plants and I don't even have to keep them less than 6 inches above. Mines are on almost a foot above and still my plants thrive. The tropicals such as regular houseplants, citrus, and others do well eben if they are hanging a few feet above.

I found that the CFL, regular flourescent and the grow light ones were costing my much more money to run, in fact, a ton.

I received my fixtures and bulbs a few days ago. The boxes looked OK. Today I started putting them up, got to the point of removing the last piece of packaging from the side of the last fixture and I found a huge dent in the fixture. At this point I'm not sure if I'll return the dented fixture to Amazon or work out something directly with the company that makes the fixtures. I guess I'll figure that out next Monday or Tuesday.

With some help I was able to pound out the dent a bit so it is more tolerable. Instead of sending it back to Amazon I contacted the company that makes the lights and they offered a partial refund of a few dollars. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get a refund for the dented light fixture and receive another light set from Amazon and I might just get another dented one starting this process over again so I chose to not send the fixture back to Amazon.