Buying A Cartridge Direct From Japan

Banquo363,

How about listing a few "less fee intensive options"!

Regards,
Don

griffithds: I use this service. At the very least, they don't charge you a ridiculous fee for unsuccessful bids. But I chose it over jauce because there are no auction deposits required: if you win an auction, the total amount including fees is paid for straight from paypal.

I started using it only recently, but they are quick to respond to inquiries and were quick to ship my item. My first and only item so far got lost in the mail so I can't attest to the quality of their packaging :(.

2juki's inventory seems to be down some for Audio Technica (or maybe just the AT-33PTG//II. What other ebay sellers are good for Japanese / Honk Kong purchases?

Be careful buying used from Hong Kong. For some reason, the salt air seems particularly corrosive there.

I only buy new.

Price Japan will buy you any audio equipment you want in Japan for a 5% fee. You can send them the direct link or have them find the best price for you. English communication is very good and quick. They take PayPal. I've used this a couple times with perfect results.

Yeah, but where's the Price Japan equipment coming from. They're not an authorized dealer for any of the stuff they sell. So it's a grey market product. Furthermore, you can get a 100V piece and either rewire it or run it on a transformer, *but* if something breaks, you are sol! You have to send it to Japan to some unknown tech, because I don't believe the manufacturer will fix it, and you certainly can't fix it outside of Japan because you won't be able to get the parts. My point is buyer beware when buying from PriceJapan or these other similar sites. I understand that the distributors of high end Japanese equipment mark up high, but you're better off getting a good deal from an authorized dealer rather than go around them by buying from PriceJapan.

How can 2Juki sell Koetsu for half of retail, if these are first quality and authentic? How sure can we be they are authentic and truly new? Sky Blue for $3,000, for example.

The savings achieved by purchasing in or from japan will vary widely depending upon the brand and the profiteering by its US importer. The Koetsu happens to be a brand that is very inflated in the US. In contrast, On a recent trip to Tokyo I found that an AT ART7 costs about the same, here vs there. About 8 years ago I bought a Koetsu Urushi from a certified dealer in Tokyo for around $1500.

Interestingly, it seems that Koetsu has stopped selling new cartridges to the Japanese market. So it’s no longer the best place to find discounted new Koetsu, as they will likely be re-imports (but still better than the US distributor prices, which are stratospheric). However, you can still get a Koetsu rebuilt in Japan, which makes for an excellent value proposition if using a reasonable deputy service; EIFL advertises this, though I haven’t tried them. The full-rebuild price of any stone-body platinum, from Japan or Asia, is around 2200 give or take 100 -- and since it’s a full rebuild, and not just a re-tip, you essentially get a new cartridge on your old shell. Whereas the US dealers want in excess of $5000 (last I checked) for the strenuous service of passing a single 16 Oz. package two ways; tidy little profit, I’d say.

If you do it right, the total cost of ownership for a Koetsu (Onyx, Coralstone, Blue Lace) is actually by far the MOST reasonable amongst the high-end cartridges, which flies in the face of their long-earned reputation for ludicrously priced cartridges. I’ve been extremely happy with mine, for several years now.

If I want a rosewood standard or rosewood signature, is there a route to get it relatively inexpensively, either new or a reliable demo, and feel very confident about it's provenance?

Stay away from 2juki! He took my money and the cartridge. Not good, he sales fake goods!