How much will you pay for an exotic cartridge....

Around 350 bucks. The price of the Ortofon Quintet Red MC I recently stuck on a Linn Akito arm...utterly worth it.

My Decca Super Gold retip and Decapod cost around $850 with shipping. It was cheaper new back in 1987.

I am thinking about a cartridge upgrade and recently began investigating Lyra Etna Lambda.  Retail price in the US , as set by their distributor, Audioquest, is $8995 for the standard MC model.  

My search led me to a UK dealer and another in the EU, their retail price is 6950 Euros about $7k vs the $9k US price.   I can either pick one up next time i'm in Europe or have my friend mail one to me so the dealer/distributors remain in compliance.   Seems to me the US mark up is being artificially pumped up by Audioquest . Cartridges aren't amps and are easy to ship and they are not going to cause me problems with a different voltage, etc. 

Now I'm not going to waste any local dealers time auditioning the cartridge and am relying on the tremendous word of mouth if I do purchase from an out of country dealer and I'll have to have my usual pro do the install for me for a few hundred dollars as an added expense but I'll still be thousands ahead and i've yet to ask for a discount from any of these dealers.

I support US dealers and buy a tremendous amount from a few great guys on this board each year and I price isn't my only factor in whom I give my money.   But if I were to ask a dealer to sell me a $9k cart for $7k (full EU retail) I'd be considered a low baller!  What could a US dealer do in order to compete with the couple grand weight that has been placed on its US dealer network in the world of Google we live in?

This is a real problem for the Lyra brand and for those US dealers who are trying to sell to internet savvy consumers willing to pay the price of a stamp.

@bbyer I agree with you. This is a problem for US dealers, although I suspect they really don’t care too much about it! Also, remember that the EU dealer is still making a nice profit at the EU retail price..although I also suspect they are not making quite the ’Killing’ that the US reps and dealers are looking to score.
Now OTOH, if something goes wrong with the cartridge, which although unlikely ( although not impossible, as I stated above, my Lyra did need to be returned to Japan for work under warranty) the US rep has to stand by the product. With a cartridge, I would have to believe that the cost to cover warranty is still pretty minimal...and certainly not thousands of $$.
Another point that I have not made...in the US- the question becomes how many ’middle men’ are involved in the cartridge business...compared to other markets? Nonetheless, the point/question in my OP still stands.

Just want to clarify what Chakster says I wrote about purchasing audio items in Japan. I last shopped at Yodibashi Camera which is an enormous department store in the heart of Akihabara, the capital prefecture for purchase of anything in the world related to audio or cameras.  Yodibashi is about the size of the original Macy's in NYC, maybe bigger. You can buy pretty much anything for the home in that store, but 3 whole huge floors are devoted to audio and/or cameras.  The prices in Yodibashi vary all over the place, in comparison to US prices.  In some cases, you can pay 20% to 40% less than US list prices. In other cases, there is no advantage to purchasing there vs here in the US. In no case did I see any product that cost more in Tokyo than it does here in the US, unless it was a product that is actually MADE here or in Europe. 

As to cartridges, there wasn't much if any discount on Audio Technica, for example, at least nothing to make you excited.  (I checked out the AT5000 in May, 2019.) This applies to a few other brands, but I can't name them off hand. But at Yodibashi, you get an automatic discount (8 or 10%, can't remember) just for using your credit card.  You get another 8% off the listed price (which includes VAT), if you have your foreign passport with you and can show it to the sales desk personnel.  I calculated I could buy a Technics SL1000R for about $6500 net, and they had them in stock, no waiting. I mentioned this before in another thread with Chakster; you DO NOT have to pay the Japanese VAT if you can present proof of your foreign citizenship. I think the large differences in the savings between one product and another, by purchasing in Tokyo vs the US, has everything to do with the mark-up by the respective US distributors, where that product is also sold by US dealers.  Some distributors ARE a bit greedy.  Some are superb, like Robin Wyatt. 

You won't see a Lyra or a Koetsu cartridge, at least not any of the high end Koetsus, for open sale at any audio store in Tokyo where I have shopped. I did buy a Koetsu Urushi at a high end boutique, in about 2009. I had to pay for it in full and wait two weeks for it to arrive at the dealer by special order, and this was only achieved because my son is a fluent speaker of the language. None of the salespersons at Yodi or at this other store spoke English, and they have limited willingness to try to figure out what you want.  I had one salesman at Yodi just walk away, in frustration.  The check-out people do speak enough English to help you make the purchase. And you can often corral another customer to help you with language. By the way, that Urushi cost me about one-third of the US price, and it was fully warranted by the Tokyo dealer.  When I got home, I noticed that the cantilever was out of alignment.  I sent it back and got another sample, with no questions asked.  I think the US distributor for Koetsu may be one of those who takes a big cut for himself, maybe because he can, due to the popularity of the product. But my experience is all about being there in Tokyo.  The only thing I ever bought off one of the vendors on eBay was a used Fidelity Research FR64S; the transaction was perfect and the product exactly as described.