New Koetsu on Ebay from Japan???

I’d be shocked if anyone got scammed buying audio gear from Japan. I’ve always had only top notch transactions with no worry from there.

But I wouldn’t expect a warranty - in fact I thought Koetsu stopped distributing in Japan years ago. So these cartridges may be “gray market” even in Japan. But what good is a cartridge warranty? I’ve never needed one. Keep the house cleaners away from it!

It's simple risk vs. reward. What are your cost options for a non-warranty / gray market item versus region-authorized sale? If your savings is a paltry ~25%, it's probably not worth the risk. If it's at least 50% why not? Way more than 50% of Koetsu come perfect from the factory, and will never need to tap into warranty. Similar calculations with used Koetsu. Make the best choice for your personal risk appetite.

The distributor x dealer markups with Koetsu multiply out fast so that leaves a lot of room for gray market "bargains", and that's why this topic keeps coming up. 

In Tokyo, my Urushi  cost about 40% of the then current US price, with warranty and all. So I was happy to consign a profit to the dealer who sold it to me. No problem.

That was a good deal!