Carrying small items worth less than $5K in from Japan, I don't think I was ever charged by US Customs. Just be completely honest with them. Shipping from Japan, I don't know.
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Thanks you guys this has been helpful. Did anyone ever get slammed with a heavy customs duty charge?
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It just demonstrates the markup on Koetsu imposed by the US distributor. Again, that was 12-13 years ago.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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As to the potential value of the factory warranty, in my case I found when I got back home in the US that my Koetsu Urushi had a deviated cantilever. I sent it back to the dealer in Tokyo and got a new cartridge with absolutely no problem, because I had the warranty. Of course I needed the help of my son as translator, because no one at the dealership spoke any English. 12 years later, I recently had it retipped by Expert Stylus, and if anything it sounds better than ever.
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Juki is well known on Ebay and has been around for a long time. Like others indicated, no warranty and maybe even gray market without serial number. The risk is yours. However, savings on a stone bodied Koetsu can be significant (greater than 50%). Link below may not work due to Agon's goofy format - if not, search for 2juki-cartridge on Ebay. Hope this helps.
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i have had no trouble buying japanese cartridges from ebay sellers
as always check feedback... extensive good feedback cannot be faked... ask questions on warranty and how a defective item would be dealt with before buying
there was a time few years back when audiotechica art 9's were not widely available via usa retailers, i bought two through a japanese seller on ebay... it worked out perfectly
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The value of the warranty with Koetsu is that they will rebuild the cartridge in its entirety, keeping the original body. This may not make sense for a 4k dollar cartridge, but at a certain point, it is a fraction of the cost of the cartridge at retail, particularly in the U.S. Thus, when buying from overseas, it does have value to make sure the cartridge is from an authorized dealer if they are not fly by night and can send the cartridge into the factory. I’m not against third party retips but as everyone knows, the factory rebuild will have better value than a third party retip no matter how good. (I’ve read about a couple of retippers who have done Koetsu where the claim is "better" than factory, but I’m not sure that’s always the case). In any event, that’s the value of the warranty. If you have a stone body that is worth 13k plus in the U.S. market and can get it rebuilt for say, 4 grand, you have something of value.
I have two stone bodies, both U.S. authorized. I’ve had one rebuilt.
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I've never required a warranty but it happens take a look at this thread on this forum.
Brand new Lyra Delos - skewed cantilever
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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!
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The warranty would be honored via the seller if he is authorized, in which case you’d send the cartridge back to him, and he’d interface with Koetsu. So be sure the seller is a Koetsu dealer. This would be the first time I’ve ever heard of a Koetsu for sale on eBay from a Japanese source. So caveat emptor.
On the other hand, I bought my Urushi in Tokyo direct from a dealer, got a warranty document with it. When later I had an issue, the warranty was honored, no questions asked. If there’s a problem, the cartridge has to go back to japan regardless.
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Wow to purchase a Koetsu via Ebay I feel you are just asking for trouble. What about warranty? Screwed cantilever? I'd never even consider it myself personally YMMV
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