New Koetsu on Ebay from Japan???

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.

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.

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!

It just demonstrates the markup on Koetsu imposed by the US distributor. Again, that was 12-13 years ago.