Why do better MC cartridges cost a fortune?

I heard that too, that you can get at least some Japanese cartridges directly from Japan. Sometimes, even buying from the UK is less expensive. American prices on imports are often bloated because..you know why. Yes, $10k for a great cartridge that would last 20 years would be acceptable to me. Not the case.
As for the mystic surrounding this..to a degree maybe for some.
If you have great turntable, tonearm and phono stage, sure, you just get the cartridge you think will be best for this set-up and your taste. Still, the price appears to be disproportinally high for many. Bazaar economy laws of course apply, but this doesn't mean that the thing itself has such a high intrinsic value.

Anyway, Japanese and some others cartridge makers love audiophiles. And not just cartridge makers. They feed on obsession.
I heard that Accuphase costs half as much or so in Japan, don't know about Kondo Japan and Wavac. Americans can be funny too. How much is D'Agostino Momentum integrated? $35k or so? Do you really think that it sounds better than Gryphon Diablo 300 for $16k? I doubt it, but since I haven't heard either, I would be happy if someone who had commented. To be blunt - this hobby field is full of BS, but this doesn't mean that there is nothing but it.

High prices have been discussed quite a bit.  And while it is true that top of the line MC cartridges are outrageously expensive, I think there is an exaggeration in the original premise in this thread, that better MC cartridges cost $5k - $10k.

I paid $1650 for my Lyra Delos (now priced at $1995) and I would characterize that as a better cartridge.  Even my $500 Dynavector 10x5 (now $650) was a decent cartridge.

Sumiko makes a $550 and a $1250 cartridge that both get high marks by reviewers.

Sure, we'd all like a system with performance like a Bugatti Veyron, and that would mean a $10k+ phono cartridge, with superlative performance and tons of diminishing returns in the pricing to boot, but my point is, we can have better MC cartridges with better performance at $1,200 - $3,500.  Lyra Kleos & Koetsu Rosewood are both included in that price range.

Couple of years ago one could get Lyra Delos for $1k or so from the UK. That semed reasonable. As for Sumiko and lesser Koetsu, though I am unfamiliar with them, there is an opinion that they are not really good enough. There is also $1.5k Goldring, which is supposedly acceptable. Kiseki and Transfiguration for about $3.5k would be as high as I ever cared to go. Provided the rest of the analog set-up is up to this level.
Not Bugatti - Koenigsegg, $2million. I think, they make a dozen each year.

If I were those Japanese cartridge makers I would take the prices much higher, say, $50k for top of the line models. All Japanese makers, they know how to talk to each other. How many would still buy them? Enough, I guess.