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

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.

Facts and theories, Facts can be assumed to be ''true statements''.
But not all statements are truth-functional. That is those can't be
considered to be either true or false (tertium non datur). 
Well an enumeration of facts is not a theory. Theory is an attemt 
to explain the facts. Our problem by such attempt is implicite or
explicite mixing with personal valuatinon . As stated before value
judgment are not truth-functional. They can make ''sense'' but only
in the context of an culture or customs. Consider ''watershed'' 
between digital and analog sound. By CD introduction anybody
was convinced: ''it is done with analoge''. However our forum is
a proof that this is not ''the case''. Aka ''not true''. 
Similar to CD-versus-analog is the case with ''digital'' versus
traditional market. Our on division of labor based society means
that assumed skills for the old- are not sufficient for the ''new
division of labor''. Older people have difficulties to accomodate
to ''digital revolution''. This may explain the fact of dealeship which
 is ''fade away'' and buying on internet. Skills are also ''factual'' 
we can't assume them if they are not present. Not everyone has
chaksters skills to buy on inretnet in order to save his (modest)
means (grin).

Air Tight PC1

Original Price - $2000
Price 3 months later after TAS Review - $4000
Price then rose to $10000 over a short period of time ( happened to conincide with the release of the dumbed down versions PC7 etc that are still more expensive than the original PC1 ).

My issue is dealers who want full retail margins but are unable to provide product for audition. And then they wonder why people buy offshore.

If dealers/distributors/manufacturers dont ensure global parity in pricing ( allowing for local taxes ) then they dont have an appropiate business model for this world.

And then there are the $6-10k cartridges churned out with manufacturing faults like crooked stylus etc, but thats another story.