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

I noticed on another forum that there is an interesting point brought up by a US distributor/dealer about his perception that one of his potential customers bought a top end cartridge ( that he reps) from an off-shore dealer/source...and how he intends to try and stop the practice of ’grey market’ sales. ( At least for the lines that he carries).
This gent seems to believe that because he signed some paperwork somewhere that may ( or may not) give him exclusive rights to distribute the gear in the US, that he has the right to try and prevent anyone abroad from selling to US customers! To that, he wants to have the manufacturer try and enforce his right to do the above. Now, one could ask, what’s the issue with this, right? And here’s the rub, the dear distributor is adding over $8K to this product for the simple task of ordering and having shipped a cartridge from Japan ( Yes, i know the shipping of such a large and heavy item is expensive...and the dealer has to stand by the product...whatever that means when we are talking of a cartridge!) The profit motive is high here, and the opportunity to fleece some of the US consumers is also...so i get that, but to come on an open forum and complain about the practice that one of his potential customers did such a thing....is an interesting marketing tactic, IMO.
So, my question is this..how much will you pay for that exotic cartridge to insure that you are buying it from a "legit" US rep, and not from a grey market...or in this case out of area dealer....what’s fair to you...a few $$s- or the sky’s the limit??
128x128daveyf
bbyer
18 posts
 
Grey market goods are still manufactured by the company , they are just distributed through alternate means.  Perhaps a dealer in EU needs to unload excess inventory and sells to an out of territory dealer.   These products are of the same exacting quality we all expect, they simply weren't sold by the authorized dealer the manufacture expects to sell in a specific country.  Nothing "Illegal" about it, in fact the vast majority of the used items on Agon are by any definition grey market.

Someone made a watch analogy earlier in the thread, only real difference is the demand for watches is far higher than for Audiophile gear.   

I imagine it would blow some peoples minds to think there is a wait list for all steel sports model Rolex's.  I remember when I bought my first nice watch after college, Rolex wasn't a great brand and they were desperate for sales.  Now sales people actually laugh at customers who ask to see/purchase the popular models such as a Submariner.   I live near NYC and can't get my local AD to return my calls or allot me a watch.  Leaves me no choice if I want a particular watch to buy it "Used" as there is no other option aside from popular Grey websites that seem to alway have inventory being provided to them.  

This all reminds me....I actually wrote to my Rolex AD yesterday offering to buy an $11k watch (less popular model) and I never heard back from them!!  some business they are in today, hate to see what happens to them when the economy turns.


chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Not everyone living in the world where $6000 cartridge is normal and $4000 is bargain. Even saving $2k you still have to pay another $4k just for the cartridge (this is madness). 

A lot of great cartridges cost 5-10 times cheaper and the difference between grey market sellers and official dealer is very little so it makes no sense to buy from grey market dealers trying to save $100. So for the reasonable priced cartridges (say $1k max) this problem is irrelevant. 

Some people created a lot of troubles accepting prices like $4000-6000 for a cartridges!

When your cartridge retail is $6000 you can save about $1k buying from grey market dealer, but the manufacturer will never swap your worn cartridge for the new one (or next model) for 60% of retail like they do for official buyers, they will send you back to the dealer. Both scenario is weird, once you bought it officially you're hooked and the manufacturer suck your money forever, when you bought it on the grey market cheaper your cartridge can be used until the stylus worn out or suspension collapsed and then it will be refurbished by some one else with different parts.    

In my opinion it's better to select and buy 6 different cartridges for the price of 1 for $6000.  
  
daveyf's avatar
daveyf OP
2,885 posts
 
@chakster  Great points...maybe. Kind of depends on whether you believe that as cartridge prices increase performance remains the same, past a certain level. IME, that is not always the case, some of the more $$ cartridges do sound better than their cheaper brethren. OTOH, if you are one of those folks who are happy with the performance of their thirty year old cartridge and its veiled performance, then I can see how saving a lot of $$ is beneficial. 
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
if you are one of those folks who are happy with the performance of their thirty year old cartridge and its veiled performance, then I can see how saving a lot of $$ is beneficial.

I am one of those guys on audiogon who actually compared some of the best NOS vintage cartridge to $3000-5000 NEW modern LOMC cartridges reviewers are raving about. I did the comparison tests in my own system, not at distributor’s system or his shop. And i paid for all my cartridges and purchased over 50 different samples, in my situation it wasn’t about saving money, more like a personal research.

Never in my life i would buy a $4000 cartridge again, the price has nothing to do with performance and i know it. This is nothing but marketing and someone already explained this strategy in the earlier posts on here. You’re perfectly explained how big is the distributors margin in modern high-end world.

The only way to find out what’s the best is to buy and compare, the only modern cartridge i’d like to keep is my Miyajima Kansui, the rest of my cartridges are all those rare vintage models (the best ever made, mainly MM and MI, but some of the best LOMC too .. all in perfect condition like new and fully original).


mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
interesting thread.

i happen to be the customer described in the opening post who bought the cartridge which prompted the USA distributor to get upset. it’s a complicated situation which i’m not going add anything here about. people have their perspectives and opinions.

i have bought and sold many pieces of hifi gear in my life, and typically anyone who is selling the brand/model that i have bought gained from my ownership of that product. i am pro-dealer, pro-distributor and pro-manufacturer.

that particular distributor decided his own path.

in my day job i manage a franchised auto dealership and deal with this stuff x1000.

btw; i love the cartridge, it’s easily the best i’ve ever heard. and i've heard a few.
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