New Koetsu on Ebay from Japan???

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.

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!

I've never required a warranty but it happens take a look at this thread on this forum.

Brand new Lyra Delos - skewed cantilever

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.

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