Low Hours Phono Cartridges?

Buying anything used is a crapshoot, especially on the Internet where you can't examine the piece before buying. I think there is an art to buying off Ebay and Agon. Agon is safer, IMO. Bottom line is that it is a matter of doing your homework. Call the seller. Ask questions. Look at feedback.

I've also found that most sellers are honest. I've bought a few "low hours" cartridges from respected A'goners and have been very satisfied. I also bought a few "high hours" cartridges just so I could try them out at a very low price.

As for the "low hours" claim, many people try different cartridges before settling down. I've done it myself, selling carts with only 50 or 100 hours on them because they simply didn't appeal to me.

My criteria for trusting a seller is (a) positive feedback, (b) length of time on A'gon and (c) their experience with analog. If A, B and C are all met, chances are very good that the cartridge really does have low hours as claimed and the seller just got a case of upgrade-itis.

My guess is that many people selling carts advertised as "low hours" have listened to the cartridge and then decided it's not a good match in their system, so they're sellng it to fund the next purchase.

I am completely in line with Ekobesky's comments. Over the alst 4 years, I have sold a Kontra A with about 100 hours, a Benz Ace with about 50 hours and ZYX R50 with about 20-30. In each case, I really wanted to try for example a well known combination that was recommended to me (Ace on VPI Scout) or just know the flavor of the ZYX cartridge line.

I would trust a person for a used cartridge as well if the three things are fulfilled:

(a) positive feedback, (b) length of time on A'gon and (c) their experience with analog

Also take a look at the forums here and on Asylum - several people are active in both places and I would trust most of the active members more than someone how just comes here to the classifieds section to turn over goods.