Buying A Cartridge Direct From Japan

Hi Brf, If you think that Van den Hul himself does those
rapairs I am sorry to disappoint you. He spends the most of
his time in Ukraine by their airspace industry. Being
secretive about his cart business does not mean that we
are imbeciles. What btw is the diference between answering
dealers or customers questions? Then by Axel one is sure that
Axel deed all the work. By Van den Hul nobody knows
who deed the work.

What btw is the diference between answering dealers or customers questions?

I would assume the difference is the number of inquiries.

I am not defending vdh business model, just saying there are difference wholesale approaches

I should have been charging people who had to deal with my secretary in my behalf (because I didn't want to be bothered)!

Unless your secretary is a volunteer (or you are a very poor businessman), I have to assume your secretary's salary, benefits, the cost of renting the extra space, etc., is all rolled into your pricing structure. If that's true, then you have been charging people for dealing w your secretary. But presumably, your secretary does not make as much as you so, to your customers pay less because your secretary is able to relieve some of the administrative burden from you.

Because Axel Schurholz is 'one man company' I asked him
why his wife does not help with his customers? He gets more
emails then he can answer. His answer was that his wife
then need to ask him how to answer the questions asked.
So much about (his)secretary.

I decided to join this Jauce bidding site in Japan. They are an intermediary bidding company. To bid on eBay in Japan, there is no other way to submit a bid that I'm aware of.
It must be noted that their is a $25 bidding fee that will be paid whether you win or not. Yes, even if you lose the bidding auction, you will still have to pay this $25.
I decided to make a purchase and post the findings on this forum for everyone to understand the frustrations that are being expressed.
The item I went after was a Highphonic A-3 phono cartridge.
It took some time to understand my way around this bidding site. Because the site is in Japanese, translation programs had to be implemented. Half the time, I still couldn't understand what was being said in these translations.
I received notice (email), this morning that the item has shipped, therefore I assume all charges that could occur against this auction, have been filed and paid. Nothing moves from point A to point B until the fees get paid.
The following is how it all transpired!

Deposited 2600 'Yen' into Janace bidders account.
I have converted Yen to $ for your better understanding. $1=104 Yen

This 'Yen' deposit = $249.18
Exchange rate Fee = $ 17.37
Won auction = $216.17
Auction Fee = $ 25.00
Bank Fee for Auction payment= $ 2.14
Local Delivery to Jauce warehouse = $ 8.65
Repacking of item for international ship= $ 12.00
Shipping to my home = $ 12.23
Exchange rate Fee for additional deposit
to cover shipping = $ 1.50

Total cost = $295.06
Cost of item= $216.17
Fees = $ 78.89 = 37% of auction price

Interesting adventure! All fees were % amount of selling price so the more you bid, the more the fees will be.
I can only imagine what a nightmare it would be if the item I receive is not as described or get damaged in shipment. I'm keep my fingers crossed. (grin)