Etsuro Gold MC Cartridge in house

Bobvin

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Do you suppose your comments on this thread are encouraging readers to do business with you? It is having the opposite effect on me.
 

Believe High Fidelity

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What is the Etsuro re-tipping policy - how expensive is this service? Can people send the cartridge directly to the factory or just to distributors?

Distribution then 75% of retail for retipping. Industry standard.
 

Believe High Fidelity

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Do you suppose your comments on this thread are encouraging readers to do business with you? It is having the opposite effect on me.

They are not meant to encourage or discourage you to do business with me. I am merely doing damage control. If you find me to be disrespectful because I have found another instance of a distributor selling into the USA which by the manufacturers prohibition of it then I am afraid I have no words to change your mind. I have submitted the evidence to the manufacturer and they will decide how to proceed. Not much I can add to that.

Mike and I have never exchanged words. When marketing is concerned and something is worked out by the manufacturer because it benefits the team for the USA I am the very least kept in the loop. Needless to say this was all done in the dark so I just had to follow the breadcrumbs. The hifi world is a very small world after all.
 
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microstrip

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Distribution then 75% of retail for retipping. Industry standard.

Are you sayng people have to pay 75% of retail of a new cartridge even if they get it from the distributor?
 

Believe High Fidelity

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Are you sayng people have to pay 75% of retail of a new cartridge even if they get it from the distributor?

Sorry 70 not 75% and when all possible we sell through our dealer network unless the geography is not supporting one in a reasonable distance. If there are no dealers then we can discuss that on a case by case basis
 

andromedaaudio

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Its a lot of money for a re tip .
But with these kind of price differences worlwide people gonna shop around and be creative i think the manufacturer should try to set a policy guidance pricewise.
Im sure this happens in the car bussines to give an example.
Afaik every (luxury) industry
See with amps speakers people prefer the safety of dealers where they can go to with problems
One of the reasons i use r2r is that i cant drop the koetsu in the SME foam anymore and rip of the tip when i have a beer .
In this case the mark up is certainly not shipping cost as is oftenly said.
 
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bazelio

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Apologies Mike, but I am afraid that is not what I meant to say. What I meant to say is simply what i have already said and I see no reason to retract that statement. In fact I will reiterate it. I am happy for you, but very disappointed that you chose to go the grey market instead. The usual suspects work very hard to make me the devil for pointing this out as though I am just posting this so as to voice my frustration I didn't turn some huge profit. Very amusing to say the least.

Certainly your endorsement is appreciated, but when you are getting emails asking for "the deal Mike got" or to "match pricing" that doesn't exist there is confusion by the fact that we did not do business for this transaction. I make it a point because I am the USA distributor getting these emails and having this thread be the culprit.

The only "damage" I see here is the contention that the World/Grey Market is a good thing (consumer view) vs my position that it is certainly a bad thing (industry view) and we can agree to disagree.

In summary, your opinion on this forum is weighted 100 (you) to 1 (me), but I am certainly entitled to my opinion and don't need to be bullied into deleting my post because it conflicts with your own.

Best Regards,

Joshua

Joshua, just get out of this thread, please. You're a big reason this forum needs a "dislike" function to compliment the "like" function. If for no other reason than your signal to noise ratio is horrendous. Although, there are many other reasons.
 

microstrip

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Sorry 70 not 75% and when all possible we sell through our dealer network unless the geography is not supporting one in a reasonable distance. If there are no dealers then we can discuss that on a case by case basis

Perhaps it is just me, but I object to paying more than 50% of retail for a re-tip. I can understand that the first sale involves a lot of attention and work for the dealer/distributor, that many times will not result in a sale, but handling a re-tip is a different matter. The same for the manufacturer.

IMHO manufacturers or distributors should show to the public their retipping policy - Ortofon, for example shows it, I find it too expensive. Consumers should know at the moment they are choosing the cartridge about the future maintenance costs. This happens now with many car brands in Europe - consumers are informed about the expected maintenance costs for the first five years or 100000 km.
 

ashandger

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Jun 14, 2013
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Just like to add that if it wasn't for Mike and Mik's comments and feedback on this Forum, I wouldn't even be considering the Etsuro Gold. Thankfully I am not in US so will be able to work with Mik when I am ready. Really hope Etsuro don't take any negative action towards Mik as they are likely to gain sales thanks to Mike's purchase from Mik and this thread.
 
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andromedaaudio

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When i had my koetsu tip broken i went to a vd hul dealer /demomstration in holland
Mr vd hul would check clean and repair all kind of carts cheap expensive didn t matter on the spot
I think it was 275 euro or something.
But it got a vd hul tip so no original koetsu anymore .
Real character he said its much better now Nice guy
 
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bonzo75

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When i had my koetsu tip broken i went to a vd hul dealer /demomstration in holland
Mr vd hul would check clean and repair all kind of carts cheap expensive didn t matter on the spot
I think it was 275 euro or something.
But it got a vd hul tip so no original koetsu anymore .
Real character he said its much better now Nice guy

Vdh retips are still quite cheap
 
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Bobvin

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I just don't understand 1) why Joshua would bring this whole "didn't buy it from me" issue up on a forum for hobbyists, and 2) why a dealer would somehow be in trouble selling to someone from abroad if that person is there in front of them face to face? Could it not also be an in-country friend made the purchase for Mike L. and shipped him the cartridge? So disrespectful to make the assumption the buyer and the dealer did something nefarious, and then to air that on the very forum where said cartridge is receiving the most praise.

Google the cartridge and "review" you get the one PF review and several links to this thread. Now the topic isn't about the cartridge anymore... not the best way to add to the positive vibe regarding the cartridge itself.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Joshua,

i purchased my Etsuro Gold (with low hours) from a private owner in Europe (who purchased this Etsuro Gold from his dealer) who owns multiple cartridges.

i've told all those who asked me about this cartridge this same thing. many did ask me about 'Mike's deal'. i told them i got no such thing. this is a cartridge you will have to step up to buy, which is what i did, but it was worth it to me. i'm thrilled with it.

best regards,

Mike
 
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Lagonda

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If i was a cart manufacturer and mike happend to like the product id give it him for free lol
He has lots of exposure
And Mike never mentioned the price he paid for the cartridge, he is always very
diplomatic when it comes to that
( partly because he might sell again one day ;)).
He was irritated that some people where talking about pricing instead of
the performance of the Etsuro Gold.
 

gilles13

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I think the price of retipping for cartridges is a bit strange.I have a rolex Gmt 2 since around 25 years and I kept it on my wrist 24 hours a day.I work at home with it, gardening...and my job is sometime as extreme sport. I broke the glass 2 times and got other problems ...i have never paid more than 10 per cent of it's value to get it back as new ,polished...
 

BruceD

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Joshua, just get out of this thread, please. You're a big reason this forum needs a "dislike" function to compliment the "like" function. If for no other reason than your signal to noise ratio is horrendous. Although, there are many other reasons.

Yes-his comment we are "the usual suspects" shows his "disrespect" for us as forum members--guess he decided to enlarge the hole he was already in--
Sad this thread has lowered the tone of WBF--I agree with Tang --Mods delete the whole thing-its become a festering sore:mad:

Hang tough Mike-- your cool with us;)!

BruceD
 
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Lagonda

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Yes-his comment we are "the usual suspects" shows his "disrespect" for us as forum members--guess he decided to enlarge the hole he was already in--
Sad this thread has lowered the tone of WBF--I agree with Tang --Mods delete the whole thing-its become a festering sore:mad:

Hang tough Mike-- your cool with us;)!

BruceD
Why delete the thread ?
It’s exposing the price structure of
some products and distributors.
To me that is good thing:)
 

bonzo75

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Yes-his comment we are "the usual suspects" shows his "disrespect" for us as forum members--guess he decided to enlarge the hole he was already in--
Sad this thread has lowered the tone of WBF--I agree with Tang --Mods delete the whole thing-its become a festering sore:mad:

Hang tough Mike-- your cool with us;)!

BruceD
Why delete the thread ?
It’s exposing the price structure of
some products and distributors.
To me that is good thing:)

Yes please don't delete
 

PeterA

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Sorry 70 not 75% and when all possible we sell through our dealer network unless the geography is not supporting one in a reasonable distance. If there are no dealers then we can discuss that on a case by case basis

The cost to retip the Etsuro Gold is 70% or $14,000 assuming it costs $20K retail? Really?
 

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