Cartridge new or used ?

It really depends on the seller.

I have purchased used cartridges with success as well as new cartridges.

I am considering sale of a cartridge (purchased new) which has been used for 19 record sides (I keep track) so about 6-7 hours. The sale of high quality used cartridges well cared for and used lightly does happen.

daveyf
who knows why some people sell stuff so cheap, problems financial or health or even drugs, who knows.
Over the years I have bought many audio items, usually from ebay, that were so stupidly cheap I just had to buy them even though I may not have even needed them.
Did I get burnt on any transaction?
Not one if memory serves me correctly!
And fyi the Koetsu plays perfectly well as delivered
Again if used cartridges makes you nervous I completely understand and commend you for staying out of that market BUT do not belittle the market or sellers/buyers of said used cartridges as a whole.
Thank you

edgewear"Are you really worried these records will be damaged from being played by a slightly worn modern diamond stylus with some advanced profile?"

No I am not worried, concerned or troubled at all by a used stylus because I do not buy used cartridges, underwear, or tires.  

@clearthink Let's make it clear: your cartridges are used, each time you play next record your stylus getting more and more used, not sure how can you live with it ?  I'm sorry, i know you don't want to use used cartridges, but actually you do.  

@daveyf

chakster, if you don’t believe me, read what stevecham wrote above. Your ’advice’ is going to result in folks damaging their LP’s...unfortunately. . As i stated before, I am certain yours are damaged beyond repair at this point, as your vintage stylus is nice and sharp!

I’m happy to ignore what @stevecham said exept his last passage below:

Personally, I never buy used cartridges.

A person who never buy used cartridges can’t comment on the subject. It’s obvious to me, but not to you for some reason.

If you will ever buy a brand new super expensive cartridge (i know you can’t choose) to play with it for 200-500 hrs do you think it will be a big mistake for any other member (in theory) to buy it from you to enjoy another 500-1000 hours ?

Your thoughts about worn records is something that i don’t understand at all. I have some records in multiple copies, normally i use one copy while another copy is unused on the shelf. We can easily compare them in 5 years. According to your statement the used copy will be totally worn?

I have some favorite record for 20 years in rotation and they are still nice, as another member pointed out, some 40 years old records are better than brand new. Surely we’re not talking about records in VG (bad) condition, but if the used record is MINT- or even VG+ in conservative grading then it’s fine. All vintage records have been played with cheap conical or elliptical diamonds and not by audiophiles, those records sonically are superior to 99% of the brand new releases.