Are 500 hours too many for a used hi-end cartridge?

Lots of interesting thoughts, and few entertaining ones. (Like now I have  to catalog the cost ratios of all my components to see if they meet the audiophile acceptable standards.)
Seriously, this thread has convinced me to buy new - and from a brick and mortar dealer.  We have several in my neck of the woods.

Thanks all.

Smart move!

If in the $1K price range its hard to go wrong with an Audio Technica ART9. You might also find a discounted price on an Ortofon Cadenza Red. Folks seem to like the Hana cartridges also. 

Buying used cartridges is akin to buying used record albums. You must be careful and screen both the cartridge and the seller IMO. What does the stylus look like under magnification? Does the seller have good vinyl practices? 500 hrs is on the cusp of what I would look at and obviously should be priced accordingly. Unless it is a particular cartridge priced very good, I'd probably wait for another with less hours. Depends on how common the cartridge for sale is...how often does it come up for sale?

I have bought & sold used cartridges. I kept track of how many hrs on the used ones I sold. Biggest surprise is how slowly the hrs accumulate. The last one I sold (Ebony L) had 300 hrs on it after years of play. My guess before the final tally would have been at least 500. I listen quite often....sometimes daily. I play 90% of my music via TT. So I’m not a light user.

It used to be said that most audiophiles were honest to a fault. Maybe I’m a fool for not believing that everyone is a no good scalawag who’d steal the candy from a laughing Baby’s mouth like the majority here seem to believe. But the Zyx cartridge I bought sounds really good. And it helps me forget that the world full of nerdowells & thieves (-:

Miller Carbon, You wrote, "Look at it this way. The vast majority of the sound of a cartridge comes from everything other than the stylus. The vast majority of wear on a cartridge is only the stylus. Therefore the one thing most likely to be worn out is also the one thing least likely to matter."  That was at 10:32 PM on Apr 10.  Since your next post after that one was a masterpiece of satire, I assume you must have been joking also when you wrote the above.  It would be easier if you would flag your humorous remarks.