Do you buy used carts/needles? Is it risky?

In the end, you will never know how many hours are on that stylus. Pass.

@dman777  Who buys ’NEEDLES’ either new or used?? No-one has used needles in half a century, usually on wind up gramaphones! Maybe you meant stylus?! And I don’t believe anyone would buy a used stylus, presumably for an MM cart.

Used carts, certainly, but not stylus’.

@daveteauk ,

A turntable stylus, or needle, is the component that reads the grooves of a vinyl record and converts them into electrical signals for sound reproduction.

And if you're buying a used cartridge, pretty sure most of the time there's a used stylus on it.

No I do not buy used cartridges. The only person I would buy a used cartridge from is me. 

@audphile1 ,

If you pay by check, do you wait for it to clear before you give it to you??

Something I might try some day, as I've also got a 1200G with removeable headshells to make it easy to switch. Currently using a Hana Umami Red that I got new on a trade-in. I would suggest getting the best cart you can afford, as I've found that makes a much bigger difference for me than the TT itself. And of course your phono preamp plays a big part....