Re: Does this seem like a good deal to anyone else?
One thing I like to consider is whether or not the damage is repairable, and if so, how close to perfect could I get it, and I think the major blow in this case is the metallic flake paint, which from what I understand is often a custom mixture and impossible to match exactly, because one batch of paint will vary from the next, and the more complex the color, the more room there is for variation. This is why when they paint match on a car, they will do the whole the fender, because your eyes would notice the variation if they only painted half. Plus some of these colors are actually two layers of paint, where the resulting color is one solid color showing through a translucent color. Without knowing how the paint and finish were applied, it could be difficult to match, even if you had the exact same paint on hand. If this were my guitar, I'd fix that chip anyway, but since it's beyond "like new" repairable, I'd pay even less for it than I might otherwise.
Regarding the pickups, the deal is that they are worth something to some people, but the buyer has to be prepared to wait longer for an interested buyer to come along. In practice, he will price it high at first hoping Mr. I-love-noiseless-pickups is cruising craigs list, and if it doesn't sell within a week, he'll drop the price by $100, or a lot sooner if he's fueling a drug addiction. As the buyer, you have to feel out with your own intuition how likely he is to sell the guitar at that price, how desperate is he to sell, and decide if you should go for it, or lowball him.
