I think as long as you're somewhere in the ballpark of what Chris, Caterina, and Mike Marshall are demonstrating for pick hold you're fine. Which one...
I would not hesitate to buy a mandolin that needed work but the price would need to reflect the amount needed to bring it up to playing condition. A...
I suppose before too long, you will be able to order mandolins with high impact packaging for the drone parachute drops, extreme insulation packaging...