No going back

About a decade ago I was winning lots of cameras.
The Olympus P100 I hung on to for a few months before selling it.
I also sold my 70-300 zoom a while back in a frenzy of gear reduction. A decision I’ve since regretted - but been reticent to splash out 3-500 quid on a replacement.
Then I thought why not get another P100 with its 24-1200 zoom.
So I found one on eBay at a good price because of marks on the lens (and all the others were in Japan anyway). The marks looked like fungal growth on the inside but I figure they wouldn’t have much effect on image quality.
Today it turned up. I looked at the lens and gave it a wipe with my shirt. All the marks came off.
Which begs the question, why didn’t the seller try doing that?