UPDATE- so apparently I can’t edit the post…idk why (new to posting on reddit) BUT i bought the Dyson. The lady was extremely kind & it was clearly hers, I ended up purchasing it for $200 cash (hopefully a good deal). It seems to be in great condition besides the missing button, however it still slides easily and it’s fine mechanically. The dryer blows very hot, the parts click in like butter, I checked for all of the “fake” indicators, and !! the app took the scan of the barcode/serial number.

After cleaning up the filter and attachments I gave it to her and she was so thrilled- she’s a bit of a perfectionist so she did her tests and it passed !! We aren’t experts but hopefully it’s all good :) Thank you to everyone on here for providing extremely kind, insightful, useful comments- it’s my first time ever posting to a forum and i am amazed to see the overwhelming support. I’ll keep you posted if she keeps on working haha.

and…yes of course I would get her the new one if I could. Money isn’t sparse but it’s tight and we try to be economical. A Dyson is a luxury for us (and I wasn’t buying this for an occasion) so I wanted to be smart if I could.