I guess that's a question for the more experienced cellists here. What do you do when trying a cello in the shop or at a luthier? Do you have a routine you always do to test all of its facets? How do you know it's a property of the cello and not just the strings that are on it?
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First, try a basic C major scale on all cellos. Listen for any imperfections in open strings. Test all the basic positions you’d be playing in to check for wolf tones or any issues with tone projection on certain strings. Check the fingerboard for any imperfections. Then, move into rep: play something fast, slow, long notes, short notes, whatever. Your expectations for the cello should match the price range you’re looking at. Below the 30 mark, I wouldn’t be expecting anything too crazy, but you can find crazy good deals on unmarked cellos or at estate sales. Above the 40-50 mark is when there should be very few weaknesses of the cello, and anything above 50 or so the issues should be relatively minimal. Depending on your location and price range, I can give some luthier suggestions. If you can, limit yourself down to a few cellos and then try a bunch of bows on each of them. Finally, try to get somebody else to play the cello for you. It helps a lot.
$0-30k is the starting range? That can't be right.
0-30 is not starting range, I’m just giving my area of expertise. There’s ranges from 0-1000, below 5000, 5-10000, 10-25, etc. I’m just not as familiar.