Why even bother?

Those are both indicators that you shouldn't do biz with them.  If they act that way what else might be wrong?

Not at all the same, but a few years ago, before I had a SACDP and before I knew anything at all about SACD, I saw what I felt was an expensive MFSL hybrid for sale on ebay. I really wanted an "audiophile" copy of that CD but I didn’t know for sure whether hybrid meant compatible with red book CDPs, so I messaged the seller and asked him and I got no response. I did some research and found that it would play on my CDP, so I then trued to buy if from that ebay seller, but he had me blocked.

I bought it from another ebay seller, but I always wondered what I did that pissed that guy off.

I have had similar experiences, sellers simply don't want to do anything other than place an ad expecting gear to simply go away by itself? I have had people not wanting to answer questions, insisting on pick up only, refusing to pack stuff, insisting on only one method of payment, refusing to hold something long enough for me to get there, you name it, just the way some chose to operate, I simply move on.

There are many great sellers out there who are a real pleasure to deal with, I have been fortunate to run across several and have acquired some excellent pieces.

There are also many horrible platforms that are a real hindrance to a sale, often preventing it outright. I had made a deal on this site for a piece and during conversation an extra piece was offered that was not listed, all communications were blocked so the sale died, it was suggested that we were trying to share contact info to deal offsite which was not the case.

I have also had offers blocked on another site as they believed my cell phone number was actually a landlines, faulty research on their part but killed the sale. I was even blocked on one site as the moderator did not like my name, thinking it was fake. The odd thing on that one was I had not been asked for a name, the site scraped it from a social media platform which sported a screen name.

So many obstacles to prevent simple transactions from occurring?

Hmmmm ….I don’t have a dog in this fight , so I’m taking a wild guess here that you may have lost him here:

” …. They’ve been packed up for some time apparently. On April 27th, I emailed, simply asking if he’s run them lately just to make sure they are ok...”

SELLER may have taken umbrage (…rightly or wrongly….) at any challenge to his reputation/feedback that it could be inferior or somehow damaged goods being offered in the first part:

…. and/or ….

it’s simply not worth his time nor effort to drag them out of storage, set them up, and report back to you singularly, for an effort creating a duplicity when his ad would have properly and accurately already reflected their position condition

His attitudes may have been favourably improved upon receipt of a modest cash deposit with your late query …He may have lumped you in unfairly by doubting your commitment, predicated on his reminiscences of prior bad experiences by “ tire kicker” parties . In these audio forums, these irritating types DO walk among us,

of course, it’s also plausible that his reported unit condition was say, “…a little casual with the truth ,” ….. .and your request for express written confirmation would have further strained that position….so he now ghosted you.

just sayin’.

Visit a reputable dealer if at all possible.  Takes a lot of guess work out of it.