It would have to be in need of a lot more work than this one appears, to be a bad buy at that price. Take a good look at it yourself, before making up your mind about that frown, since wide angle lenses can be deceptive.

The hone wear looks well within acceptable limits to me, but it looke like it might have been honed quite a bit with a small stone, concentrating too much on the middle. This would explain the frown and the wear on the centre of the spine. When you come to sand it, it could be a good idea to glue abrasive paper to some sort of canister or drum, which should be rigid, and just a tiny bit larger in diameter than it takes to bear evenly on all parts of the hollow grind, Longitudinal strokes will reduce and regularise the hone-wear areas beforew it effaces that lovely inscription in the hollow.

I'd say you don't need to set the bevels before sanding and polishing the blade, but you should hone just enough to brighten them, anssee you aren't eliminating them.