re: Just picked up a used Seagull dreadnought cutaway for 200 bucks,

Most Seagulls are mattes/satins, but they offer gloss coats on the top only within their line and then full gloss finishes on some upper tier models, just like Martin and Taylor. In the world of guitars in general, mattes/satins are not only the least restrictive as it pertains to natural soundboard vibration and resonance (never a bad thing), they are cheaper because they are less labor intensive to make, so you see more at the retail level. The same applies to Gibson's "faded" series guitars - among the reasons they are cheaper than "standards" or "customs" is a less labor intensive finishing process.