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

I'm pretty sure they're the best acoustic guitars for the money, particularly used.

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seems like they would command higher prices by now.

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Martin, Taylor and (Westerly) Guilds tend to hold their value quite well. Certain Gibson and Fender acoustics do, too, but that's highly year and model dependent.

You're right that Seagull is far more likely to depreciate like a Yamaha or even an Ovation (and I love Ovations) - and I can't explain it beyond quirky styling and just the impression of it as a value brand to begin with.

Seagull and its sister Lasido brands, Godin, La Patrie, Simon and Patrick, Art and Lutherie, are stellar guitars and there are nothing cheap about them from a materials, craftsmanship and general luthiery perspective. I have said for decades now that one would be hard pressed to find a better value in a guitar, new or in particular used. And they have been in the U.S. marketplace long enough so that they are plentiful on the used market.

The general reason they are so cheap is that:

a.) Lasido utilizes a program in which Canadian companies which utilize domestic commodities to make export goods get a sweet government subsidy for doing so. In the case of Lasido, the commodity is lumber. More specifically, the spruces and cedars used for soundboards, wild cherries used for sides and backs, walnuts for headstock veneers, etc. Keep in mind those Canadian forests that feed Lasido that prime tonewood are also feeding Martin, Taylor and the rest of North America's reputable luthiers their great wood stocks.

b.) Lasido has generally relied on grassroots, word-of-mouth marketing from their dealers and fans like myself for decades. They have never invested heavily in costly advertising and marketing campaigns in the vein of what we see from Martin, Taylor or other major manufacturers. Reduced marketing costs transcribes to reduced production costs.

I worked in a major advertising and marketing firm or 18 years before I opened my shop, and a multi-faceted ad and marketing campaign is more far reaching and more costly than one would think. According to Guitar World magazine's 2016 advertising card, one full-color full page ad alone was about $16K a hit. You get discounts in the advertising world for multiple placements, but you still have to consider you have a year's worth of issues, you have banner ads on the magazine's online site, you have other guitar magazines, you have other guitar mag online sites ... then add in the ad placements with Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, Sweetwater and all those other places we guitar players go online. Just effective blanketing via traditional and electronic advertising adds up FAST.

As for marketing endeavors, cutting edge business websites that are as big and good looking as Martin and Taylor's websites are expensive to create and update/maintain. You will need either an in-house department or a contracted outsider for not only the advertising agency artsy presentation but an IT firm to build it, tweak it for SEO, track usage statistically and tweak the sites visuals and functions accordingly ...

Promotional ... A major booth presence at two annual NAMM shows are VERY expensive to create and put on. Free giveaway guitars you periodically see in contests are free only for the winner.

That's just a few examples of ad and marketing costs that have to be absorbed in sales per unit. I'm sure I only scratched the surface.

Didn't seagulls have that sort of matte finish a lot of the time?

I used to love those guitars as a kid

I haven't seen a Seagull in years, but I remember playing one in college. I thought it had an interesting look, sound, and feel when playing it. I've wanted one since then. Maybe I'll add it to my wishlist.

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they are cheaper because they are less labor intensive to make, so you see more at the retail level.

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Yeah the finish doesn't have to be "perfect" like with a high gloss. A decent number of those have to be stripped and refinished before shipping - especially high dollar models.

Check out French-polishing shellac and you'll get an idea. Once watched a Yairi shop video and even finishes in assembly line mode are surprising involved.