Quality of chessbazaar boards?

I want to get a board as a gift for someone...a nice, but not extravagant, one.  I saw a couple of boards that I generally liked the looks of for sale at chessbazaar at a decent price (about $150), but scrutinizing the pictures it looked like the two boards in the pictures had minor flaws.  Both seemed to have a bit of dark stain bleeding into the edges of the white squares, and one also had slight gaps between some of the squares.  Is what I am seeing typical of what I'll find in this price range from chessbazaar, or other, similar vendors? Am I being overly picky?

If anyone can provide advice -- particularly if you've bought a board from them recently -- I'd appreciate your input.

I bought 2 boards from them 2 years ago.Both flawless,but today it's a crap shoot.

You'll make the right choice.

@KUDZU9 - this is going to sound odd but I’ll say it anyway. The first set I ever purchased was a combo board and pieces from Chess Bazaar over a year ago now. The board is beautiful- well I think so … but weirdly, I think some people may have sent it back.

I’ll try and take better photos tomorrow to highlight flaws but honestly - you can’t pick them up easily … There’s some slight  bleeding of colours, some wonky edges/joins … but you really have to go looking. When I first got this board - I was stoked but this forum has a high bar and has taught me what to really look for … now I look I can see imperfections … but they don’t bother me at all. Photos attached are of the  board I love but again - to provide you an objectivity sense - I’ll take more photos tomorrow. 
Apologies for the colour balance issues in some of my phone photos.

@KUDZU9 How old is the recipient of this chess board gift? 

The boards I have at home range from solid wood, veneer, mousepad, silicone, and vinyl, in many sizes. Of all these boards, my 8 year old son prefers the "lowly" mousepad board. The wood and veneer boards are just too big, heavy and unwieldy for him to set up and put away every time he wants to play. It's interesting to see what I prefer to play on, and what I believe is "quality" does not translate to an 8 year old. Hah! 

**EDIT** Nevermind. I assumed the board was for a child because a few days ago, you posted about gifting a board to your grandchild. You've clarified that this board is a gift for a friend. You're just gifting boards to everyone!

In my opinion, you are not being overly picky at all. The best example I can give is a new car. Would you want your new car to have a fender that does not line up with bumper or have scratches in the interior trim? I think everyone would agree a new car should not have these issues and it wouldn't matter the price of the car. I understand most wooden chess products are handmade and thus prone to slight variations from the original design. However, variations is not the same as manufacturing defects like gaps between squares, bleeding, etc. It is perfectly reasonable to not want defects.

Here are some close up pictures of my board - it may be a slightly higher price than yours - I am not sure as it was all bundled together. To MCH’s point, there are defects but I didn’t notice them when I purchased the board and only went looking after reading this forum. Would I buy it again now? … it’s a hard question - I certainly don’t want to return it … I love it and the figured wood and I paid a fair price (relatively cheap in my mind) and people comment on its beauty when they visit but…they don’t look at it with a keen eye and I get that it is not perfect.

If it was a custom board and very high priced - not acceptable - however for me and my expectations, I’m happy. 

I have to admit that I always loved the board that the esteemed Powderdigit(who's crushing me in our current "Daily Game") owns.....Love the contrast and grain.

Here's my take on boards........

I would bet that if we scoured almost any board,short of something like those ridiculously expensive HOS boards,or possibly(no guarantee) an MTM board you're going to find some small and insignificant anomaly.

How quickly we forget. See this thread about a recent chess board purchase from CB. I have bought two sets from CB and each has been fine. Some have had great experiences with the company. Others  . . . not so much. Flawed CB Board

I remember that thread. That board was bad.

I'm very happy with my board.

I appreciate all the helpful comments.  I've concluded that I don't want to roll the dice with Chess Bazaar.  Since this is a present for a friend and there is a timing issue, I don't want to take the chance of having to negotiate a resolution with them if I get one of their less-than-quality boards.  I'll look to other sources where I will have to worry less about a lemon showing up on my doorstep.

Good luck