This cycle count will tell us the realistic expected battery life left for the mac, which directly translates into used resale value due to the lengthy repair process involved in replacing internal mac batteries out of warranty.
Replacing a non-retina macbook battery of this vintage isn't very hard. The screws are standard phillips-head screws and all you need to do is remove the bottom plate, undo 2 screws and unhook the battery. I bet I could replace it inside of 5 minutes. I'd put that in the 'easy' category.