Construction
The printed legend identifies the product: THHN, XHHW, TC-ER, MV-90, SOOW. Construction fixes the temperature rating, the insulation, the jacket and the applications the cable can serve, so it is checked before anything else.
Conductor metal and size
Copper or aluminium, AWG or kcmil, strand count, conductor count. A cut end and the print answer this in one photograph, and it is the second thing that moves the price.
Footage
Tag, measurement or weight estimate. A reel with a number is reviewed as inventory; a reel without one is reviewed as an unknown quantity, which always prices lower.
Condition
Jacket integrity, sun damage, moisture at cut ends, crushed flanges, kinks from bad handling. Condition decides whether the cable re-enters service or goes to recovery, and that is the largest single swing in value.
Paperwork
For utility, defence and plant lots, a release or ownership document. Without it the cable cannot change hands, no matter how good the reel is.