To add to that, the wheels that come with a new bike are very often taken off and replaced with a better set from the get go by experienced riders.
Riders will have have different sets of wheels and tires, depending on where and in what season they'll be riding.
The bike in the picture is a cyclocross, a road bike for light/medium off-road (a gravel bike). Most would have a wheelset for pure road and another for gravel.
IOW, if he's a rider, he'd have another wheelset already, and would be better off taking cash for the trashed stock wheel and putting that into a good rear wheel.
So, yeah, could be comms.