Yep. That's it in a nutshell. I've never had problems with any of my OPE, but then I always prep them for storage each year. Seafoam might not be the absolute best fuel stabilizer, but it has always worked well for me. I know that STA-BIL works well for a lot of people and there are a few more good winter prep additives. The most important thing is to at least do something instead of just pushing the equipment in a shed and closing the door. I keep a battery tender on my lawn tractor and keep it in the garage where the temp never gets below about 45 degrees. I fire it up and run it at least once a month. It's usually more often that that since I need to move things around every once in a while.
I was guilty of NOT prepping that Troy-Bilt tiller for storage and I ended up having to buy a new carb before I could sell it. Nobody's fault but my own. I'm having some REALLY interesting chats with people selling used equipment online. They pretty much brag that whatever piece of equipment they have was only used for one or two seasons and then has been sitting in storage for two or three years. Their asking prices are WAY out of line and when I try to tell them what it will probably cost to get it ready for use to sell, they get offended and SWEAR it was running perfectly when they put it in storage a few years ago, so there just CAN'T be too much wrong with it.
In fact, I just had a final exchange with a guy. 3 months ago I saw he had a Troy-Bilt mower for sale. In the description it stated that it was NOT running and PROBABLY only needed the carb cleaned. The asking price was $75. When I first contacted him over three months ago, I offered $50. He was offended and told me it cost $300 when new. I explained that if the mower was running and nothing was missing or broken, he might expect to get $75 to $100, but since it didn't even start, it wasn't worth more than $50. He got really nasty with me. I left it alone. Then, a month ago I happened to see he still had it. I again contacted him and offered the same $50. His reply was kind of nasty, but he was still refusing. Yesterday I got a message from him stating he was willing to take $70 for it now. Yeah, $70 instead of $75, like that was a real incentive for me to jump on it. I replied that I had picked up a few mowers and would now only offer him $40. You should have seen THAT reply, LOL! There is no telling what might be wrong with the thing.
Maybe I'm out of line, but a NON-RUNNING mower can't be worth over $30 or $40. So many of the ones advertised online say that the mower is not running, but it was 2 years ago, or three years, or more, when they parked it in the shed. How in the world they expect to get $75, $100, or even more is beyond me. LOL! A non-running, straight push mower that hasn't run in three or more years is a problem waiting to be discovered. OK. call me cynical. LOL!