I just got off the phone with tfaw and the guy I spoke with said that in most cases it's just the box that has been damaged. They will take out the saber, check it for damage and functionality, but the box is damaged and has been opened.
At this point I didn't feel too bad about it. However he continued on.
He also mentioned that it could be a display item that has had minimal handling, and he was pretty vague on whether it could have been a 'return' that is being re-sold.
So all that being said, I'm not going to take the chance on this since there are no returns on these items. If they could assure that it was only an item where the box was damaged and the lightsaber was mint inside and functioning appropriately, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
Good luck if anyone decides to get one.