I think it's simple. If they have a variety of colors of an item (black strat, red strat, white strat etc.) or if the item appears in the scratch and dent section for a whole week...it is not damaged goods - rather, they have a bunch that they want to sell below the prices that the manufacturer will allow.
I just bought a scratch and dent Ludwig drum set. They had black, white and burgundy sets at $314. The fact that they had three colors was a good clue that they had a bunch of these drum sets in great shape.
The drums are perfect.
I'm a packaging engineer. I design boxes and I sell box erectors (and other things). These boxes were never opened since they left Taiwan.
Here is a slide show of the boxes being opened on a MF.com scratch and dent special. Check this out...........
Scratch and Dent Drum MF.com Slide Show
The cymbals were not part of the set but all the stands and hardware were part of the set at $314. Great deal!
John