Just wanted to update the thread as I have now received the scope and it looks like it is in good shape!
It was shipped inside another Amazon box (double boxed) with lots of padding. The actual scope box was beat up in one corner, but no where near what I had envisioned. It also looked like they reinforced it with an extra piece of cardboard inside to cover the damaged section with a lot of packing tape all around. The scope box also has multiple Amazon Inspected stickers indicating they somehow inspected it.
Opening the box everything seemed well packed and in order. The scope itself is supported by two large foam inserts, which allows the scope to float in the center of the box protecting it from all sides, as well as the corners. Since the box damage was just to the box's corner, it looks like the foam supports would have absorbed most of the shock if the box damage was the result of a drop.
Pulling the scope out of the box, it looks to be wrapped in the original plastic from the manufacturer. While it is taped neatly it is hard to tell if this is the factory condition or if it was just repackaged carefully. The scope itself looks to be in good shape at this point, and nothing on the plastic over-wrap or scope itself is sticks out as being a problem.
Unwrapping the scope from the plastic, I again do not notice anything out of the ordinary. There are a few fingerprints on the screen, and also the black plastic feet on the bottom look very slightly scuffed. Overall it looks to be in like new condition and I do not know if these minor details are due to it being unpacked and returned, or simply from the certification process. The attached certification paper show the scope as being calibrated in April of this year, so only about 3 months ago.
(Note: I blacked out the serial, not sure if it matters or not on a public forum, but it looked proper and non-tampered with.)
Above: Factory seal looks intact indicating the unit has not been opened since it left the factory. Also slight scuffing on black feet, not really worried about it other than wondering if the unit was unboxed by another user before being send back.
Since everything was still looking good at this point and seeing nothing else concerning, it was time for the moment of truth. I plugged the scope into the power outlet and holding my breath I pressed the power button. Being relieved there was no explosion or smoke pouring out of the thing, there was just a brief click and the sound of fan noise before the Siglent startup screen appeared. So far so good, at least it seemed to power up ok.
After a few seconds the standard scope screen appeared. So one of the first things I did, eager to make sure it actually works was to hook up a test probe to channel 1 and perform the probe calibration procedure. It looked like the probes were all new and hadn't been used. All 4 probes had the yellow identifying bands on them, not sure if they come that way from the factory or not. All 4 probes did require compensation, however, so that should be a good sign it hasn't been used? Also all 4 probes and channels seem to work well during the probe compensation process, so I assume the scope if working on all 4 channels properly.
I did notice after posting these pictures, while I had the probes set to the 10x position, the scope was still set to the 1x position. I believe (someone correct me if I am wrong) for display purposes, but I will run the compensation procedure again on all probes with both the probes and scope set to 10x just to make sure. Once set they seem to hold their position steady, so I assume it will only need a slight tweak, if anything.
After this initial check, I then run through the self tests, checking the function of all the buttons, knobs, LEDs and screen. Everything seems to be perfect. I also check the firmware screen and see that it has only be started one time, so I not sure if this is truly the case, meaning it is brand new, or if it is something that clears out with a factory reset.
After checking everything out and playing around with it as well as letting it run approximately 30 minutes, I then performed the self calibration routine. I believe it all went well as there was no indication other than it was finished and I could hit Run/stop to exit. I assume there would be some message if there was an issue, but it would also have been nice to have a more affirmative indication if everything went well.
So I think I ended up with a pretty good deal. It is either just a brand new scope with a damaged box, dropped on its corner at the warehouse and Amazon unloads them at a nice discount, or at worse it was a buyers remorse type purchase that was barely inspected/used and returned with only the box being damaged somewhere along the way. In the coming days I plan to give it a much more thorough workout but early indications are that it is a keeper. Thanks to everyone who commented on this thread and the suggestions early on.