A librarian's comment made me stop buying blind online

Last month I grabbed three thrillers from a discount site based on covers alone. When I posted the stack in a reading group, one librarian pointed out the publisher had changed the spines mid-series. I didn't even think to check edition numbers or whether the text was abridged. Turns out two of the three were old library discards with sticky labels and missing maps. Now I ask sellers for photos of the copyright page and the last chapter before I pay anything over $5. It's saved me money twice since, but I still got burned on a 2019 reprint that looked original from the outside. Has anyone else had luck getting refunds from sellers who hide this stuff in the description?