In the original photo the guitar is leaning against a stand and the picture was taken from the back. Here's another photo that I hope will make it a little easier to make out the orientation. Please disregard the reflection in the back of the guitar.
The flaw is the light colored thin strip where the side meets the back, below where the neck joins the body. I hope this helps.
I do understand though where Mike is coming from. You get a guitar in your hand, the feel and sound tell you it's your new friend. You don't want to let it go anywhere.
I just had a similar experience with an Epi Les Paul '56 Goldtop Reissue. They're a bit tough to find, so when I found one that played really nice, I wanted to buy it. The nut, though, was off a bit, and needed to be re-set. Not my idea of a problem to settle for on a new guitar. But it played so well with the problem, I just had them repair it prior to taking it home. Not something I'd normally do, but when the guitar feels right, there's no turning back.
I learned something about finishes on Ricks, I learned that everyone should never be judged by only an initial impression (I have been guilty of this myself), I learned that black is really only a shade-of-grey, I learned that Rickenbacker really does care (not that I doubted it), and I had a couple of good laughs about the orange stripe that I also thought was the problem here.
All in a thread that I was initially going to pass by!