Thank you for the thoughtful and detailed help! My skates actually arrived today and it fits perfectly!When you buy a boot big, it will break down prematurely not saving you money. I'd also give a second thought to this because wearing a boot that you are slipping in can cause injuries that may need surgery, a pretty expensive process that will also impact your skating for up to a year.
I believe most of the time you can return boots as long as there is no blade attached and no modifications made but that depends on where you buy and you might not get all your money back.