I also see it as away of saying, "buy me, press me" without the seller having to come right out and say that. Therefore satisfying both ends of the buying and selling spectrum and still being able to hold common ground with both sides and everyone marginally happy.
I'm afraid this still misses a key point, Jim. Rather than saying "buy me, press me", the selling of guaranteed unmanipulated books says to some collectors "buy me if you want collectibles that aren't manufactured collectibles". It's the original state of the books that matters a great deal to at least a few collectors.
Of course, you're right that it is strictly on my word that these books are being sold as original owner copies guaranteed to be unmanipulated. Oh, and the word of other collectors who've seen my original owner books, the complete runs across multiple titles and finite time frames, the storage conditions, etc. And the word of my ex-wife, who remembers all too well having to find the space to accomodate boxes and boxes and boxes of comics as they followed us around the country. And the word of my old high school buddy Kevin, who started me on the path to becoming a Marvel zombie. And my college roommates, who saw me buy and store comics for several years, and even became interested enough to read a few of 'em. And... you get the idea.
