DPRK Prices "How Much To Pay".

[Esteban_cool]

Originally Posted by Bob

I'm not a DPRK collector but do have some items in my collection (at some point I hope to post a documented DPRK-USSR-Mongolia-Czech-Lao-Vietnam group i have). I'll be honest, i'm amazed at the low prices in your list (compare to e.g. new jersey dealers website)... not so much for the "low end" awards, but for the "top end" awards.

Example: "Order Of Korean Labour (Soviet Design) Soviet production $120"

If that's the order I think it is (the beauty! over 3k USD on jersey dealer site) - I'll happily offer 150 USD for anyone who wants to sell one!

That dealer is not precisely the most valid reference on prices, for it seems he lives in a parallel reality. :D

But I agree that some of the awards' market price (Ebay for me as I don´t have another source) is a bit higher. However, most of the prices for low-end awards I think they´re quite accurate.

Thanks CtahhR for the list!:thumbsup

[Bob]

Originally Posted by Esteban_cool

That dealer is not precisely the most valid reference on prices,

true, but i've found that applying a discount factor to his prices typically gives me a reasonable estimate of the real market price

[Esteban_cool]

Originally Posted by Bob

true, but i've found that applying a discount factor to his prices typically gives me a reasonable estimate of the real market price

Like, 100% or 150% to start? :D

[medals73]

So . . . he pays you to take his medals? That I could afford.

[CtahhR]

If I offer 1 item for sale at any one time, say for example a Soviet screwback Order Of The National Flag 3rd Class, I can say that it is the ONLY one I have ever seen and hurry and buy it because it is uniquely rare etc. etc.. This causes panic buying and I can charge almost anything for it. The reality is I have a stack of them, BUT if I offered them all at once and flooded the market I couldn't charge a king's ransom for it. This is why relativity few are offered at any one time. The Chinese dealers scooping up these awards as soon as they cross the Yalu know there are large quantities of the items and are manipulating the market accordingly. The former dealer I bought a large stock from was in a quite rush to dispose of the DPRK items as fast as possible, maybe they know something about the political situation that we do not. Now why can the Chinese dealers afford to sit on these items with the prospect of the market completely collapsing on them? Very easy answer, They have already profited on the "unique" items so much that they are WELL into profit and it is worth taking a chance that the DPRK's closed market will be closed long enough to sell another set of "unique" items. The political situation is complicated to say the least and the relationship between the PRC and the DPRK is different once again. The Chinese are very good at storing and saving and DPRK items are just another commodity in their vault as they have nearly a 100% monopoly on DPRK awards. ALL DPRK awards on any market today with the exception of; A, Awards awarded to Allied forces (Other than China who got the lion's share) and B, Awards "captured" by United Nations forces during the Korean war (Mainly before MacArthur was sacked as the KPA played a minor role to the PLA). That probably doesn't amount to 1% of the total awards. The Soviet made Orders were awarded after Chinese participation in the Korean War so are far less likely to be unmonopolised. Almost all of the Orders, Medals and Badges are out there somewhere usually not on display. I don't know how long we'll have to wait to see them all but we will one day no doubt. For now we can just enjoy the few items that we can get without being shafted by a middle man really upping the prices because frankly a dollar goes a LONG way. If there were a database for DPRK award numbers in "western" hands you would find that we have only just begun to scratch the surface.

[Esteban_cool]

CtahhR, what about the award + case + ribbon bar sets? How much should we add to each award to know a proper price on these?

Thanks.

[CtahhR]

This depends very much on the award, the case and the ribbon. If you are offered an award with a modern red plastic case this will add only the value of the case to the award. Many older awards are put in this more modern cases with modern ribbon bars to try and trick the customer out of more money. Having the correct ribbon bar with the correct award adds a trivial value to the pairing. If however you find a "custom made" wooden case for a specific award (such as an early Soviet made Order Of The National Flag 1st 2nd or 3rd Class of which all are different sizes) with the correct variation order and correct period ribbon bar I can see the combined value increasing 20-30%. The common unmarked plastic cases are a rather "universal" case and any award that can fit in it will have been issued in it. When I get my hands on a camera I will do a study on the plastic cases.