Is it a good time to sell DCUs?

I have one of the largest collection of DCUs. I have decided that I will need to slim down to just few of my favorite units and sell the rest. I have checked ebay and there aren't too many DCUs as it used to have.

Is it a good time to flood the market with DCUs?

Ebay recently has had a lot of DCU's on it which was kind of surprising to me. I might wait a few more weeks til income taxes hit to start.

Is it a good time to sell DCUs? Well... it really depends!!!

I have quite a bit of insight on the DCU market, as I've sold quite a few "collectible" DCUs. I will say, that unless it's something special, hard-to-find, or in high demand (i.e. Special Forces, Seals, etc.), you won't get much more than $25-$50 per DCU jacket. This is on the high end of the scale, for jackets with some decent badges and from somewhat desirable units. Also, you'll really want to open up your sales to international buyers (for instance, there are some European members of the various militaria forums that are also trying to build up decent DCU collections).

It is possible to get $100+ for the right jackets (arabic theatre made name/branch tapes, legit Special Forces items w/ provenance, well badged DCUs with lots of theatre made patches/badges, etc.). However, if the jacket is fairly plain (unmodified, no badges, common units), you'll basically have to consider those at the same value as what they would bring on the surplus market (i.e. $5-$15, depending on the size). DCU collectors simply do not want the plain jackets, especially if they are already missing patches/tapes.

All in all, it really depends on how much you have invested, what you are wanting to sell, whether or not it is worth waiting for a potential increase in the market value, and how much you are wanting to liquidate. If you have a lot of $$$ invested per item, hold onto them if possible. The "collectible" DCU market is not well developed at this point in time, and most of them are being sold simply for their practical surplus value. If you have some desirable pieces you are wanting to sell, by all means post them for sale and see what happens.

Are you wanting to sell to hunters/airsofters/paintballers/campers that will use the jackets, or to collectors? Two totally different markets there, which nonetheless has a bit of overlap. A collector might pass on a used, size XL, fully patched 4th ID jacket w/ no badges for $15 because it is such a common DCU jacket to find, but a surplus buyer might snatch it up because of the large size. I know... it sounds like sacrilege to sell a complete jacket into the surplus market, but you can't sell it to a collector if collector's aren't buying.

I'd suggest waiting about a month so people can recover from the holiday season and start getting their taxes figured up, as suggested above. Until then, you could spend your time sorting everything out, figuring up the best places to sell the DCUs, etc.

I wish you luck if you proceed with your liquidation, and feel free to PM me if you want any further advice!

I shall wait then! Thanks everyone for advices.

Think Longbranch pretty mutch got it nailed down, and as he point out. There are some European collectors as well! Please keep us in mind if you should start to sell.
Thanks.

Regards
Martin

From the point of view of a European collector, definitely not a good time. Considering that the cost of the mod/spec-ops DCU shirt (between $40 and $50) have to add shipping charges (about $40) and import taxes (20 euros-15 dollars), you can pay easily, the rate of the euro to the dollar, about $100. That's what I'm currently paying for the DCU shirts. And sell a DCU shirt on eBay for $40 or $50 bucks is very difficult. This without commenting commissions to be paid to eBay and PayPal. You have to be very sure the item you are purchasing before you make payment. Therefore, my DCU shirts are going to stay in my collection for many years.

Nice finds. I really like the lid and chest pouches. Thanks for sharing us.