As a new comer who has never seen any of these keyboards before, how much are these keyboards and (if it's my budget) how can I get one of these?
it depends on what board that you wanted but be sure to pay 400$+
Welp...I think I'll just admire you guys' keyboards from far lol
Korean custom keyboards usually start around $400 nowadays. Western custom boards usually start around $200.
Mind you, those prices are just for bare kits.
Sorry but what are bare kits? And also what are the main differences between a western custom and a korean custom? Do the korean keybords have better customization and better quality?
Bare kits are basically unassembled keyboards. They require that you do some soldering, and put together the keyboard yourself. This allows you to choose whatever type of switches you want. You want blue on your Esc, clears on your alphas, and reds on your modifers? No problem. (pls don't do that combination though...). Can also add all kinds of custom LED's etc.
Most keyboards you'd find online to purchase in the west are made by companies and are completed assembled, but there are starting to be a lot custom options coming out. If you look on Massdrop, you can find some kits for keyboards like the Ergodox, as well as some other popular keyboards like the Poker series which you can really customize (see techmattr on reddit to see how nice $100 60% boards can look).
Korean customs are insanely high quality with really well machined parts. They're often winkeyless as well. The pictures in this thread compared to a google image search of any company keyboard should give you a good idea of the difference. Shiny metal is a big part of it
I should note as well that even though these pictures are amazing - they don't really do justice to how good they actually feel in hand.
Luckily you can put together a decent looking keyboard for MUCH less than you see here. You just need to keep an eye open for good deals on parts you might want (i.e. aluminum case for whatever size keyboard you have, specific keycap sets, etc.)
