So you’re thinking of buying a drone? Buying a used drone can get you a great deal, but no one wants to get scammed. Let me walk you through how to buy a drone online, what to check, how to verify flight time and what questions to ask!
00:00 Introduction
00:13 First Questions to Consider
01:41 Research the Drone
02:12 What to Look For
03:03 What to Inspect
04:11 What's Included with Drones
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Before we even discuss inspecting a drone in person, let’s talk about some questions you should ask yourself about a specific drone model. Is that model still available for sale new? Or is the model shown as “end of life” and no longer supported. If it’s not, can you still buy new batteries for it? For example, the Inspire 1 is a great platform that is now available for cheap, but finding batteries for it might be very difficult. This could be a very limiting factor if you lose a few batteries!
Buying online sight unseen can be dangerous and we don’t recommend it unless you can verify the person via an acquaintance. To better illustrate this, let me tell you about how we purchased our Inspire 2 several years ago. I saw a post from someone in a Facebook group. I first checked their activity in the group to make sure they were trustworthy, then I found out we had a friend in common so I reached out for a second opinion.
The seller provided me with records from AirData, tons of pictures, which made me feel comfortable with how the aircraft was taken care of. We agreed to use an escrow for the transaction. The money wouldn’t be released until I confirmed the drone was received and as advertised.
With all that said, you should be leery when buying from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist unless the drone can be seen in person.
If buying in person, be sure to meet in a public place where you will be able to test fly.
Before meeting, find out more about how the drone has been used. Was it used for commercial purposes or recreationally.
A drone flown commercially means it may have more flight hours and may have more wear and tear.
In all cases, remember that if it’s too good to be true, it probably is!
Once you decide to meet in person, check the overall condition of the drone and ask if the drone was crashed. Look for scratches (suggesting a crash), missing screws (suggesting it may have been opened up), make sure all the parts match. Check the transmitter for stick and switch movement. Look to see if the seams in the plastic show signs the transmitter may have been dropped or opened up. Gently shake both drone and transmitter to hear loose pieces inside.
As the owner how many flights the drones has. Turn on the drone and controller and if the drone allows it, check for the number of flights, total flight time. This is typically found in the “about” section for most drones. While this is a difficult claim to verify, ask if the drone received major or minor repairs.
flight hours, ask if it was a refreshed unit from the manufacturer.
Checking the batteries is also very important. Ask how many cycles the batteries have and verify in the “about” section, if available.
Verify that the batteries are not puffy. If they are, you should not buy them. If batteries have a high cycle count, your flight time may be affected. Keep in mind, 100 cycles is a fairly high number.
Be sure to also check the camera. Look for scratches on the lens, dust or fog inside the lens, the gimbal not moving freely.
including gimbal movement. Check that image transmission is working well. Find the oldest battery and see if it holds charge while flying or if it drains immediately.
And lastly, see what accessories are included. A lot of used drones are offered with additional.
If you decide to pull the trigger, don’t forget to register your new drone on the FAA DroneZone. It’s o