Not a narc, too good not to share.

[madkiwi]

Negotiating with a professional photographer who is selling his drone (upgrading). Asked about the registration, he told me it is not registered because it is under 250 g. Oookay, not my job to tell him that if he's not using it recreationally registering it is the least of his problems.

Asked about total time on the drone, he sent me a screenshot of the flight data center showing total time. Cool. Also shows his last 5 flights. Noticed the lowest one was 127m (416 ft). Highest? 340m. Yes this is nowhere MT but still...

I'm no narc but I have to shake my head.

 

[mavic3usa]

There are big mountains in MT, perhaps he scaled one of them for over 1000 feet but never lifted more than 400 feet to the ground below. The registration, yeah that typical; lots of people don't understand (and maybe not agree with) you need a commercial license for every drone flight you take except one (flying recreationally for fun). Likely he's along with thousands of others who feel the same way and honestly, FAA isn't doing much about it either.

 

[johnnyb57]

Negotiating with a professional photographer who is selling his drone (upgrading). Asked about the registration, he told me it is not registered because it is under 250 g. Oookay, not my job to tell him that if he's not using it recreationally registering it is the least of his problems.

Asked about total time on the drone, he sent me a screenshot of the flight data center showing total time. Cool. Also shows his last 5 flights. Noticed the lowest one was 127m (416 ft). Highest? 340m. Yes this is nowhere MT but still...

I'm no narc but I have to shake my head.

Why would those things be of any interest to the sale ?

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

They are not part of the sale, and without being a drone police, he could politely inform the seller for educational purposes. Or simply ask if he was aware of the height limit and the requirement for a 107 in his work. And in doing so just let him know that he noticed the issue on the logs and didn't know if he was aware of those requirements. Let him know he thought he would mention it just in case he was not aware so that he would not risk a visit from the FAA.

For a first time offense unless there is a serious intent, that is what the FAA claims to do, educate.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Why would those things be of any interest to the sale ?

Whether or not it's registered? The total air time of the drone?

Two very important things to know. First, you want to make sure the previous owner unregisters it. Second, like a car Odometer, flight time is important in judging the sales value.

As for the observations of possible non-compliance, I certainly didn't get the impression that had anything to do with the sale at all, just interesting information that generated a post here about it.

 

[madkiwi]

Why would those things be of any interest to the sale ?

I'm buying a drone that costs $700+ so I wanted to know how used it was. Seeing how many hours on it tells me a lot (and how worn the batteries might be). I didn't ask for a screen cap of the flight logs just total time.

Wanted to know about registration because obviously that is something that he would have to remove before I take possession so it's best to cover all the stuff that needs to be handled.

Both things are of interest and relevant to a sale no?

I also asked if he had an active Care Refresh plan. OMG!

 

[Dale D]

Negotiating with a professional photographer who is selling his drone (upgrading). Asked about the registration, he told me it is not registered because it is under 250 g. Oookay, not my job to tell him that if he's not using it recreationally registering it is the least of his problems.

Asked about total time on the drone, he sent me a screenshot of the flight data center showing total time. Cool. Also shows his last 5 flights. Noticed the lowest one was 127m (416 ft). Highest? 340m. Yes this is nowhere MT but still...

I'm no narc but I have to shake my head.

This offer has a lot of iffy warnings. I would pass because there are so many great sales here on this forum and from members who have built up a reputation of honesty on the forum. If you are on this forum for while, you begin to know more about the members. It is just a matter of waiting for the better sales offer.

There has been a relly nice offer from "Retired From Fla. " on the forum for months for a Mavic 4 pro, I think.

Dale

 

[Daytona500]

Im curious just because he's a pro photographer what makes you think he wasn't just flying for fun. No need to reg then. did he say hey I used this to take pics and make money?

 

[mavic3usa]

They are not part of the sale, and without being a drone police, he could politely inform the seller for educational purposes. Or simply ask if he was aware of the height limit and the requirement for a 107 in his work. And in doing so just let him know that he noticed the issue on the logs and didn't know if he was aware of those requirements. Let him know he thought he would mention it just in case he was not aware so that he would not risk a visit from the FAA.

For a first time offense unless there is a serious intent, that is what the FAA claims to do, educate.

That is certainly an option but I wouldn't use the marketplace as an opportunity to educate. I personally don't feel it's the right environment to bring it up and I don't think the seller would appreciate the feedback in this setting. He could or he couldn't...but since I wouldn't be able to make a good judgment call (unlike in a forum or a FTF encounter), I don't see the advantage to bringing it up. I know if it were me and someone else "came at me" I would probably be offended. Most of us adhere to the letter of the law but at the same time, we should understand that the vast majority simply don't care about the "details." For sure, de-registration and mileage, etc are applicable to the sale but flight patterns, habits, and GPS coordinates etc may not be appropriate to discuss. If someone asked me, I wouldn't respond with any specifics and I would view the "intrusion" as somewhat negative. But that's just me. There's no way I would tell someone what they've possibly done could be an FAA violation(s) and you risk a visit but the FAA would go lenient on them if this is a first time; friendly reminder (I know you didn't say that exactly).

 

[mavic3usa]

Whether or not it's registered? The total air time of the drone?

Two very important things to know. First, you want to make sure the previous owner unregisters it. Second, like a car Odometer, flight time is important in judging the sales value.

As for the observations of possible non-compliance, I certainly didn't get the impression that had anything to do with the sale at all, just interesting information that generated a post here about it.

I know you didn't say this but is de-registration required? Does the database prevent duplicate registrations? Ideally, the seller would want to cancel his registration and remove the drone from his name and while it may not be super important to the buyer, you probably don't want *your* drone to be registered under someone else....but there are thousands of third party sales and I'm almost positive the vast majority of those don't involve registration cancellations. Even so, the seller probably has a registered drone has doesn't have access to.

Certainly I would ask to unregister but if it never got done, how would you know? And what's to prevent someone who has your serial number from registering it? I've tinkered around with the dashboard slightly but didn't want to cause too much unnecessary activity or "spoofing" but I didn't see any sort of mechanism to check serial numbers, does it exist, do we know for sure?

 

[madkiwi]

Im curious just because he's a pro photographer what makes you think he wasn't just flying for fun. No need to reg then. did he say hey I used this to take pics and make money?

Because, and I am quoting from his listing- "I am a professional Photographer and have used this drone for my business since March 2023."

I wasn't just guessing as you imply. He stated it.

 

[Cafguy]

Second, like a car Odometer, flight time is important in judging the sales value.

CHURCH!!! lol
I have an Air2s that when cleaned looks brand new- The motors should fail from use at anytime. It is almost ready to be a "parts" Drone worth a few hundred bucks in reality.
The only thing keeping me from selling it on Ebay as"like New" and getting more money is my own Morals.

 

[Shuttersky597]

That is somewhat the point. If I was buying a car from someone and they called the maintenance up on the cars database and I noticed a high number of red lines, I am calling off sale noting abuse. If I have friends looking at the same car, I am going to point out what I found. They can choose for themselves, but I will give them the info.
I also am a licensed photographer and drone pilot. I have know problem informing a perspective client as to whether a competitor is not. I see this every day in commercials. You may not , but I will.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I also am a licensed photographer

Florida has a licensing system for photographers?

 

[Shuttersky597]

Florida has a licensing system for photographers?

Every state has a business license to do business in that state. Over 30 years. Plus I graduated from the New York institute of photography and had my own studio downtown for 6 years and had to finally give it up to everyone running around with a decent camera or a smartphone.
The cost of being licensed in a career that it is not required. I wonder what the real estate folks who want to do there own drone photography would say if I suggested buying or selling homes without a licensed realtor. That used to be a thing.

This is one of the reasons I am now a licensed drone pilot(photographer). At least the FAA will be there to assist us keeping this profession, professional.