Buying second hand

[Avandriver]

I am well aware of the hazards of buying second hand equipment, in all sorts of stuff not just drone specific.

I was wondering is there any failsafe built into drones to stop them from being used if they are stolen? Just like most mobile phones these days can they be locked to one user.

I know that if a deal looks too good it is probably not a good deal, so I want to cover all areas before I investigate the vendor a bit further.

A DJI Mini2 with fly more combo that looks fresh out of the box (it does have an operator id sticker on it, so I am assuming it is not new) for £300. sounds too cheap to me.


Steve

 

[old man mavic]

@Avandriver ,there are a lot of people disposing of both mini 1 and mini 2 drones at the moment, because they are wanting to upgrade to the mini 3 pro, is it possible to actually go to the sellers home address , or arrange a test flight at a mutually agreed venue ,thats the safest way to buy,that way you can see what you are getting ,and also check the logs to verify the flight hours battery charges etc
also to see if the seller is indeed the owner ,if they are genuine then they should be amenable to your request

 

[YVRGUY]

Steve, I’ve purchased two DJI drones. One an Air 2S and the other a Mini 2. With both purchases I requested a bill of sale, checked the battery charge cycles, checked for any damage or signs of impact from a crash or repair. If all the latter check out ok then a flight test. Make sure you’ve done your homework on the model. If it has remaining ‘care refresh’ you can easily check that out too on the DJI web.

So, if all is good and you’re happy then make an offer if you want.

Caution Don’t view or buy it at a pawn shop, some remote or suspicious location…just a heads up. Otherwise, there ARE some fair and honest deals out there.

Good luck

 

[CaptainRisky]

Actually barely used sets turn up all the time, and they can be very cheap.

For me second hand is almost the only way to go, as people buy them and don't use them, then sell them much cheaper than they cost new.

As above, connect the app and check it's history. Definitely pass on pawn shops.

 

[howardK]

I lucked out. I bought two M1P's that were pre-owned. One was on Ebay and it flew great right away. The second one I got at a pawn shop but i did a quick test flight right in the store. Frankly my ignorance of looking at things like charge cycles etc may have been a good thing

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

Just make sure the previous owner has the drone unbound from their account, otherwise you will be purchasing a paperweight.

 

[howardK]

Just make sure the previous owner has the drone unbound from their account, otherwise you will be purchasing a paperweight.

When i open the DJI GO 4 app it has three names for my two M1P's (in total, not each). One is my name but one is "Mike2busy-Mavic Pro" and the other is "rjonesphotography-Mavic pro." It doesnt bother me as it only records the flight data of flights I made and not the previous owners

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

When i open the DJI GO 4 app it has three names for my two M1P's (in total, not each). One is my name but one is "Mike2busy-Mavic Pro" and the other is "rjonesphotography-Mavic pro." It doesnt bother me as it only records the flight data of flights I made and not the previous owners

The newer drones with fly-away insurance are bound to the device and controller, if it isn't unbound, it will not work on another device. That's to keep someone from saying they lost one and then still using it and also if it gets stolen, the person that stole it can't use that drone.

 

[danwnz]

The newer drones with fly-away insurance are bound to the device and controller, if it isn't unbound, it will not work on another device. That's to keep someone from saying they lost one and then still using it and also if it gets stolen, the person that stole it can't use that drone.

I get the insurance is bound to your devices at first use, is this transferrable if you un-register and re-register?
Are you sure about not being able to fly the drone. Because I was just reading about this, as my drone never arrived at the airport and was finding out if it was possible to block your drone from ever being used again, from what it seemed you can not. As mentioned above your registration will always show on the drone, and thats that. DJI do not block drones, if you can prove to me otherwise I would be very interested in knowing how you go about this.
Thankfully after jumping up and down telling them its going to cost them big dollars, it magically turned up 4-5 hours later.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

I get the insurance is bound to your devices at first use, is this transferrable if you un-register and re-register?
Are you sure about not being able to fly the drone. Because I was just reading about this, as my drone never arrived at the airport and was finding out if it was possible to block your drone from ever being used again, from what it seemed you can not. As mentioned above your registration will always show on the drone, and thats that. DJI do not block drones, if you can prove to me otherwise I would be very interested in knowing how you go about this.
Thankfully after jumping up and down telling them its going to cost them big dollars, it magically turned up 4-5 hours later.

There's a difference between activation, connection, and binding and sometimes the terms are used indiscriminately. Activation is what is done when you first get the drone when it is new. Once it is activated, it doesn't need to be again no matter how many owners it goes through. Connection is the radio link between the controller and the aircraft. The controller needs a connection to the aircraft to generate flight records. Flight records follow the aircraft from one owner to the next although as I understand it, you should only have flight records for the device you use. If you use more than one device, I'm sure there is a way to consolidate them into one record.
Binding was introduced a few years ago as a way for DJI to cover "fly-aways" in the case on an unrecoverable aircraft. It locks that aircraft to 1 device. It can be unlocked by the owner to enable to use of a different device but requires you to be logged in. There are many instances of people buying a used drone that the previous owner has not "unbound" from the aircraft, thus being unable to fly it. I believe you may get a couple of flights before the aircraft is grounded but even DJI cannot (or will not) unlock the aircraft. That's why it's sketchy to buy from unreliable sources or resellers that have not used the aircraft. Unless they can get in touch with the person who's account it's bound to for the login credentials to unlock it, you're looking at a doorstop.