Finding used drones in pawnshops

[buschman31]

Lately i've been seeing used DJI drones in a couple of the local pawnshops like Mini 3, Mini 3 pro, Air 2S. Are the owners getting tired of them or is it the possiblity of the new laws that may or may not banning drones from China.

 

[GFields]

There are numerous reasons for this. They could be they are selling to upgrade or just getting out of the drone business. It is very doubtful that it has anything do with "banning drones from China" as the current legislation has nothing to do with existing drones that are in use

 

[msinger]

is it the possiblity of the new laws that may or may not banning drones from China

This one seems highly unlikely since the drones are already in the US.

 

[Cafguy]

I wonder if the Pawn shop knows they purchased a Brick unless they have the account password to unbind it!?

 

[mavic3usa]

I wonder if the Pawn shop knows they purchased a Brick unless they have the account password to unbind it!?

Pawn shops don't know and frankly they don't care because they are working on risk and the price they paid for those drones will likely offset a few bad ones. Once they get burned enough they will figure it out but in the meantime, you can be absolutely sure they will sell a drone to a customer whether it is bound or not and *after* the sale they will work it out to see who gets stuck with it so I guess it depends on who you are and how you bought it. After all, they are a pawn shop not an electronics reseller or a drone dealer so they aren't exactly culpable to know the in's and out's of drones. My guess is if a drone comes in without a controller and the pawn shop doesn't know how to check it, the drone will be worth a lot less once these pawn shops realize the scam.

 

[msinger]

I wonder if the Pawn shop knows they purchased a Brick unless they have the account password to unbind it!?

I bet they do after they get burned once. But, I'm sure there are lots of cases like this where they have to understand what they are buying so they don't run into any issues when reselling.

 

[buschman31]

Well The drones that i've checked on are ok for me to get the dji care service. My first experience with buying an used DJI drone from an online pawnshop was not very good. But in the end, Dji came thru. Three thrumbs up for them. So now if i put one on layaway I check the SN#.

 

[GrantleyB]

Have noticed the same trend down here in Oz.

 

[buschman31]

Have noticed the same trend down here in Oz.

So how many have u seen so far in the local pawnshops? Were any of them worth buying or leaving them alone? So far I've found three, 1 mini 3 and 2 mini 3 pro (both with the RC controller w/ integrated screen) and Air2s with only one battery and controller ($210).

 

[buschman31]

Pawn shops don't know and frankly they don't care because they are working on risk and the price they paid for those drones will likely offset a few bad ones. Once they get burned enough they will figure it out but in the meantime, you can be absolutely sure they will sell a drone to a customer whether it is bound or not and *after* the sale they will work it out to see who gets stuck with it so I guess it depends on who you are and how you bought it. After all, they are a pawn shop not an electronics reseller or a drone dealer so they aren't exactly culpable to know the in's and out's of drones. My guess is if a drone comes in without a controller and the pawn shop doesn't know how to check it, the drone will be worth a lot less once these pawn shops realize the scam.

Unless the pawnshop has a return policy or where u have to buy a warranty, depending on the price of the item. The local brand name one has a 15 or 30 day POM (peace of mind) warranty for a cost.

 

[mavic3usa]

Unless the pawnshop has a return policy or where u have to buy a warranty, depending on the price of the item. The local brand name one has a 15 or 30 day POM (peace of mind) warranty for a cost.

It's been ages since I've been to a pawn shop so I'm not sure if they accept credit cards. When you buy someone with a good, reliable credit card then you have solid protections that you may not even be aware of and at a minimum, you have options. Don't forget, ultimately the credit card company doesn't need to care about any merchant policies, sometimes it's just between you and the credit card and they want to eat the purchase and give you the benefit of the doubt and give you your money back....it happens.

 

[GrantleyB]

So how many have u seen so far in the local pawnshops? Were any of them worth buying or leaving them alone? So far I've found three, 1 mini 3 and 2 mini 3 pro (both with the RC controller w/ integrated screen) and Air2s with only one battery and controller ($210).

Last week the local shop had 2 dji (mini 3 & mini3 pro), 1 Hubsan (501s) and 2 what I would call generics (no idea of brand). In recent times they seem to have a fairly constant turn over where they would normally only have one, maybe two.
Another shop further afield has had a constant turn over of DJI drones over the past 6 months. Including mini 3 fly more kits. Again, it is usually a case of only one, if any at a time.
Happy with my current drone so not looking for any changes - just noticed increase in stock on display whilst in the shop looking at other offerings.

 

[mavic3usa]

Wow, look at this. So many locked drones in the aftermarket there are desperate people who are resorting to all means to counter the narrative that seeks to make a locked drone taboo. This listing says "Please note that the drone is bound but willing to give a company receipt and unbinding authorization letter which should be able to be used to unbind the drone if you contact DJI with those documents." Look, if this drone can be unlocked and *you* have the means, unlock it first yourself and then sell it on ebay in good faith as an unlocked drone instead of trying to convince people to buy in confidence with a bogus "authorization" letter that nobody has every heard of. Not having a drone battery is no excuse but hey, most buyers won't know this, right? So many new twists and turns on this cancer.....

DJI AVATA 2 DRONE (DRONE ONLY. NO BATTERY OR ACCESSORIES) | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for DJI AVATA 2 DRONE (DRONE ONLY. NO BATTERY OR ACCESSORIES) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[Cafguy]

"Please note that the drone is bound but willing to give a company receipt and unbinding authorization letter which should be able to be used to unbind the drone if you contact DJI with those documents."

DJI would never do that. DJI will NOT unbind a Drone. EVER. The most they will ever do is send the Original owner a code to change their password.
I purchase Drones on Ebay but I have one condition...The seller must contact me by phone BEFORE I pay.....otherwise NO SALE.

 

[Mikeboruta]

How is it that DJI drones remain "bound" to the previous user? I recently sold three drones - a Phantom 4pro v2 & two Mavic 2 pros. I was very concerned about this happening to my buyers and researched extensively how to reset or disassociate the drones from my user profile. While there was a lot of conflicting information on the web, it seemed that I really didn't need to do anything. With my Mavic 2pro & Smart controller I logged out of my account and reset the device (which a buyer could've done had I forgot) and with the Phantom I didn't have to do anything. I tested this by setting up a dummy DJI account and using that to connect to the Phantom with the Go4 app. I sold all the drones in person and neither of the buyers have come back with issues. So, my question is, how to the drones remain "bound"? Is it certain models? Or is it related to using the Fly app?

 

[waynorth]

How is it that DJI drones remain "bound" to the previous user? I recently sold three drones - a Phantom 4pro v2 & two Mavic 2 pros. I was very concerned about this happening to my buyers and researched extensively how to reset or disassociate the drones from my user profile. While there was a lot of conflicting information on the web, it seemed that I really didn't need to do anything. With my Mavic 2pro & Smart controller I logged out of my account and reset the device (which a buyer could've done had I forgot) and with the Phantom I didn't have to do anything. I tested this by setting up a dummy DJI account and using that to connect to the Phantom with the Go4 app. I sold all the drones in person and neither of the buyers have come back with issues. So, my question is, how to the drones remain "bound"? Is it certain models? Or is it related to using the Fly app?

No DJI drones that uses the Go4 app (like your Phantom and Mavic 2's) have the "binding" function, I think it was introduced with the Fly app.

 

[mavic3usa]

DJI would never do that. DJI will NOT unbind a Drone. EVER. The most they will ever do is send the Original owner a code to change their password.
I purchase Drones on Ebay but I have one condition...The seller must contact me by phone BEFORE I pay.....otherwise NO SALE.

I've never had to experience it myself but there are reports of people claiming DJI has unbound their drone but we don't know how or why for sure. Apparently it usually happens when a merchant (like BestBuy or Amazon) sells the drone to someone (maybe it's a return or an open box) and DJI can see or verify all the details and they unbind it at the request of BBY or AMZN. But it seems to a shrouded in secrecy and nobody knows for sure. We do know DJI will unbind the drone at the request of the person on record if they can reach out to him and get the ok. So it's not like they don't have the capability.

I get your point but unfortunately if I sold a drone on eBay and someone asked me to call them, that would be negative and the buyer should just move on. Telephone calls are outside the purview of the eBay process so I'm not sure what's to be gained by speaking to someone on the phone.

To me, since the binding process is all about DJI Care Refresh, seems reasonable to me if the insurance has expired and there are no related claims, I don't see a reason not to unbind. If you fly a drone and your Care Refresh expired a year ago, what is the purpose of binding your drone to the controller? I hope people don't believe it is some sort of theft deterrent because we've been down that road. I like to remind everyone once upon a time we went down a similar road with mobile phones that were forever locked to a certain carrier. Although not exactly the same circumstance, what I recall happening was quasi-legal action to force the entire industry to change it's way. The result is much much less likely to purchase a brick of a mobile phone.

 

[KB9Radio]

Lately i've been seeing used DJI drones in a couple of the local pawnshops like Mini 3, Mini 3 pro, Air 2S. Are the owners getting tired of them or is it the possiblity of the new laws that may or may not banning drones from China.

Existing drones aren't going to be banned. At the most it would be future imports. Probably just folks who needed money quickly and it seemed like low hanging fruit.
You obviously don't get top dollar or anywhere close to it at a pawn shop. But it's quick money.