Where To Buy??

[mavic3usa]

I understand. I am willing to take the risk based on the experiences of others with the South Korean seller I chose. Also, I am going to insure it so that if anything happens, I am covered. Hopefully the mess we, the US, find ourselves in with this tariff debacle will soon be resolved and DJI will offer DJI Care.

I'm hoping the same that one day, DJI will open up the M4P to Care in the US which would mean using the video verification method, we can sign up for a service plan regardless the age of the drone meaning this can be next year or even the year after. What comes with DJI Care? An extension of the manufacturer's warranty.

Anyway, as you know, I purchased from K-wave-store as well so here is a snippet of my details if you want to do a comparison.

Order date and time: Jul 24, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Estimate delivery: Thu, Jul 31 - Thu, Aug 07
Delivered Mon, Jul 28 at 12:29 PM

 

[FlierX]

I'm hoping the same that one day, DJI will open up the M4P to Care in the US which would mean using the video verification method, we can sign up for a service plan regardless the age of the drone meaning this can be next year or even the year after. What comes with DJI Care? An extension of the manufacturer's warranty.

Anyway, as you know, I purchased from K-wave-store as well so here is a snippet of my details if you want to do a comparison.

Order date and time: Jul 24, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Estimate delivery: Thu, Jul 31 - Thu, Aug 07
Delivered Mon, Jul 28 at 12:29 PM

View attachment 184092

Thanks for sharing this. Anything to help one another put our minds at ease during this crazy, risky time is helpful.

I just checked and I believe I noticed a slight update. It went from label created yesterday evening to 'Shipping information sent to FedEx" a couple of hours later. I am not certain but I believe that a merchant does not do that until they are ready for FedEx to pickup the package. Hopefully someone can chime in and let me know whether or not that is true. A screenshot is below and I will everyone updated.

I am certain that K-Wave and others are very, very motivated to source inventory from anywhere they can. They are making money hand over fist.

 

[GadgetGuy]

This is like playing whack-a-mole! LOL In a lot of forums and on Reddit, K-Wave seems to have a pretty good reputation. When I saw your earlier post about the back order and 4-6 week shipping times, I went on eBay and scoured the first 2 pages for all South Korean sellers and found that they all had about the same shipping date - Aug 11-18. That is why I did not cancel my order with K-Wave. It also helped that I got a FedEx tracking number and a response to a message that they would be back in stock within a week.

One never knows. It is a crazy time we are living in right now.

Odd that K_Wave did not tell me that their stock would be replenished within a week, and that the quoted delivery date of Aug 5-11 on the Pre-order was still valid. Instead, they basically defended their 4-6 week delivery estimate, and said they had clearly disclosed it was a Pre-order, and they therefore fulfilled the cancelation of my order, instead of refuting the 4-6 weeks in the prior confirmation email.

 

[anotherlab]

Did something change? Is Care refresh available in the US?

This isn’t unique to DJI. When you buy a gray market device, you usually lose the warranty unless you return it to the country it was originally intended to be sold in.

If you buy a drone or camera that was intended to be sold in South Korea, and it shows up defective or it fails within the standard warranty period, you are going to have a difficult time getting that resolved.

 

[YorksPhotos]

This isn’t unique to DJI. When you buy a gray market device, you usually lose the warranty unless you return it to the country it was originally intended to be sold in.

If you buy a drone or camera that was intended to be sold in South Korea, and it shows up defective or it fails within the standard warranty period, you are going to have a difficult time getting that resolved.

This question was regarding the Care Refresh. The post was comparing buying in US vs Korea. I was pointng out that whether its US or Korea Care Refresh is not available at this time. This is an exeption but I did have an import model lens from Canon that was the covered under warranty. When I asked they said they cover imports. Per docs they don't have to but do it as a courtesy.

 

[GadgetGuy]

This question was regarding the Care Refresh. The post was comparing buying in US vs Korea. I was pointng out that whether its US or Korea Care Refresh is not available at this time. This is an exeption but I did have an import model lens from Canon that was the covered under warranty. When I asked they said they cover imports. Per docs they don't have to but do it as a courtesy.

DJI USA has also indicated it will still use their best efforts to assist with any repairs to damaged Mavic 4 Pro drones, no matter where purchased, by providing free evaluation and repair estimates, which when paid, will be replaced entirely at their expense by sourcing a Refurb from DJI Canada. Unfortunately, they are not always successful, and some US Customs holds of the Refurbs have still delayed, or in some rare cases, even prevented fulfillment.

 

[mobileandmonitoring]

I don't see K-Wave seller on ebay but I do see K-miracle. Can anyone confirm it's the same seller or if anyone has an experience?

 

[mavic3usa]

I don't see K-Wave seller on ebay but I do see K-miracle. Can anyone confirm it's the same seller or if anyone has an experience?

K-Wave-Store | eBay

 

[GadgetGuy]

Wasn't the original point raised that buying a gray market drone is a risky option if the seller is understating the value to avoid tariffs? And the product will only have warranty support in the country where the product was sold?

None of that is new or specific to drones. People have been buying gray market cameras from Japan for decades.

Well, the undervaluing under $800, and claiming used instead of new on Customs Forms, and representing country of origin is U.S. instead of China, and deliberately mislabeling the contents (as a Spin Rite M4 Pro kit) are definitely completely independent and different than the completely legal and honest sales of gray market Nikon and Canon cameras and lenses by Adorama and B&H.

The only thing they have in common is being gray market purchases, where they were not intended for sale in the U.S. by the manufacturer, and therefore have no U.S. manufacturer's warranty.

 

[GadgetGuy]

When I placed my order yesterday, it was discounted 10% so I paid $3,642.98 before tax. If you order one now from K-Wave the cost before taxes is $3,887.06 which is a difference of $244.08. Immediately after I ordered, I sent them a message to confirm that it would be delivered by August 6th as listed. They replied and said that they expect a delivery within about a week.

I did receive FedEx tracking information that says it will be updated soon. However, on the order details screen, it says delivered between August 6th & 13th. Of course they do not have the package yet so I am not sure how accurate that is.

For those of you that have ordered from them - Did you receive a tracking number very shortly after placing the order?

I just sent them a message asking where I am on the list when the next batch arrives and whether or not the delivery date reflected in the order details is accurate. Let's see how long it takes them to respond and what they say.

View attachment 184086

Same here, exactly to the T, but my confirmation email said it was. pre-Order that would be filled in 4-6 weeks, and when I confronted them about the discrepancy between the estimated delivery date on the order itself of August 6-11 and the confirmation email stating 4 to 6 weeks, they made no effort to even tell me or try and reassure me that their exhausted stock would be replenished within a week, instead of 4-6 weeks, so I canceled the order as a Bait and Switch. They are still FRAUDULENTLY quoting delivery estimates of 6-10 days from now on all Pre-Orders at the higher price!

 

[GadgetGuy]

I only looked at 2 from Japan. Both accepted returns and one of them was 60 days. You can always initiate a return through the eBay money back guarantee. Tariffs and fees may be unknown, I haven't heard of anyone here importing from Japan. My M4P CC #1 came from Japan but it wasn't shipped. It was and carried on a flight. It had a 30 day return but I have had it for about 40 days.

I found finally that same seller in Japan, who claims to be the DJI dealer in Japan with 60 day returns paid by him. I messaged him, and he made it very clear that he was not participating in any U.S. Customs shenanigans, and that I, not he, would be responsible for all tariffs/ import duties upon importing my purchase. He also said he could not estimate those tariffs/duties for me, and I should ask U.S. Customs, as things were changing daily. No help at all. However his listed prices are the lowest, but certainly not if 25% tariffs are imposed because the country of origin is China, even if shipped from Japan!

 

[GadgetGuy]

This is like playing whack-a-mole! LOL In a lot of forums and on Reddit, K-Wave seems to have a pretty good reputation. When I saw your earlier post about the back order and 4-6 week shipping times, I went on eBay and scoured the first 2 pages for all South Korean sellers and found that they all had about the same shipping date - Aug 11-18. That is why I did not cancel my order with K-Wave. It also helped that I got a FedEx tracking number and a response to a message that they would be back in stock within a week.

One never knows. It is a crazy time we are living in right now.

Even more frustrating for me, because I was hoping that the 4-6 weeks was just a "boiler plate" confirmation of a Pre-Order that would still arrive within the delivery estimates. My Adorama Pre-Order shipped within 5 hours of placing their order. However, when I messaged them, they merely reconfirmed the information I had been sent of 4-6 weeks! Now the price has increased $200 and they have them in stock! I am certain K-Wave knows how to play the Custom's game to avoid tariffs of 25%, so the price they quote is the final price. Not so sure about all the other chameleons!

 

[GadgetGuy]

I understand. I am willing to take the risk based on the experiences of others with the South Korean seller I chose. Also, I am going to insure it so that if anything happens, I am covered. Hopefully the mess we, the US, find ourselves in with this tariff debacle will soon be resolved and DJI will offer DJI Care.

I know everyone seems to find DJI Care reassuring and a must have, but it is more profitable than the sale of drones for DJI. Most never use it. I have purchased it for several drones and never used it, and for those few I could have used it on, it was not available . Self insuring is far cheaper. DJI repairs are usually a fraction of the Fly Away deductible, and DJI USA is still facilitating repairs on all Mavic 4 Pro units in the U.S. to the best of their ability, no matter what country it was purchased from.

 

[GadgetGuy]

This is like playing whack-a-mole! LOL In a lot of forums and on Reddit, K-Wave seems to have a pretty good reputation. When I saw your earlier post about the back order and 4-6 week shipping times, I went on eBay and scoured the first 2 pages for all South Korean sellers and found that they all had about the same shipping date - Aug 11-18. That is why I did not cancel my order with K-Wave. It also helped that I got a FedEx tracking number and a response to a message that they would be back in stock within a week.

One never knows. It is a crazy time we are living in right now.

You were more intuitive than I. I really had nothing to lose by delaying my cancellation. No one else has come through either, and no one else has the creativity of K-Wave.

 

[GadgetGuy]

This question was regarding the Care Refresh. The post was comparing buying in US vs Korea. I was pointng out that whether its US or Korea Care Refresh is not available at this time. This is an exeption but I did have an import model lens from Canon that was the covered under warranty. When I asked they said they cover imports. Per docs they don't have to but do it as a courtesy.

Same with DJI USA, no matter where you acquired your drone from. They will facilitate Mavic 4 Pro repairs as a courtesy, and try and source the replacement Refurb from DJI Canada entirely at their expense, after you pay their very reasonable repair estimate.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Thanks for sharing this. Anything to help one another put our minds at ease during this crazy, risky time is helpful.

I just checked and I believe I noticed a slight update. It went from label created yesterday evening to 'Shipping information sent to FedEx" a couple of hours later. I am not certain but I believe that a merchant does not do that until they are ready for FedEx to pickup the package. Hopefully someone can chime in and let me know whether or not that is true. A screenshot is below and I will everyone updated.

I am certain that K-Wave and others are very, very motivated to source inventory from anywhere they can. They are making money hand over fist.

View attachment 184095

So, any further movement on your package?
I sincerely hope so by now.
It's now 5 days later (Thursday until Monday) and Korea is also 25 hours ahead of us. No reason a legitimate FedEx package wouldn't already be scanned by FedEx and also be at least halfway to the U.S. by now.

Until there is an actual scan by FedEx, the shipment info sent to FedEx is meaningless. They can assign tracking numbers all day to nonexistent shipments and claim they sent tracking shipment information to FedEx, but until FedEx actually physically scans the package, and checking that tracking number online pulls up the package receipt by FedEx, it's still just an empty promise of a real shipment.

My second Korean seller (Mido Shop) did that to me, and assigned a bogus, generic, useless tracking number to my nonexistent package, which then said it was waiting for the package at some Rincos sorting center, after she swore she had the package ready to ship, and was taking it to FedEx Monday afternoon and would provide the FedEx tracking number and scan immediately after. She lied. Messaged her on her Tuesday about no FedEx scan info, and asking about the bogus Rincos number, and she responded by canceling my order because I was pressuring her! LOL! Bunch of scamsters. If they will screw the U.S government out of 25% tariffs to line their own pockets with profits, why would they suddenly get a conscience of integrity with their customers? Basically this is a numbers game for them. They are all taking pre-orders that they can only fill when they get stock, and they have no idea when that will be! So they promise the moon to string you along, until they either get the inventory, or you discover their bait and switch, in which case they blame you for being impatient and cancel your order! I read dozens of critical reviews of these sellers doing exactly that!

 

[FlierX]

So, any further movement on your package?
I sincerely hope so by now.
It's now 5 days later (Thursday until Monday) and Korea is also 25 hours ahead of us. No reason a legitimate FedEx package wouldn't already be scanned by FedEx and also be at least halfway to the U.S. by now.

Until there is an actual scan by FedEx, the shipment info sent to FedEx is meaningless. They can assign tracking numbers all day to nonexistent shipments and claim they sent tracking shipment information to FedEx, but until FedEx actually physically scans the package, and checking that tracking number online pulls up the package receipt by FedEx, it's still just an empty promise of a real shipment.

My second Korean seller (Mido Shop) did that to me, and assigned a bogus, generic, useless tracking number to my nonexistent package, which then said it was waiting for the package at some Rincos sorting center, after she swore she had the package ready to ship, and was taking it to FedEx Monday afternoon and would provide the FedEx tracking number and scan immediately after. She lied. Messaged her on her Tuesday about no FedEx scan info, and asking about the bogus Rincos number, and she responded by canceling my order because I was pressuring her! LOL! Bunch of scamsters. If they will screw the U.S government out of 25% tariffs to line their own pockets with profits, why would they suddenly get a conscience of integrity with their customers? Basically this is a numbers game for them. They are all taking pre-orders that they can only fill when they get stock, and they have no idea when that will be! So they promise the moon to string you along, until they either get the inventory, or you discover their bait and switch, in which case they blame you for being impatient and cancel your order! I read dozens of critical reviews of these sellers doing exactly that!

Here is the latest message that I received from K-Wave yesterday. I have to admit they have been very communicative. Hopefully, it will ship by the end of this week.

Dear Customer,

Thank you so much for your order..We are currently experiencing a delay in shipping due to an issue during the preparation process, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. We expect to ship the product by this week, at the latest by next week. Once dispatched, the product will take about 3–4 days to arrive. Rest assured, we are doing our best to process the shipment as quickly as possible.

Best regards,
K-WAVE Customer Service Team

 

[GadgetGuy]

Here is the latest message that I received from K-Wave yesterday. I have to admit they have been very communicative. Hopefully, it will ship by the end of this week.

Dear Customer,

Thank you so much for your order..We are currently experiencing a delay in shipping due to an issue during the preparation process, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. We expect to ship the product by this week, at the latest by next week. Once dispatched, the product will take about 3–4 days to arrive. Rest assured, we are doing our best to process the shipment as quickly as possible.

Best regards,
K-WAVE Customer Service Team

That confirms that they are stringing you along, just like everyone else, waiting for restocking. That FedEx tracking number is currently a nonexistent package.

I received this email to an inquiry about a contradiction of a Pre-Oder with a delivery date of August 11-18

=====
"Dear Customer,

Thank you for your inquiry.

This item has been consistently restocked, and a large quantity has recently arrived at our warehouse.
Currently, we are prioritizing shipments to customers who placed pre-orders or ordered earlier.
Please note that our pre-orders are only opened when restocking is already confirmed.

The estimated delivery window of August 11–18 was set based on our incoming stock schedule (expected to arrive around August 11–12), along with additional time needed for packing and shipping.

We hope this clarifies your concerns, and we truly appreciate your patience."

=====

So, since the estimated delivery dates are all the same, they are all expecting stock "around August 11-12" and doing everything they can to string along past orders until they actually receive new stock.

Whether they actually receive a restock by August 12 and whether that stock is enough to fulfill all promised orders remains to be seen.

They can always fall back on the 4-6 weeks in the confirmation email, and telling you it was always a Pre-Order, and they are not responsible for DJI's failure to meet their expectations of restocking dates.

"We expect to ship the product by this week, at the latest by next week."

Next week ends August 15. If they don't ship until then, assuming they do, in fact, have anything to ship by then, 4 more days for shipping is August 19th.

"We are currently experiencing a delay in shipping due to an issue during the preparation process."

The only "issue" during the preparation process is they have no inventory to ship! Yet they are fraudulently creating empty FedEx Tracking numbers and pretending to submit them to Fed Ex. Oops! No package! LOL!

While K-Wave has a good track record of successfully skirting U.S. Customs by fraudulently filling out the Customs Declaration forms, and shipping the package through a convoluted underground railroad of likely bribed Customs officers, they appear to ALSO be conducting Bait and Switch on their customers, too, repeatedly lying to them about the reasons for delay, after they have taken your money.

If you ask too many questions, they start feeling "pressured" and just cancel your order, claiming YOU requested cancellation, when all you did was ask them to explain their blatant contradictions, and why they are creating bogus FedEx tracking numbers weeks before they expect to be able to ship!

While I believe there is very little risk of being ripped off, with eBay and PayPal behind your order, the biggest risk is assuming that they will eventually deliver, and forgoing all other purchase opportunities in the interim, only to have them finally cancel your order when you get tired of the runaround 4-6 weeks from now.

They will also eventually get caught by Customs with all this subterfuge and fraud. So the window of opportunity is closing fast. The $800 de minimus exception for Korean shipments ends August 28th. After that, ALL Korean shipments will be scrutinized for the 15% Korean tariffs, and the tariffs that will actually apply, when it is discovered that the REAL country of origin is China, and not the U.S. like they claim on the Customs form, are the current Chinese tariffs of 25% or more!

Hmmm…

 

[FlierX]

I am going to be patient until next week and see what happens.

 

[YorksPhotos]

I dont think US Customs has the infrastructure in place to handle all the new tariffs. On the 29th every international package coming into the US would be subject to import duties and fees. I have a package on the way from China valued at $100. It just made it through customs with no fees. There should have import fees due with the minimum $800 exemption gone. They would have mountains of paperwork to do. Customs delays would be weeks or months.