Pissed Off DJI Dealers Over P4

I heard from a dealers that they make 6%. If you sell on places like Amazon you lose money hand-over-fist. You need high volume and you need to sell the batteries, props and other bits and pieces to make anything. DJI treats the vendors like Apple treats their carriers.

Just ask me about some of the horrifying stories about Amazon, you'd be amazed about what happens when you become an Amazon vendor!
Depends on where in the food chain the dealer is. Those able to buy direct from DJI at dealer price are making more that 6%. Those going through a distributor (like me) are making about 1/2 what the guys going thru DJI are making. Those doing affiliate sales are making about 5%.
 
My wife got me a Phantom for Christmas. Ordered it from a drone dealer.
I’m all about supporting small and local businesses, however I wasn’t very happy with my experience.
More specifically with the store’s policies.
She got me a Phantom Standard. After my second flight, it became very clear that the Standard’s stock range stinks. Big time.
I wanted to swap it for Adv or Pro, so I checked out the dealer website, and realized that I was SOL.
“Open Box” = 10% restocking fee, plus the shipping fee.
“Used/flown, even once” = no refund/no exchange, all sales are final, unless defective. In any case buyer has to pay for shipping both ways! And then wait for a couple of week for it to ship back.
2 weeks later price drops $200.00. Contacted the store – sorry, all sales are final!
A good friend of mine bought his P3S at Best Buy. All he had to do was call them, and they put $200 back on his card. 2 weeks later he brought it back and exchanged it for an P3 Advance. No questions asked.
I personally would love to buy from a dealer, or an RC hobby shop, and I guess I understand that these guys have to watch every penny in order to stay in business.
But as a consumer I wasn’t happy at all. Nothing personal. But I don’t think my next DJI drone purchase will be from them. Maybe a lense cover or prop guards. But not a big ticket item.
 
My wife got me a Phantom for Christmas. Ordered it from a drone dealer.
I’m all about supporting small and local businesses, however I wasn’t very happy with my experience.
More specifically with the store’s policies.
She got me a Phantom Standard. After my second flight, it became very clear that the Standard’s stock range stinks. Big time.
I wanted to swap it for Adv or Pro, so I checked out the dealer website, and realized that I was SOL.
“Open Box” = 10% restocking fee, plus the shipping fee.
“Used/flown, even once” = no refund/no exchange, all sales are final, unless defective. In any case buyer has to pay for shipping both ways! And then wait for a couple of week for it to ship back.
2 weeks later price drops $200.00. Contacted the store – sorry, all sales are final!
A good friend of mine bought his P3S at Best Buy. All he had to do was call them, and they put $200 back on his card. 2 weeks later he brought it back and exchanged it for an P3 Advance. No questions asked.
I personally would love to buy from a dealer, or an RC hobby shop, and I guess I understand that these guys have to watch every penny in order to stay in business.
But as a consumer I wasn’t happy at all. Nothing personal. But I don’t think my next DJI drone purchase will be from them. Maybe a lense cover or prop guards. But not a big ticket item.


So who gets the second hand Phantom Standard that you wanted to return? In Australia once you buy a product that's the end of the story unless it's defective.
 
Even if it is defective you sometimes have to fight tooth and nail to get any help.

What else could we expect from a country settled by convicts. LOL
 
So who gets the second hand Phantom Standard that you wanted to return? In Australia once you buy a product that's the end of the story unless it's defective.

Someone else would get it. All the seller gotta do is repackage it or send back to DJI.
Im not saying I was going to fly it, crash it into a wall, put the pieces back in the box and say- here, I don’t like it, take it back. It would be returned in its original working / cosmetic condition.
My ‘new’ Standard could’ve been a repackaged return, there is no way to tell as far as I know. And I don’t really care that much as long as it looks new with all parts included in good working condition..
My point is that big name stores like Best Buy and Amazon would take it back no problem. What do you think they do with all their returns, throw them away? Somehow they figured out the process.
If only drone dealers and resellers were wiling to relax their return polices a little, I would always choose to buy from them over big name stores. So when I buy a $700 item, if I don’t like it, I can return or exchange it. And there is no way to tell if I like an RC aircraft without flying it first.
I would even consider paying a 10% (~$70) restock fee if it was an option. It was not. When I buy a new Phantom 4 in a month or two, if 2 weeks later a Phantom 4 Pro comes out, or they slash $500 off the sticker price, I want to have the option of exchanging it for the newer model, or get some of my money back. Whats wrong with that?
 
Depending how you look at it, it's a win win for both Apple and DJI. You come into the store and you want to buy a phone or iPad. The sales person says hey, did you give it any thought about taking selfes from the air. We've got just the right thing right here. A Phantom 4. And look it's white and matches with your phone!
Or
Guy walks in and wants a Phantom 4.
Now in order to fly your P4 your going to need an Apple product. And look it's a matching white colour!

$$$$$$$ [emoji38]
Your "analogy", examine or whatever you want to call it, makes zero sense...
 
I feel bad for small dealers but you could see this type of model coming a mile away. Drones are starting to fall squarely into the "IoT" business paradigm. It makes sense that DJI wants to partner with someone who also wants to be a player in this space. Everyone was planning for agriculture and other areas but the dollars associated with photography are just getting too big to ignore for the potentially large IoT players
 

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