How to Sell A Used Drone: Make Your Listing Stand Out

Looking to sell a used drone? When posting an ad on DroneTrader it is important to make sure your ad stands out, especially if your drone is one of many listed in a similar category.

When selling a used drone there are three things you can do to help your listing stand out:

#1. Sharp photos with a clean background.

You do not need a fancy SLR camera or studio lighting to take great photos for your listing, however it is important that the photos you post are both sharp and outlined by a clean background.

Pretty much any modern day smartphone has the capability to take sharp photos, as long as there is enough light. This point is important: if there is not enough ambient light, your shutter speed will drop, leading to a blurring of your photos.

It usually helps to put your drone under a light or near a window (a window without direct sunlight will probably provide the best lighting for your photos).

The second half of point #1 is also important: a clean background.

Sell used DJI Phantom 4 Drone
Compare this photo to example B below. By simply having a clean, uncluttered background and putting it in some good light the drone stands out much better in the listing photos.

Having a clean background will help to outline your drone and make it easier for a potential purchaser to recognize what it is. See the photo below for an example. Both photo A and B show the same drone, yet one stands out much better than the other.

By simply lowering the height of the camera to “eye level” with the drone, it immediately helps it to stand out from it’s background (example B).

Note: It also helps to fill the frame with your drone. Having your drone using up only a small percentage of the photo (example A) makes it difficult to distinguish, especially when viewed on small mobile devices.

#2. A descriptive title.

Having a descriptive title for your listing serves two purposes:

A) It gives potential buyers a way to quickly scan a listing to see what is all being sold, and

B) it allows Google to better index the listing when it appears in local search results.

For example: “Inspire for sale” does not give the buyer nearly the same information as a well written title such as “Used DJI Inspire 2 drone with four TB50 batteries and GPC Rugged Case.”

Again, not only will the latter description make it easier for a buyer to see what is all included, it will also show up in Google search results for terms such as “DJI”, “Inspire 2”, “Drone”, “TB50”, “GPC Rugged Case”, “Used DJI drones” etc. versus only “Inspire” in the first description.

#3. A strong description of your drone and included accessories. 

You will want to keep your title somewhat concise, but when it comes to the description write as much as you can!

Here is an example of a poor description:

"Drone with accessories"

Here is an example of a strong description:

Used DJI Phantom 4 Pro Drone For Sale.

This drone has seen minimal use and only has around 50 hours on it.

It is in great shape and flies well with no issues.

It includes the following:

-DJI Phantom 4 Drone

-Controller

-2 batteries, each with around 40 cycles. All cells are balanced and have always been stored around 50% charge

-A GPC rugged case is included. Foam is in good condition, latches work well. Only minor scrapes and scratches on the outside of the case.

-Two sets of propellers, one that I use, the other for backup. Both sets in great shape

-Lanyard

-16GB SD card Latest firmware updates completed, have done a fresh IMU and compass calibration. 

Reason for selling: No longer use this drone as I upgraded

Can deliver to anywhere within a 25 mile radius of 59484.

Similar to the points made in point #2, a longer description will give the buyer a much better idea as to what they are buying and will also help tremendously when Google goes to index your listing.

If someone were to type “Used Phantom 4 Pro Drone for sale” into a Google search the second listing description would have a much higher likelihood of showing up in the search results.

It really pays to spend a few extra minutes to properly list your used drone equipment. You can also look at our related blog post to see what a potential buyer may be looking for when purchasing a used UAV.