First off, regardless of if you fly for fun or for profit, if your drone weighs . 55 pounds or more, you will need to get it registered with the Federal Aviation Administration. Now, if you plan to sell your photography or use it in any commercial way, you will need to get a drone license to satisfy Part 107.
Other Potential Ways to Make Money with a Drone
- Aerial reconnaissance and surveillance.
- Delivery and disaster relief.
- YouTube.
- Hotel and resort ads / videos.
- Wedding videos.
- Structural or building inspection.
- Agricultural or environmental inspection.
- Marketing at events (think low-flying billboards)
Short answer — yes. Once you have your commercial drone license, you're able to sell photos and videos you take while complying under the FAA's Part 107 regulations. As long as you have your FAA commercial drone license, of course.
There is no standard rate for drone photography services. Applications range from real estate photography to building inspection and drone operators can charge from $200/hr to $5,000 per session.
1. Where should I sell my stock footage? The Internet has dozens of platforms where creators can sell stock footage, including Getty and iStock (under the same umbrella), Shutterstock, Vimeo, VideoHive, and Pond5. While all platforms give contributors a similar upload experience, some offer better rates than others.
DroneStock is one of the most popular marketplaces for drone footage. The marketplace provides a meeting point for buyers and sellers of drone footage, which has become quite common nowadays. DroneStock differentiates themselves by having a loyal clientele that includes some of the biggest names in film and TV.
The average salary of a drone pilot is already around $100,000 with the top end nudging $150,000 a year." It won't be long before drones are commonplace in a huge variety of industries.
Summing up all the steps of getting a remote pilot certificate, it will take at least 26 days and up to 48 days to receive your temporary certificate after you have filed an appointment for the Part 107 knowledge test. This is assuming you pass the knowledge test on your first try.
As a professional drone pilot, you can also charge per hour for specific projects. Let's say it usually takes you three hours to take 20 aerial real estate photos and enough footage for a 3-minute marketing video, and you want to get paid at least $600, you can charge $200/hour for these deliverables.
Here's how some pilots are already using drones, and how they might be used in the future for businesses both large and small.
- Agriculture.
- Architecture and construction.
- Delivery.
- Drones-as-a-Service.
- Emergency Services.
- Engineering.
- Environmental monitoring and conservation.
- Media.
Earn money selling aerial photos and footage. One of the most common ways to make money with drones is selling the aerial pics and videos to people. Drone photography can be quite a profitable business and it is very popular nowadays. On the other hand, you can make custom aerial footage and take photos by commission.
If you wish to enhance your photos and/or videos, are looking for unique ways to simplify the way you do business, or are just searching for a fun weekend project, then a drone may be worth your time and money. The decision to purchase your very own drone can be difficult, especially if you're on a budget.
Based on the data, a Drone Pilot with less than a year of experience can charge $20.70 per hour but can earn more than $26.49 per hour if they have more than five years of experience. The estimated salary for a UAV Pilot is significantly higher – about $75,000 per year on average.
The FAA Part 107 Drone test is hard. Don't take it without studying because you will fail. You can pass the test with flying colors if you know how to prepare. In this blog post, I want to share how I scored 93 percent on the drone exam with only a week's worth of moderate studying.
Here is a list of 10 websites where you can list your used drones for sale:
- eBay. eBay has tremendous brand recognition and of course a huge audience.
- DroneTrader.com.
- DJI Trade-Up.
- Craigslist.
- Dronesflip.
- PayMore Store.
- Expert Drones.
- BlueSkies Drone Rental.
Drone Photographer Salary
| Annual Salary | Monthly Pay |
|---|
| Top Earners | $94,500 | $7,875 |
| 75th Percentile | $55,000 | $4,583 |
| Average | $50,260 | $4,188 |
| 25th Percentile | $27,000 | $2,250 |
“Flying drones part-time can earn you $500 or $600 a week, and by flying full-time, you can make six-figures annually. Flying for big name companies can net you $3,500 a day.”
