Has anyone used Drone Base?

[trevsdad]

So how do they figure payment? Commission? By the hour? How much typically?

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For pano's they seem to be paying an average of about $35-$40 per job, which they claim is a 50-50 split. I just did my 1st pano for them over the weekend. I haven's heard back yet, but this job took two attempts. A cold front moved in a lot quicker then I expected based on forecasts and by the time I arrived at the location (15-20 min drive) the wind had picked up to about 18kts so I aborted.

Next day was still breezy, but not so bad I couldn't fly,so I got it done. Bottom line...I had to travel over a toll road on both trips. Maybe $6 bucks round trip so that's about $12 bucks off the top. No one but Dronebase is going to get rich doing this, but I'll use it to sharpen some skills and pick up a little pocket change, then move on.

 

[TheLightSpeedz]

I've done 5 panos and been paid $23 to $28 per shot.

Totally worth the time and fun.


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[shenzi105]

I've done 5 panos and been paid $23 to $28 per shot.

Totally worth the time and fun.


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Per shot, or per shoot/job?

Per shot, at 10-15 shot per job, it's totally worth
it.




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[Helihover]

It's per job. Each job requires about 30 pics.

 

[TheLightSpeedz]

Per shoot! lol. You submit via their website, Pano shots like 24 to 26 of them and then a few "beauty" shots. It's super easy.


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[TheLightSpeedz]

I think their model may have changed since you last worked with them. Instead of 'giving' you the job, you're now asked to 'choose' a potential job (pano or client mission) from a map displaying a number of locations/properties. Pano missions have no guaranteed payout. These appear to be the 'spec' jobs. Client missions apparently have a guaranteed payout, but I've searched their map over the past few days and all I've found were pano missions. Additionally, they advise this on their FAQ page when shooting the pano missions;

"You do not need to shoot from the property. We advise that you take off from a safe, public area."

Again, this seems to imply that no one has prior clearance to shoot these properties. Sure, you can legally fly from a public area, but shooting the photos over private property without clearance could cause a problem with the owner, or insurance if there's a mishap which could easily occur if you're forced to execute aerial maneuvers around a building 1/2 mile away.

You don't shoot "over" property. You shoot from the street. Not over people or cars even. It's seriously like taking a photo of a vacant home from the sidewalk... then up to 100' and run the Pano shots in Litchi. Or manually. I do both.


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[merdok14]

I am interested in this but I believe for me if the property was occupied I would want to touch base with the owners first and let them know what I was doing.

 

[TheLightSpeedz]

I am interested in this but I believe for me if the property was occupied I would want to touch base with the owners first and let them know what I was doing.

That's a good idea! But all the ones I've done they are empty homes for sale


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[Ike]

There are all kinds of problems with this model. Nick DroneBase is gonna get the FAA crackdown. Taking a photo from 30' in the air, even, is vastly different than taking a picture from the sidewalk or the street. And the house you "pano" might not be occupied but it is owned, and likely surrounded by others properties.




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[Helihover]

There are all kinds of problems with this model. Nick DroneBase is gonna get the FAA crackdown. Taking a photo from 30' in the air, even, is vastly different than taking a picture from the sidewalk or the street. And the house you "pano" might not be occupied but it is owned, and likely surrounded by others properties.




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Ok, name one problem.

32 missions completed....

 

[merdok14]

What law is being broken? I'm new and am trying to learn, I do know from my career as a Police Officer that you better have a law/regulation/ etc to back you up. Even the FAA has to abide by the laws. So, what law is being broken? Is it privacy? Again, just trying to understand all of this. I currently am in a class to prepare me for my 107 exam and I am reading then crap out of everything I can get my hands on.


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[TheLightSpeedz]

There is no laws being broken. Even if the owner didn't want the picture they can't stop it. It's exactly like Google Earth. Most Beauty shots are from 10' to 20' in the air anyway, and the Pano photos are at 100'.

It's not on private property, no one has or will say anything to me. "Just snapping a few photos to help you sell your home!". Who wouldn't want that?


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[Ike]

If you are above private property without permission, you are breaking the law. If you are taking pictures of private property without permission from the air, you are breaking privacy laws - there is a reasonable expectation of privacy that is maintained by street-level photographs and is violated by aerial photographs. There WILL be increased complaints of drone activity to the FAA, which will lead to tighter rules.

In addition, the payout amount is so low that, as another poster said, the only one getting rich is Drone Base. I am going to check out the system and see if I find legitimacy or just another usury tech wannabe.

If you approached properly, and took the right steps, you make about $15 after gas and taxes, which you probably won't report. Problem right there too.

Look at my post: I didn't attempt to say this was illegal, per se. However, there are a ton of problems and lots of grey area being whitewashed by the conversation thus far.

Just because you get paid to do something doesn't make it legitimate or a good idea. That's my point.


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[Helihover]

If you are above private property without permission, you are breaking the law. If you are taking pictures of private property without permission from the air, you are breaking privacy laws - there is a reasonable expectation of privacy that is maintained by street-level photographs and is violated by aerial photographs. There WILL be increased complaints of drone activity to the FAA, which will lead to tighter rules.

In addition, the payout amount is so low that, as another poster said, the only one getting rich is Drone Base. I am going to check out the system and see if I find legitimacy or just another usury tech wannabe.

If you approached properly, and took the right steps, you make about $15 after gas and taxes, which you probably won't report. Problem right there too.

Look at my post: I didn't attempt to say this was illegal, per se. However, there are a ton of problems and lots of grey area being whitewashed by the conversation thus far.

Just because you get paid to do something doesn't make it legitimate or a good idea. That's my point.


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Can you post links to said laws?

DroneBase does 1099....

I'm doing most on the way home from work, so gas cost is eliminated. Even on the weekends, most everything is a mile away or so. If I plan to go out to the mall, like Saturday, I'll do a few in that area. I can do all most 4 properties in an hr, giving they're in the same neighborhood, and I'm averaging $15.00 bucks per house ATM. This is seriously a $60/hr gross paying job....... Get lazy with it and do two an hr for $30/hr, your choice. Even doing 2 a day, that's $900 gross per month. This doesn't count uploading, but if done correctly, takes minimal time in the comfort of your home. I hope DroneBase continues what they are doing.

DroneBase is not the only one doing this either, I'm in the works with 2 other companies similar to this right now.

 

[TheLightSpeedz]

If you are above private property without permission, you are breaking the law. If you are taking pictures of private property without permission from the air, you are breaking privacy laws - there is a reasonable expectation of privacy that is maintained by street-level photographs and is violated by aerial photographs. There WILL be increased complaints of drone activity to the FAA, which will lead to tighter rules.

In addition, the payout amount is so low that, as another poster said, the only one getting rich is Drone Base. I am going to check out the system and see if I find legitimacy or just another usury tech wannabe.

If you approached properly, and took the right steps, you make about $15 after gas and taxes, which you probably won't report. Problem right there too.

Look at my post: I didn't attempt to say this was illegal, per se. However, there are a ton of problems and lots of grey area being whitewashed by the conversation thus far.

Just because you get paid to do something doesn't make it legitimate or a good idea. That's my point.


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Listen Ike, I don't get on here to argue with Keyboard warriors and know it all's.

If you think taking Photos from the street, 20' in the air is illegal then so be it. You may want to call Google Earth and make them aware also.

No one, including the property owner, owns the air above their land. It's up to each operator to follow laws, and guidelines. My Drone never goes above anyone's property and stays above public streets.

As for taxes and gas expense, I don't think anyone is getting rich doing this, but it's a fun way to make a little money back on my investment and time.

So, your opinion is appreciated and has been noted!

Take care my friend.


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[TheLightSpeedz]

Can you post links to said laws?

DroneBase does 1099....

I'm doing most on the way home from work, so gas cost is eliminated. Even on the weekends, most everything is a mile away or so. If I plan to go out to the mall, like Saturday, I'll do a few in that area. I can do all most 4 properties in an hr, giving they're in the same neighborhood, and I'm averaging $15.00 bucks per house ATM. This is seriously a $60/hr gross paying job....... Get lazy with it and do two an hr for $30/hr, your choice. Even doing 2 a day, that's $900 gross per month. This doesn't count uploading, but if done correctly, takes minimal time in the comfort of your home. I hope DroneBase continues what they are doing.

DroneBase is not the only one doing this either, I'm in the works with 2 other companies similar to this right now.

Agreed!


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[shenzi105]

That amount of money is really ridiculous. I understand someone wanting to make Starbucks money on the side. if making $30 a shoot is fine for some when the market price is around $250, I guess nothing we can do. Its a free country, being cheaper is a way to get business, nothing better for no one to make an income out of this, apart from the app builder of course who's probably charging the right price to the realtor. I guess there's nothing wrong to relocate factories to China neither.

I hope that those who keep using Goggle Street as an excuse/example have the same deep pockets and squads of attorney Goggle has been using due to the cases related to Google Street.

 

[Helihover]

That amount of money is really ridiculous. I understand someone wanting to make Starbucks money on the side. if making $30 a shoot is fine for some when the market price is around $250, I guess nothing we can do. Its a free country, being cheaper is a way to get business, nothing better for no one to make an income out of this, apart from the app builder of course who's probably charging the right price to the realtor. I guess there's nothing wrong to relocate factories to China neither.

I hope that those who keep using Goggle Street as an excuse/example have the same deep pockets and squads of attorney Goggle has been using due to the cases related to Google Street.

250 a shoot is nice. That however requires you to obtain the client, which can be 1/2 the battle. That money also requires you to edit, which requires way more time than the actual flying. These are ten minute flights and an upload, that's it.

I agree it's peanuts, but I'm shooting everyday (weather permitting) and getting paid for it, rather than searching for someone who wants my service. My company is always on the hunt for new clients and I have a few very profitable jobs lined up, but this is just too easy.

 

[merdok14]

Interesting topic.

 

[trevsdad]

I'm the OP for this thread. After a few days of discussion, I decided to give it a try...here's what I learned.

Completed two pano's so far, one residential, one commercial. The commercial paid $25 in a couple of days, still waiting (...under a week) for the residential. The residential was a little more challenging...cause to get a good beauty shot, you pretty much need to get over the property. Even though I was high enough to avoid any invasion of privacy issues (...couldn't see in the windows) it still worried me. The neighborhood was 'close in', so I expected a few questions from a neighbor or two but no one bothered.

The commercial property was a snap. A lot of space abutted by a parking lot. A couple of people watched, but no one seemed interested outside of normal curiosity..took all of 10-minutes to shoot. Easy peasy!

Concluions...

My guess is the commercials are a lot easier for DB to sell. That and the relative 'no brainer' shoot feels like a real go to for me so I've scheduled a few more this week while keeping a couple of residentials on the radar while I do some more research on these.

The $25 payout for pano's is still suspect. DB says it's a 50-50 split, but who really knows. It'd be nice to see a 'client mission' soon to see if that payout amounts to more than a stipend...so far, none in my area or even in a 50-mile area.

BTW...has anyone done a client mission yet?

My concerns about violating privacy issues are a little lower than when I first began this thread, but it is a bit of a legal grey area right now. I'm a career TV journalist, so this is what I know. You can photograph anything or anyone from a public easement i.e., sidewalk, or street. When you're on private property (...this includes parking lots for commercial property) the owner/manager has the right to ask you to leave. Air rights do not belong to the owner of the property below, however if you're photographs include people behind a fence or are close enough to a window to record anything inside, you're in violation of privacy laws.

Someone earlier suggested to do a quick meet 'n greet with the owner if it appears someone is home...I would tend to agree, but that's beginning to feel like a lot of effort for a $25 return.

...thoughts?