Originally Posted by N410DC

The hobby stores are between a rock and a hard place. From a pure sales efficiency standpoint, it's a really bad idea to tell a prospective customer than they are going to have to invest a great deal of money in an sUAV, and then even more time and money for training and an FAA certificate, just fly a sUAV in furtherance of their job. I have bought a half dozen cars, and no salesman even told me how much I would need to spend on things such as maintenance, satellite radio fees, insurance, etc. They certainly did not detail how badly my new investment would depreciate. If they did, I might have had second thoughts, which would cost them a sale. By the same token, a hobby shop wants to encourage sales, not the opposite. In light of these facts, I think some shops will continue to deliberately keep their prospective customers in the dark about these regulations, unless/until they are somehow mandated to do so.

That said, I do agree that hobby shops should take the initiative to educate prospective customers. I have noticed that our local HobbyTown USA places stickers on any box that contains a model that meets the FAA requirements for pilot registration, which notifies the buyer of his/her obligations to register. A simple one-page handout that outlines this requirement, and points out that there is not charge for registration, would satisfy this obligation. Even better, the salesperson could sit them down at a computer and help them complete the relatively simple registration process before they even leave the store. Some hobby shops that sell professional grade equipment are offering Part 107 training programs. These shops could take a large step in the right direction by waiving a large portion of (or all of) the course fee for customers who buy an sUAV for commercial use.

There are simple solutions out there. It's just a matter of taking the initiative.