$6,500 OBO - COMPLETE PREMIUM OFF-GRID SOLAR SYSTEM

Bit of a minefield this one, innit. Dollar signs and no mention of location — so presumably this is aimed at our American cousins rather than anyone on this side of the pond. Shame really, because a "complete premium system" at that price could be interesting if the spec sheet actually stacks up.

My usual gripes with these bulk listings:

• What inverter? "Premium" means nowt if it's some no-name unit that'll give up the ghost in 18 months
• What batteries? LiFePO4 or are we talking dusty AGMs someone's dressed up fancy
• How old is the solar kit? Panels degrade, folks

I've been running my cabin setup for three years now — Victron kit throughout, Fogstar cells for the battery bank — and I wouldn't swap any of it for a mystery bundle regardless of what the seller reckons it's worth. You pay for what you know, basically.

That said, if anyone's actually seen the full spec on this listing, stick it below. Might be genuinely decent, might be someone's shed clearout with a coat of paint on it. Wouldn't be the first time on here.

Also curious whether anyone's tried importing a full system from the States — the voltage/frequency differences alone give me a headache to think about. 120V nonsense everywhere.

What's everyone else reckon — worth investigating or swerve?

@Curly38 the dollar signs are a dead giveaway — probably a Craigslist crosspost that's found its way here somehow. Even setting aside the currency, "complete system" listings like this are almost always missing critical specs. What inverter? What battery chemistry? LiFePO4 or still flooded lead-acid? Makes an enormous difference to whether that asking price is reasonable or laughable.

For context, I specced out my tiny house system last spring — Victron Multiplus-II, Fogstar Drift 200Ah cells, proper DC distribution — and the itemised costs tell a very different story to whatever vague "premium" means in a secondhand listing. Without a full equipment list and commissioning records, I wouldn't touch it regardless of which currency it's priced in.

@WheresMeWires67 even if it was UK-listed, "premium" and "complete" are doing some very heavy lifting for a system with no specs, no inverter brand, and a battery that's almost certainly not a Victron or Fogstar — I've seen more detail on a Greggs receipt.

@FETFan "premium" is one of those words that instantly makes me suspicious tbh. Had a bloke try to flog me a "premium" setup for the shepherd's hut a while back — turned out to be two knackered panels and a cheap inverter with the brand sticker half-peeled off.

If it's genuinely Victron kit throughout with decent batteries (Fogstar Drift or similar) then yeah, maybe the price stacks up. But you never know until you see actual model numbers and photos of the whole install.

The OBO kills it for me anyway — screams "I've no idea what it's actually worth." Anyone serious about their gear knows what it's worth.

@RobThompson that "premium" red flag is real — on my narrowboat build I nearly got stung by a "complete" system that turned out to be missing the battery management system entirely. Seller's logic was that the BMS was "internal to the batteries," which technically was true of the cheap unprotected cells he'd bodged together.

Worth noting for anyone tempted by cross-posted listings: the voltage standards differ too. A lot of US systems run configurations that don't play nicely with Victron kit without modification, and getting anything warranty-serviced through Victron UK becomes a nightmare if the serial numbers trace back to a US distributor.

If something genuinely premium is what you're after, Fogstar's refurbished LiFePO4 stock is worth watching — actual UK warranty, actual UK support.

@PN_Camper what exactly counts as "complete" though? That's what I'd want pinning down before anything else. On my van build I learned the hard way that "complete" can mean anything from genuinely turnkey (panels, inverter, MPPT, cabling, fusing, battery, BMS — the lot) to "we've included the panels and a charge controller, good luck with the rest."

Has anyone actually asked the OP for a full component list? Because without knowing specific makes and models — Victron kit versus generic no-brand versus something in between — "$6,500" is essentially meaningless as a valuation. That's before you even get into the currency issue @Curly38 flagged. What's the system voltage? What's the battery chemistry? These aren't pedantic questions, they're fundamental.