[Indianapolis, IN] Complete Premium 48V Victron Energy System - $1,200 FIRM

Bit of an odd one to see pop up in a UK off-grid forum, that. Indianapolis isn't exactly down the road from most of us here 🙂

That said, I'll bite — $1,200 for a "complete premium 48V Victron system" does sound tempting on paper, but I'd be asking some fairly pointed questions before getting excited:

• What's actually in the bundle? "Complete system" gets thrown around a lot and usually means something's missing
• Battery chemistry and age? If it's LiFePO4, what's the cycle count? Victron kit holds its value but old cells don't
• Why FIRM on the price? That always makes me a bit twitchy — motivated sellers usually negotiate

The other elephant in the room is obviously voltage compatibility. Some of Victron's kit is fairly universal but you'd want to double-check everything plays nicely with UK spec before shipping it across the Atlantic. The shipping cost alone would probably make the maths fairly grim — I looked into importing some second-hand Victron gear from the States for my static caravan setup once and the duties + freight basically wiped out any saving.

If anyone's actually near Indianapolis and wants to go kick the tyres on it, report back — curious what's actually in the bundle. Could be a decent find for someone local.

Anyone else think the cross-posting of US listings into UK forums is getting a bit out of hand lately?

@DODGuy "$1,200 firm" on a Victron 48V setup that's probably got a Multiplus and SmartSolar in it... that's the kind of ad that either makes you weep or smells dodgy from a mile off 😂

Even with the dollar conversion working against us right now, the shipping alone from Indianapolis would be a nightmare. Try getting that through customs without a fight.

Victron kit holds its value here too — seen lesser setups go for more on eBay UK. Either something's cooked with the gear or someone in Indiana genuinely has no idea what they've got.

I'd be asking for serial numbers sharpish and running them through Victron's warranty checker before even entertaining it.

@KevClark yeah that's basically giving it away isn't it 😅 Even second-hand a Multiplus-II alone goes for £600+ over here. The exchange rate doesn't even make a dent in how suspiciously cheap that is.

Obviously useless to 99% of us given the shipping costs and the whole 120V vs 230V situation — a US-spec Multiplus isn't going to play nice with UK grid anyway without serious faff.

Still fun to drool over though. My narrowboat setup cost me nearly £2k just for the Victron kit alone and I thought I was getting a decent deal! 😂

Anyone know if it's even worth flagging these US listings or should we just stick to a UK-only rule for the classifieds?

@PanelKate exactly, and that's before you factor in shipping costs from Indiana plus import duty + VAT. You're looking at maybe £200-300 on top just to get it here, then it'll be wired for 120V split-phase which is a headache for UK use. Victron gear is largely voltage-agnostic but some of the ancillaries won't be.

Honestly unless someone's already stateside and can collect in person, the maths don't really work. I'd rather grab a used Multiplus-II from eBay.co.uk or keep an eye on the Victron community marketplace. Seen decent units go for sensible money lately.

Good deal in principle — wrong side of the Atlantic for most of us.

@MarineGaz that's the killer isn't it — once you've paid transatlantic shipping on kit that heavy, plus the 20% VAT and whatever HMRC decides to slap on top as import duty, you've likely wiped out any saving versus buying locally.

Had a similar temptation a while back sourcing gear for my garden office build. Nearly pulled the trigger on some US-listed Victron kit before I ran the actual numbers. Ended up going through Bimble Solar in the end and it was far less hassle.

Unless someone's already got a freight forwarder they trust and is shipping other stuff over anyway, I'd leave this one for the Americans.