r/canadaguns • u/Medical_Banana1586 • Apr 13 '26
Misc Advice on buying first SKS on gunpost (online)
Hi everyone
After receiving a lot of feedback and advice from members here I’ve decided to purchase an SKS (French tickler variant) as a birthday gift from me to me.
Since these SKS variants are sold out online the only place I was able to find one was on Gunpost, however it is located in Ottawa and I am located in Montreal.
Hence.. I’ll be having it shipped to me. I’m supposed to be having a video verification call with the seller later today.
Because this is the first time I buy a firearm online, I was wondering if the community has any tips to stay safe in the transaction (I.e. should I not send a photo of my PAL/ only show it on the video call? Should I be asking for COD through Canada post? I understand it’s not the norm)
For reference, his Gunpost account is 3 years old and he has 8 five star reviews. The reviews seem legit - most recent one was 11 mo’s ago and he was the seller (review is positive). Thanks!!
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u/Acc4Wtf Apr 13 '26
It's a trust based system. I personally wouldn't accept COD if I were the seller.
. Since you're already having a video call, ask the seller to show you what you're buying. Use your judgement, you can back out at any point if you get a bad feeling. Another tip is to check the reviews of the people who reviewed your seller.
. If they only have 1 or 2 reviews or if you see the SAME people reviewing eachother, it may be a scam.
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u/kristaporbrg Apr 13 '26
I bought several items from Gunpost. Two of the three riffles I bought were from Ottawa. I am from Montreal. I drove there, inspected the riffles and paid. The third was from Montreal.
The only items I bought without physically touching were two riffle scopes (incidentally both of them Vortex) and a coat. The scopes were fine and I didn't take a chance as they were Vortex and the coat was only 50 CAD and I am thrilled with it. You are going to pay as a guess at least 700 CAD for your riffle. Just take your car and drive there. If you don't own a car, rent it and drive there.
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u/S-Archer Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
Following as I'm new to purchasing privately online as well.
Typically top rated sellers are trustworthy, but at the end of the day you never know. One thing you can also do is pay through PayPal, and cover the fees to insure the purchase. If you don't receive it, or it's broken/etc, they have buyer protections in place to issue you a refund
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Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/S-Archer Apr 13 '26
TIL! Thank you. I updated my post
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u/AdeptArt Apr 13 '26
Yeah this isn’t the same as buying pc parts on reddit or what not. No Paypal G&S here. You just gotta EMT first and trust based on their transaction history. Ask for additional pictures via cell etc tho, that can help at least. And ask if they have a CGN account, if they can DM you from that account to prove they’re the same person and has 20+ positive feedback there usually you’ll be fine.
Though some people can always exit scam so nothing is 100% safe without being in person. And even in person you can’t shoot it so they might sell a dud.
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u/S-Archer Apr 13 '26
There's also the trouble of being a new user and not having that feedback, but like you said, trust based and you can take actions to minimize the risks
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u/AdeptArt Apr 13 '26
Its cool if you're buying and have little feedback. Just don't buy from people with little feedback. I don't think sellers have a problem with low feedback buyers either.
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u/Turbulent_Advance832 Apr 13 '26
Yep, a lot of people don't know they're anti-gun. It's also Venmo, Stripe, Square, Google Pay, Apple Pay. There's a full list here: https://www.guntab.com/payment-platform-firearm-policies
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u/leecroy73 Apr 13 '26
I saw one locate close to you on clicannonce website or the (fan de menage 2.0) facebook groupe
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u/Medical_Banana1586 Apr 13 '26
Thank you I sent a request to join the page. I will try to find it.
If you see one please share the add with me. Merci!
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u/AdeptArt Apr 13 '26
I’ve most often just done CGN. Buyer goes first via EMT but if seller has plenty of feedback shouldn’t be a problem. COD definitely isn’t the norm. Gunpost is similar but slightly more risky since accounts aren’t as established as CGN. See if the seller has a CGN account you can link to their gunpost account, that will help verify trust.
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u/Winter-Sympathy5037 Apr 13 '26
I've bought and sold lots of stuff on gunpost and have only had one bad deal (bought a mag that someone beat the lips off of). As far as providing pal info you can just google what the cfo wants so you don't feel like your giving out to much info.
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u/Penguinbotxv Apr 13 '26
PAL check both sides, RCMP transfer issue, do not pay till the transfer is confirmed by both parties. Make sure user has a decent eating and isn't filled with fake ratings, as in check the people who gave them ratings. As for other counter measures buy local that way you can inspect the firearm, or buy from stores on gunpost some accounts are stores. If it's the french tickler for 750 that guy is fine if you're wondering but still do check. For online make sure they have a Canadian phone number, call em and talk to them. It's nothing major but it still adds to the safety and reassurance. Enjoy
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u/2feetandathrowaway Apr 13 '26
A few weeks ago they had French tickles at SFRC near Kingston, not sure if they sold em already
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u/Eisenbahn-de-order Apr 13 '26
Go for the ones with a lot of ratings and a perfect record ie 5/5. They will not be (or less likely at least) keen to steal your money and tarnish their perfect record.
The one you mentioned should be alright.
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u/The_saturn_man19 Apr 13 '26
I bought my Russian SKS on gunpost in montreal not even a month ago. Personally I'd wait to see one for sale close to you so you can inspect it before buying but generally these are very good rifles with no issues
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u/starw24-ps4 Apr 13 '26
Get them to do a PAL check online with the RCMP web services. You need a PAL login to get in which helps reduce scammers
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u/Xaxxus Apr 13 '26
What I can tell you is ask them to let you inspect it before you buy.
When I bought mine they told me it was perfect quality with all the original accessories.
It was far from that.
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u/Hot_Cheesecake_905 Apr 13 '26
Buy your first SKS in a store; that way, you can check the condition of the firearm in person. If you do buy it online, I would stick to major stores like G4C and GoTenda, at least until you know what you're looking for. On GunPost, you can filter by dealers as well.