Buy Sell & Trade, Inc.
On Vancouver Island since 1976
Buy Sell & Trade has been serving you on Vancouver Island for more than 35 years.
And we're very proud of it. We offer our service of bringing buyers and sellers together by
selling our paper in over 450 locations across the Islands and electronically on our website,
www.buyselltrade.ca.
The Early Days – a short primer on 70s publishing
The first issue, April 13, 1976
Shirley Fortier and Paul Cope established the Mid–Island Buy Sell & Trade
in 1976. The business was housed in their home on Selby Street in
Nanaimo’s Downtown. Free ads were collected and typed onto adding
machine tape and pages were photocopied, collated, stapled and delivered
by hand to resellers. One early employee remembers collating the paper
every Sunday and hand stapling each copy. The first issue was published
on April 13, 1976 and cost $.35. The company archive holds every copy of
the paper from 1977 to the present. In 1977, the Buy Sell & Trade was sold
to Jack and Peggy Perry.
Automation with early typesetting – the 80s
Typesetting equipment was added to the business in the early 80’s and
included a Compugraphic typesetter and a Linotronic printer.
For a fascinating pictorial account of early publishing check out
this page on our facebook site.
Moving into personal computers
In 1983, Allan and Nancy Erickson bought the Buy Sell & Trade. By the late 80s production
of the paper transitioned from typesetting equipment to personal computers using database
software. Since then, many changes of software have taken place since then to keep up with
changing operating systems and needs.
The internet age – mid 90 and beyond
By the late 90s and early 00s, change was becoming the norm. The paper itself was
redesigned, divided into sections with full colour on the covers. Categories were refined to meet
the demand of customers searching for bargains. For the first time in its history, dedicated sales
professionals joined the team to service the ever-growing number of commercial advertisers.
New logos and cover designs kept the brand fresh and the product current.
And then there are the websites. Like most companies, building and upgrading the company
website is an on-going process. Ours is no exception but our goal is to provide a site that is
easy to navigate, easy to use, and serves the purpose for our users and advertisers.