But while some things have changed over the past 21 years - like the goods for sale - some things have stayed the same and we’re still the best place to cash in on a clear-out.
This week 21 years ago, the first issue of Trade-It was on sale for 60p, it was 38 pages long and carried an ad for an ‘A-Team’ children’s bed set for £8. This would now be a collectors’ item! Today you can buy a bundle of Toy Story children’s bedding for £15.
In 1990, our computer ads section was dominated by secondhand Amstrads, Commodore 64s and Atari machines, today Notebooks, iPads and Thinkpads are our most popular computing items for sale.
Twenty-one years ago a 1988 Ford Escort - a reliable little runner - was selling for £1,000, while this week an Escort made the same year was selling for spares for £375.
There were also a few red faces when a Ford Escort was accidently advertised in our ‘escort services’ section of Trade-It.
But some things never change. You have always been able to buy unusual things in Trade-It. In 1990, you could buy a Father Christmas outfit for £30, while this week you can pick up a Santa outfit for a spaniel for £9.99.
Speaking of Christmas, if you’re in the market for one, you could buy a loved one a life-sized Elvis Presley statue - with guitar - for £450.00 this week.
So where did it all begin?
In 1990, Scott Davidson - a keyboard player with the Pet Shop Boys – created the concept for Trade-It while touring with the band in Canada. Once the first issue was published he continued to tour with the band for six months and sent money home to keep the business going while he was away.
The Davidson family quickly expanded the Trade-It so it not only covered Bristol, but the surrounding counties of Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.
In 2006, the Friday Media Group acquired Trade-It and since then it has evolved to include one weekly paid-for title covering the South-West and a free title, named Trade-It Free. Trade-it Free is now distributed to over 450 outlets across Bristol, Bath and Weston-super-Mare every Friday.
In 2009, Trade-It moved from Emery Road to new offices at The Paintworks at Arnos Vale.
We launched the Trade-It.co.uk website in 2000 and it attracts about 128,000 unique visitors per week, who view the 15,000 ads placed each week through our effective Place an Ad tool. At any one time about 140,000 ads are live on the website.
We are currently developing a mobile version of the website and the site has a strong community of members who visit our Facebook page - which has more than 10,000 likes – follow us on Twitter and read our online guides.
Trade-It has expanded its print offering in recent years by producing a number of supplements, stand-alone publications and event programmes including: BrisFest Programme, Keynsham Music Festival Programme, Cotswold Show Programme, To Have and To Hold Wedding Guide, and many others.
Happy birthday Trade-It!
