E-Commerce has brought our company to the attention of a much wider global audience than it would have been possible using offline trading alone

Name: Stephen Armistead
Company: Trade Copiers Ltd
Location: United Kingdom















In terms of building people's trust in our company, we have never advertised a product online that is not in stock or cannot be delivered within the deadline agreed with the buyer. We store and package the used copiers for distribution at our own premises and have an open door policy for any prospective buyer to visit our premises to view our stock before ordering. We have welcomed visitors from, China, Hong Kong, UAE, Pakistan, India, Poland, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Holland, Singapore, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Israel, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, to name but a few.

From starting the business in 2002 we have steadily increased our sales year on year. We first started to explore the possibility of exporting in 2003 and, after advertising on Alibaba, achieved export sales of over £250,000 within 12 months. We are now turning over £1,000,000 per annum with export sales representing over 50 % of our annual turnover. We now have a warehouse of 22,500 sq feet and stock 1000s of used copiers at all times. As a company we have worked closely with UK Government Support Agencies Business link and UKTI.  This resulted in our company being awarded a Business link Exporter of the Year award in 2006.

The reintroduction into commercial operations of office equipment/photocopiers is the hub of our operations. This is in tune with current global policies of recycling.

Our ways of doing business is reflected by our web sites and e-commerce presence, which is straight forward, honest, and open.

We always deliver what we promote online.

To match the speed and interaction that e-commerce generates we have developed sourcing and distribution methods that are in tune with the speed of service expected by our customers. This has not, however, been at the expense of personal contact with suppliers and buyers. We believe we have built our reputation through a blend of modern e-business techniques and traditional service values.

E-Commerce has brought our company to the attention of a much wider global audience than it would have been possible using offline trading alone. It has enabled us to grow our international business to a higher level, making it significantly quicker than what traditional and resource-intensive practices would have allowed.

Through ECommerce and in particular our presence on Alibaba we are now exporting to the countries listed below:
UAE, CHINA, PAKISTAN, INDIA ,MALASIA ,SINGAPORE, HONG KONG, TAIWAN, VIETNAM,SAUDI ARABIA, EGYPT, SRI LANKA, THAILAND, SYRIA, ISRAEL, SPAIN,ITALY,GREECE, POLAND, HOLLAND, TANZANIA, KENKA, NIGERIA, GHANA, CAMEROON, IRELAND, ROMANIA, UGANDA, SENAGAL, PHILIPPINES.