Express Wipers Ltd started in 2010 as an eBay store with just a few listings selling the odd bag of rags, chef's uniform bundles, and a few boiler suit overalls. The launch was funded by the sale of Marc's old kitchen (ironically on eBay!). This allowed us to purchase the first of our wholesale stock which was designated to online purchases.
Marc and I used to work together on a Sunday Market, we loved the jostle back-and-forth with our customers; They always knew they'd be well looked after and that we'd ultimately let them win the stand-off and offer them a discount on their purchases, but not before the performance of standing firm and waiting to see who would crack first into a laugh or a smile, and then finalising on a handshake and a "see you next week!"
To this day we still reminisce about our time at the market, we miss the face-to-face joy you get when joking with a customer as they haggled over price, the smiles they leave you with as they shook your hand, and flicking through a copy of 'The News of the World' and complaining about the journalism (or lack of!) in those moments in-between.
But it was also through these discussions with our regular customers that we were able to begin raising awareness of our online presence, thus offering them a way of reaching our products during the week. Back then we were over the moon if the online listings took £100 in a week, it went towards paying for a Friday afternoon team lunch once a month and a decent cup of coffee on a cold and damp Sunday morning!
Now, more than 10 years later, the Sunday market no longer exists owing to area gentrification and the building of new apartments, but we have a much larger and well-established online presence, with over 13,500+ positive feedback on our eBay store, a 99.8% customer satisfaction rating, and 100% 'excellent' rating on Trustpilot.
We strive to do all we can to maintain this standard of service every day, but we also try to keep that 'market feeling'; We don't want to take ourselves too seriously, and we genuinely love having a positive rapport with anyone who takes an interest in our Company or products, whether that's someone who wants to try us out for the first time or a Customer we first shook hands with all those years ago.