After changing hands a number of times, in 2004, the company (which had grown nationally to 22 print publications and five related websites) was bought for $636 million by Telstra.
The original founders of the Trading Post, Charles Falkiner and Margaret Wilkins, started the newspaper in 1966 using an initial outlay of $24,000.
[1][2] In 1968, the newspaper expanded operations in both Sydney and Brisbane, with the Adelaide, Perth, Tasmania, Darwin and Canberra editions were established during the 1980s and 1990s.
[1] At the time of transition, it had an average of 469,000 readers a week while the website received 1.8 million unique hits per month.
[13] According to Telstra at the time of the sale, "the most popular Trading Post categories are pets and horses, household furniture and goods, wheels, tyres and parts, home renovations, rural and machinery, gardens and outdoor living, business and office, and sport, leisure and recreation.