We were lucky to catch up with Marcelle Bruck recently and have shared our conversation below.

Marcelle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

One of the hardest aspects of starting a business is actually getting started. There are parts of getting started that you can control such as developing a brand, building a website, and creating a social media presence. Then there are the things you cannot completely control. I call it the buy in. Finding that first customer that is willing to trust you is where the work comes in. When I felt like I was ready to present my business to the world- the only thing that was holding me back was that I needed clients. Of course I hadn’t made any money yet, so getting clients needed to be cheap. My inexpensive plan involved flooding Facebook with information about my business. I came up with “Market Day” which involved sitting in a local coffee shop every Friday for 1 hour and marketing my business to anyone on Facebook who would notice me. I quickly had an HVAC technician message me and tell me that he had a client that needed an estate sale. I contacted the client and met with her, presented my sales pitched and got the job. Vintage Monkey was off and running and it felt great!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Vintage Monkey Estate Sales began in 2014. Before I started Vintage Monkey, I had been restoring and reselling vintage and antique furniture and decor for about 2 years. I enjoyed the hunt of finding pieces I could paint, repurpose and/or restore. Creating something “new” that I could resell was thrilling to me. I often found myself shopping at estate sales for my inventory. I loved estate sales.
I started researching the estate sale business. I met with some retired estate sale company owners. They helped me understand the process. I came up with a business plan, dove in and nine and a half years later, here I am!
Vintage Monkey Estate Sales is a full service company. We handle the liquidation process from start to finish- sorting, staging, advertising, selling, donating and clearing out the house. It’s a huge production. We set up a pop-up store in every house we work in. Our job is to showcase our client’s life possessions, so buyers see value in them and want to buy them. It’s exciting to me to create a safe, visually pleasing environment for our shoppers. I love the challenge!
I will never forget my first client. She was nervous, but positive about selling her house and moving on. She told me that she wasn’t downsizing. Instead, she called it right-sizing. I agreed with her. At Vintage Monkey, we help people make their lives “right”.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I am 50 years old. This is important to know because I was not born with a cell phone in my hand. I did not own my first cell phone until I was 30 years old. We have all heard the phrase, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. Well, I feel like the “old dog”. In order to build a business, attract young people, and thrive, you need a presence on social media. I opened a Facebook account when I started my business and that felt doable. I posted about upcoming sales, nothing too exciting, nothing too fancy. Then came Instagram and Tick Tok. The creativity required to gain followers felt so overwhelming. Dancing, voiceovers, video clips… I felt like I needed to go back to college for a second degree in marketing. I was constantly summoning my children, all teenagers at the time, for help. There was a lot of eye rolling.
When my son was in high school he started working for me. I loved having him as an employee because he was strong and reliable. He added a lot to the team. The only downfall was that he was at that age where he felt like he knew more than me. He could run the business better. I would ask him to do something and he would start to argue with me. He would tell me why my ideas wouldn’t work, why we needed to do things differently. It was frustrating. I decided to use this opportunity as a teaching lesson. I told my son that there are 2 different people in life. There are people that build walls and there are people that build bridges. At Vintage Monkey, we are going to build bridges- work as a team, get the job done, make clients happy, be successful.
In reflecting on my lessons with my son, I realize that I need to apply my own advise. Somedays I want to put up walls. My inner voice is saying, “I don’t want to make reels!”, “I can’t be on social media.”, “I don’t know how to do this!”. I know it’s time to build bridges, even if they are small bridges- one social media post at a time. I have not yet hit the Tik Tok scene, but my Instagram is growing and improving every day. Follow us and see for yourself- @VintageMonkeySales.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

During covid the world had to pivot. Through lockdowns, mask wearing, limited entries, closed businesses, we all had to figure out how to continue moving forward. We were treading through thick, murky water. The estate sale business was no different. There were still people downsizing, selling their homes and needing to liquidate their assets. Estate sales are not like a regular brick and mortar store. We have a very limited time to sell a lot of inventory. Often times the sales are crowded. Lots of people want to come in and many times there are lines of people waiting to get a “special treasure” they may have seen in the photo ads.
During covid, once we were able to have in-person sales, we had to let a very limited amount of shoppers into the sales. Everyone was supposed to stay 6 feet apart, often in
small quarters, on limited time. This is important because lines were long and tensions were high. Shoppers felt like they were “missing out” by having to wait.
In the estate sale business, each company has a system for how they control the lines at their sales. For example, in some towns, shoppers arrive at the sale and sign up on a sheet. Others hand out numbers and then once their number is called, they can go shop. In Kansas City, shoppers put down a “marker” to hold their spot in line and then go wait in the car. Sometimes people wait for hours and hours before a sale actually opens so that they can be one of the first in line to get their treasures. Since it can be very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter in Kansas, being able to wait in the car is a bonus.
During the time my business was shut down, I decided to brainstorm ways to make the business better. One of the ways I thought we could improve was our “marker” system. I loved the technology of the restaurant industry. When there is a wait at a restaurant, you sign up with your phone on a mobile wait system. The restaurant texts you when it’s your turn to be seated. Brilliant! I researched and found a company that would work for the estate sale industry. You virtually “get in line” for the sale and you get a text when it’s time to shop… So simple, so efficient and I quickly learned so UNPOPULAR. I realized that I was trying to change a procedure that had been in place in Kansas City for years. Shoppers were used to putting a “marker” down and waiting (sometimes hours) to get into a sale. People do not like change. Covid brought lots of change very quickly and the world was not ready for it. My new little system felt like an amazing idea, but my shoppers were not ready for even more change. I gave my system a shot for several months. After lots of complaining and a bad review or two I pivoted back to the old way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vintagemonkeysales.com
• Instagram: @VintageMonkeySales
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/vintage.monkey.estate.sales