Vintage Software thrives in estate-sale market

Pairing cutting-edge technology with estate sales might not seem like an obvious combination, but to Micky McQuade, owner of Vintage Software in Jackson, it's a niche market that works.

The original website started back in about 2001, McQuade said at Codefi's monthly Meet the Member session Wednesday, and that site was devoted to estate sales and cataloging items.

McQuade said his father, a machinist, would scour sale bills and auctions to find small appliances he could buy, repair and re-sell for profit.

That translated to McQuade's website and, in 2007, his company developing software to help estate-sale companies across the nation work more efficiently.

The company also has grown from one employee hired in 2008 to about 40 employees today.

Those employees handle everything from telephone support to creative work to marketing, McQuade said.

"It was a local hit," McQuade said. "We took it nationwide."

The growth process was slow, he said, as the market is small, but word of the company spread from estate-sale company to estate-sale company.

The company doesn't do a lot of advertising, he said, and what ads they do purchase are mostly in the online realm.

Since their business is handled almost exclusively online and through phone calls, McQuade said, clients don't come to the office itself.

"The front door stays locked," McQuade said.

Companies upload their own photos, McQuade said. Some sales can have up to 500 images each, and that level of uploading wasn't practical to do in-house.

Estate-sale companies also can post a link to an online video if they'd like to do a walk-through of available merchandise, McQuade added.

The company does use some software to help streamline operations, McQuade said, including a program to help schedule employees and another to automate responses to initial questions from customers.

As to what the future holds, McQuade said, "Estate sales are what we do. If we do anything else, it would be a separate company."

Soon, Vintage Software will launch an online marketplace, similar to eBay, but with a distinctly estate-sale feel, McQuade said.

"Estate sales are unique in that most are a weekend event, and prices start high and go low," McQuade said.

McQuade did acknowledge a certain difficulty in finding and retaining top technological talent in the Cape Girardeau area, but to that end, he said, Vintage Software opened a small office in St. Louis, though they prefer to hire local.

The software training and coding classes offered by Codefi are a big help in training the future workforce, McQuade added.

That future workforce will need versatility beyond traditional skill sets used by marketers and designers. They'll need online prowess too, McQuade said, not just in businesses based online, but in every business.

For Vintage Software, company culture is a big piece of what they do, and he tries to pay well and give good benefits.

It helps with retention and, he said, "I always wanted to work at a place I enjoyed going to every day."

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

100 S. High St., Jackson, Mo.