Description
Small retail business dealing in vintage furniture and decor based in Flatbush, Brooklyn looking to hire a Buying, Sales and Restoration Assistant part time at 15-20 hours a week. Flexible hours, much remote and self directed with approximately 4-10 hours a week in person at our space in Flatbush. Starting pay $25 hourly.
About us: we are writers with creative practices in the arts. For the past decade plus, we’ve been running a small business buying and selling vintage 20th century furniture and decor, mostly via online platforms, to help us sustain our creative work. It has made it possible for us to afford to live in this expensive city while giving us a lot of flexibility and freedom to pursue our other careers. We are at a point now in our lives, other work and the scale of the business where we need additional help to keep things running smoothly. We are hoping to find someone who can use this work in a similar way: to supplement a creative practice or intellectual/educational/other pursuits.
Required:
- Driver’s license and comfort driving in NYC (a huge plus if you have an SUV/truck)
- Willingness to learn about vintage 20th century furniture and design, and/or about furniture repair, refinishing, and reupholstery
- Self-directed and comfortable with variation and some degree of unpredictability in day-to-day and week-to-week work
- Comfort with light administrative duties (Google spreadsheets, social media management, Slack, etc.)
- Reliable, friendly, can go with the flow, wants to be part of a small team
- Comfortable interacting courteously and with good humor with a wide variety of people (other vintage dealers, long distance white glove shippers, older people looking to downsize their furniture, interior designers with picky clients, individual buyers furnishing a new loft apartment, etc.)
- Comfort going in the homes of sellers/buyers
- Can lift heavy furniture (up to 50 lbs)
- Aesthetic sensibility
Desired:
- Knowledge of and interest in 20th century design and decorative art
- Owns a vehicle (SUV, truck or van) and willing to use it for pick ups and deliveries (with related expenses reimbursed)
- Experience refinishing/repairing/reupholstering furniture, or related skills
- Experience with DSLR photography and lighting
- Experience with Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop
- Experience moving furniture, shipping, or related background
- Open to occasional late or early hours and overnight travel for regional deliveries and buying
- Has a good eye for vintage design and enjoys second hand shopping, finding exciting and unusual pieces, the thrill of the hunt
Job duties:
- Uploading and managing online listings across our sales platforms (Etsy, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, etc.)
- Interacting with customers (showing and selling pieces by appointment)
- Picking up and delivering furniture and other items in NYC and the surrounding area
- Sourcing inventory from estate sales, online auctions, second hand stores, flea markets and individual sellers
- Furniture cleaning, refinishing, light repair and reupholstery
- Assisting with staging and photographing furniture and decor
- Creating social media content (drafting Instagram post captions, making reels and stories)
- Editing photos in Adobe Lightroom
Perks: bonus structure, flexible schedule, 60 hours paid time off per year (to accrue weekly after trial period), plus substantial unpaid time off as needed.
Three month trial period to ensure a good fit.
How to apply
To apply: send resume and cover letter as .doc or PDF attachments to [email protected]. Include the names, relationships to you, and emails of two references in the body of the email. Use subject line “Assistant - [your name]”
Application Deadline
07/15/2025