Byline: By Daniel Thomson
An idle moment's shopping on the internet has kick-started a business which has let a North mum give up her job and pay off her mortgage.
Former IT consultant Julie King, 32, of Shiremoor, started shopping on internet auction site eBay in 2002 while she was pregnant with son Lewis, now 19 months.
After buying a Prada handbag on eBay for pounds 170, she Chloe Fake Handbags found she could have got the same bag for pounds 100 less from a wholesale site and hit on a winning idea.
Now her business, Killer Heels, is turning over pounds 6,000 a month buying designer shoes and bags wholesale and selling them on eBay at set low prices.
She said: "Like most women I had too many pairs of shoes and most of them were still in their boxes and had never been worn. Putting them on eBay seemed like a good idea but I had no idea how it would take off.
"The whole thing started off really small ( the first shoes I sold were rainbow striped ankle boots which I bought for pounds 10 but sold for pounds 25.
"Things began to take off really quickly and I now sell between 150 and 180 shoes a week. It is an opportunity for people to get their hands on designer shoes at low prices."
Julie, whose turnover is pounds 72,000 a year, said: "It has really taken off beyond my expectations. We are starting to get repeat customers and build up a customer base and have recently purchased some premises.
"In the future I'd like to introduce a direct mail order service for people without internet access."
led street lightingBalancing being a mum with running a business is easier because she can work from home.
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"It is really nice working from home.
"I work about 25 hours a week but I'm earning more than I did when I was working 60 hours a week as an IT consultant."
Julie has been married to taxi driver Darren, 31, for three years and says working from home has allowed her to make the most of her time with her husband and her son.
"Trading on eBay has changed my life. I work while Lewis naps in the morning and afternoon and Darren just works a couple of evenings a week now, so we're both here for our son.
"I have also just finished paying the mortgage on our new three- bedroom house, so I don't think life could be better.
"The hardest thing has been competing with high street stores who have huge buying power compared to us, but what we offer over them is a personal level of service and, of course, low prices."
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