Clearing out a closet rarely changes a life, but Lisa Harrington, founder of Purrfect Portal, turned selling old purses and shoes on eBay into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. She told Business Insider that she began selling from her suburban Boston closet to escape an uninspiring office job. Today, her whimsical interior cat doors lead Amazon's pet-supply chart.
Closet Sale Ignites E-Commerce Spark
Harrington's paycheck felt stalled back in 2012. "I really didn't like my job. It wasn't going anywhere," she said. eBay became a low-stakes laboratory for selling everything from shoes to handbags. When the closet ran dry, she plunged into Alibaba.com (NYSE:BABA) listings, wiring $5,000 of profit into brightly colored dog harnesses.
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The cartons were so heavy that it took her three hours to lug them upstairs. Most of the harnesses sold on eBay, but a single Amazon listing emptied the rest in 24 hours, signaling seven-figure potential, she told Business Insider.
Timing the Amazon Boom
The early Amazon Marketplace felt wide open, according to Harrington. "In 2013 and 2014, there were not many options out there, so it was easy," she said. With scant competition, her dog-gear revenue neared $1 million on paper.
She plowed every dollar back into the venture and used the internet for guidance. "Google was my best friend," she told Business Insider, adding that it taught her shipping rules, bookkeeping and basic pay-per-click advertising.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) takes a 15% referral fee on most sales before advertising and storage costs, pressuring some merchants to skip this year's Prime Day promotions, Reuters reported. Harrington argues that demand for clever pet gear still offsets those fees.
From Harnesses to Tiny Doors
Harrington's online income matched her salary by 2016, so she quit her cubicle job and leaned into cats. "I am a cat lady—I've always been a cat lady—and I really wanted an interior cat door," she told Business Insider.
When she found only one flimsy option, she sketched a sturdier frame and tapped Service Corps of Retired Executives to connect with engineers.
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The prototype evolved into Purrfect Portal's Meow Manor, a closable miniature door with a doorknob. When it launched in 2020, it quickly climbed Amazon's bestseller list, selling about 100 units a day.
The company now holds two U.S. utility patents, shielding it from copycats. The Meow Manor line still leads Amazon's interior-cat-door category, and its flagship listing holds a 4.8-star average from thousands of reviews.
Navigating Tariffs and Tougher Rules
The ride is no fairy tale. Harrington says unpredictable tariffs rob her of sleep. "I've never faced a moment when my costs could double overnight," she said. To protect margins, she plans to move 80% of production to the U.S. by October. She is trading higher wages for steadier prices and quicker shipping, Business Insider reports.
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