This mother-of-three's life was changed when she accidentally opened someone else’s mail, found a sex toy catalogue and decided she could do a better job.
So Faith Attwell packed in her marketing job and created her own adult shop, Passion.
Sixteen years on, the 45-year-old is still running the store in Cardiff.
She shared the secrets of her trade withWales Online .



Owner Faith Attwell in her shop Passion on City Road CardiffAndrew James/Wales Online
Owner Faith Attwell in her shop Passion on City Road Cardiff

1. You can’t try toys before you buy

"One guy once asked if he could try the penis pump out. I was like, ‘Really? No sir, you can’t’."

2. Customers' age ranges are huge

"The youngest I get are probably in their early twenties. And the oldest... well, I do have a 91-year-old guy who every year comes in and gets a present for his wife, which I think is so sweet.

Actually, it really stuck out last year because he bought her a toy and I thought 'How cool is it that he still cares about her in that way?' There's hope for all of us, isn't there?"



Faith Attwell's sex shop shop Passion on City Road, CardiffAndrew James/Wales Online
Some of the customers buy sex toys for their elderly wives

3. We get very unusual requests

"There is a guy who rings and asks if we sell used socks. He's not talking about used stockings. He's talking about used socks. We’re like, ‘Of course we don’t’. He says he could buy some of ours."
"I once got asked do we sell rubber pants. And it wasn't latex pants, it was pants you can wee in."



Faith Attwell's sex shop shop Passion on City Road, CardiffAndrew James/Wales Online
Faith was once asked if she sold rubber pants you could wee in

4. We don't upsell

"The advice I give customers is hopefully the most honest advice that I can. I don't want to sell people things they don't need because they won't come back here and I totally rely on loyal customers."



Faith Attwell's sex shop shop Passion on City Road, CardiffAndrew James/Wales Online
The sex shop owner prides herself in giving her customers honest advice

5. Everyone thinks you try all the toys

"I don’t. I try and sell them. But I can recommend the bullet."

7. People think I'm a porn baroness

"Once some guys heard what I did and I think they thought I was some kind of porn baroness. Sometimes I wish I was more outrageous but I need a level head to run this place."



Faith Attwell's sex shop shop Passion on City Road, CardiffAndrew James/Wales Online
Most of the sex shop's customers are women

8. Most of our customers are women

"Our custom is about 70% female. A large percentage are couples. Hetero couples buy strap-ons. I don’t ask too much about what people do in their bedrooms."

9. We have a loyalty scheme like a supermarket

"It’s like a Boots Advantage or a Tesco Clubcard. They get points and when they spend £200 they get £10 off. But setting up a freephone number was a bad idea. We got a lot of prank calls. Mostly teenagers giggling down the phone."

10. Parents bring their kids in

"They are not allowed by the adult toys."



Faith Attwell's sex shop shop Passion on City Road, CardiffAndrew James/Wales Online
Faith has been running the shop in City Road in Cardiff for 16 years

11. Most shoppers are pretty normal

"I remember an old lady who lost her husband and then bought her first vibrator. She came back a year later for a new one saying it had changed her life.
"Regular people come in here. We get a lot of TV people, costume designers for TV shows. And we get models and dancers, burlesque dancers, things like that."

12. Nothing embarrasses us. We have heard it all

"Unless a guy is being creepy and asking too many questions, like ‘Which of these outfits do you own?’ Other than that nothing fazes me."



Faith Attwell's sex shop shop Passion on City Road, CardiffAndrew James/Wales Online
Normally the customers behave themselves in the shop

13. Customers are well-behaved - usually

"One guy once disappeared into a changing room with a lady. I was like, ‘My goodness!’
"But not everyone approves. Once two girls came in, they were not from this country, and they thought it was disgusting. They were walking around and voicing their opinions very loudly. We told them, ‘If you don’t like it you don’t not have to be here’."



Faith Attwell's sex shop shop Passion on City Road, CardiffAndrew James/Wales Online
She saw a massive boom in trade with the release of Fifty Shades of Grey

14. Fifty Shades of Grey was massive

"The book made things go crazy because it brought the fetish stuff into the mainstream."



Faith Attwell's sex shop shop Passion on City Road, CardiffAndrew James/Wales Online
Faith often tells her customers bigger is not always better when it comes to toys

15. Big is not always better

"Bullet vibrators are small and disjwcreet and do the job. It’s good for couples because it doe's not get in the way. Nothing here is to replace people but to enhance what they are trying to do. We don’t sell happiness. But we sell vibrators and they are the next best