It is worth noting that while the topic of sex and sex toys was considered very taboo, meaning that no one really wanted to talk about it till the 80s and even during the 90s. However, the society has changed quite a lot since that time and the topic of sex and using sex toys for personal pleasure has become quite a common thing during parties , people like to discuss them openly among their circles as well. While it is still a taboo topic around their parents for most people, it is being discussed and for a very good reason as well.
Now, we know that things might be different for the people in the US, UK or other developed countries but if you are reading this article from a developing nation like India then we know it might be extremely difficult to even think about starting an e-commerce store selling sex toys online. But we are here to tell you that this can be done and also the process of setting it all up in this article.
It is worth noting that the business of selling sex toys online is a very profitable and expected to grow by 9 percent in the next few years by 2026. It is estimated that the revenue from selling sex toys will reach an estimated 52 million dollars by that time which is currently at 28 million dollars already.
It is also to be noted that selling sex toys is a business that will never go out of trend. In fact, the trend of using sex toys is just being explored by people living in the developed countries and even in the developing countries but the opportunity to sell them in countries like India where the population growth rate is fast will be huge. We can also call it a recession-proof business, for obvious reasons.
Also, the trend of the best-selling sex toys depends on the countries where you are selling because if you look at the statistics, the most common item sold in the US in the sex toys department is a dildo whereas in the UK, Australia and Germany, vibrators are the most common sex toy. Now that we know about the sex-toy-selling business and how profitable it is, we can now learn more about how to set up your e-commerce store for the same.
How to Set up your E-commerce Store?
In order to start selling your sex toys online, you will have to first set up an e-commerce store where you can list your products and your visitors can see them and buy from your store. For that, you need to select a suitable platform for your e-commerce store and design a website for the same.
Choosing the right platform for your website
It is worth noting that if you are totally new to website development but you know how to run a business then the best option for you would be to launch a website based on Shopify. It is very user-friendly when it comes to designing a website and getting your store ready for selling the products that you want.
If you are someone who knows about website development then you can use the open-source platforms such as WooCommerce and others to launch your e-commerce store and it will also be cost-efficient but do note that it will also require a lot of hands-on time from you.
Designing the website
Once you have selected your platform of choice to host your e-commerce store, the next thing will be to design the website in a way that the customer gets attracted to your website when visiting it for the first time. As they say, the first impression is the last impression. Cl iche, I know but in my personal experience over the years it has been true on almost every occasion.
Talking about an e-commerce store selling sex toys, it has to be designed in a certain way as well. One that sets the mood and tells the customer immediately that want the product as soon as product. If your website’s design does not speak to your customer, you might not be able to sell your products as well as you like them to.
Product Selection and Sourcing of the Sex Toys
Once you have selected your platform of choice and designed your website in the best possible manner, the next thing you need to do is select the products you want to sell and also source them.
Without products, what are you even going to sell on the store, isn’t it. For that, you have the option to either manufacture the product in-house, get it manufactured from someone else, dropship the products or even resell the products.
Manufacturing
While we know that a lot of people are already doing it, manufacturing your own products is an option that you have when your store gets considerably bigger and you save money manufacturing instead of dropshipping or reselling. It is an option for you when you are already in the business for almost a decade but we don’t recommend this option if you are just starting your business.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is the most preferred option for people who are looking to start an online business to test the waters of how well the demand is and then they can assess the growth of their business. Basically, dropshipping means that you import the product from some other country and sell it in your country without reference to where it was imported from.
Reselling
Reselling is the process of selling a product that others have manufactured and you are just selling it on your store. It is possible that you select the option of reselling sex toys on your online store but note that reselling does not give you the advantage of exclusivity meaning that the products you are selling can be found elsewhere as well.
Marketing and Branding of your E-commerce store
Now comes the most important part of your e-commerce store’s growth which is marketing and branding. Because let’s be honest, what is the use of a fancy website and all the products in your inventory when no one is visiting your online store in the first place?
To make people visit your e-commerce store and buy products, you will need to market them and have unique branding for your online store as well.
Since we are talking about selling sex toys online, the marketing of your store will have to be different because we are selling a product which is 18+ so it will need to have a different approach as we can’t just run the conventional Facebook and Google Ads to reach the target audience.
For this, we will need to first build a brand out of our e-commerce store and make it an authority in the sex toys niche. You will need to have high-quality visuals of your sex toys and will need to hire a professional photographer to do some adult photoshoots as well to let people know how they can make their experience better by using your products.
You can also optimize the store’s Search Engine Optimization so that your brand can be more visible on Google Search and other search engines as well. For this, you will need to promote your store on various adult-content-related Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit groups as well.
One of the biggest trends in the marketing industry has been taking advantage of influencers who have already made an audience out of their content and just promoting your product through that channel. For example, since we are selling sex toys, you need to search out for famous creators from OnlyFans and tell them to use your products and this will make people search for your product, use it and even recommend it to their friends as well.
Legal and Privacy concerns for your customers
We know that the first thing that must have come to your mind when you thought about selling sex toys online was about its legality. Basically, you must have thought that isn’t it illegal to sell such products online.
Well, not at all. Selling Sex Toys online is completely legal, but you do need to take certain measures to avoid any issues such as:
- Packaging your product in such a way that the contents inside it are hidden as certain states in the US require the packaging not to reveal the explicit product imagery.
- Marketing your sex toys via email and internet is also prohibited by some states in the US so you will need to take care of that as well.
- If you plan to use your own images and videos then you need to take a government-issued ID card of your model and present them to authorities if an audit is carried out.
- Product naming when it comes to selling sex toys is also very crucial. For example, some states ban the sale of “vibrators” and that is the reason why some stores sell them calling it a “massager”. We recommend you to take legal advise whenever naming your product so that you don’t get into any trouble later on.
Protecting the privacy of your customers
We know for a fact that a majority of people prefer buying sex toys online because it protects their privacy and identity in the best possible manner. However, it is your duty as the owner of the e-commerce store to protect their personal information as well.
For example, you need to have a Privacy Policy page on your store letting people know how you are going to give their information to third-party ad providers and agencies. You should also include proper directions of usage of your product in order to ensure the safety of your customers while using the products.
Conclusion
Selling sex toys on your e-commerce store does not have to be hard (pun intended), and it is not that difficult to set up everything as well. Just make sure that you follow all the legal, privacy, and safety recommendations and you are safe to sell sex toys online and flourish your business.
As we mentioned earlier, it is growing at a much faster rate that any other industry around the world and most of the sales come from online channel which is why we are recommending you to start an online store as well. The best part is that this will be recession-proof and keep on growing for the foreseeable future which makes this business a very lucrative one for at least the next decade.