Don’t Even Think About Starting A Sex Toys Website

Thinking of starting a sex toys website yourself, or buying an existing one? Let me tell you the reasons I think you would be crazy to even think of doing this.

A quick browse through Flippa, and you’ll find a lot of sex toys websites for sale. All are primarily cookie-cutter sites, created solely for the purpose of selling on Flippa.

It never ceases to amaze me that these sites just keep coming on to Flippa (and indeed other such sites) for sale. Most of course have no traffic, and the chances are if you find one with traffic, it’s likely to be fake traffic.

Let me give you two words on why you shouldn’t even consider buying, or starting, a sex toys website…

Market Saturation!

This is one niche that reached saturation point a long time ago (along with tube sites, may I add).

The big players in the sex toys industry are already well established, most for many years. There are a handful of well-known sex toys websites and they get the lions share of the sex toys market.

In fact, even Boots, the UK chemist giant, has decided to grab a slice of the pie and sell sex toys themselves. That is the kind of huge competition you will be up against!

These are companies that have a huge budget and have succeeded in marketing themselves very well, mainly through the use of effective SEO.

That means that they take up residence on all the top rankings in the search engines, for anyone looking for sex toys related keywords. Those companies are bedded in there and there is simply no way you will be able to kick them off those top spots, without a huge marketing budget behind you.

The vast majority of people who think of starting sex toys websites, do not have $80,000 to kick off their marketing campaign and spend on SEO. Even if you do, you will be taking on a number of companies who have managed to build a pretty successful moat around them.

The Proliferation Of Websites Selling Sex Toys

If you type “sex toys” into Google, you’ll get millions of results. There are a ton of websites on the market that sell anything from butt plugs and bondage equipment to vibrators and dildos. It is extremely challenging for any new entrant to distinguish themselves, due to the overwhelming amount of sex toys websites.

Intense competition exists in the sex toy market. It’s hard for new websites to get in because established ones have already seized a sizable portion of the market.

Customer Loyalty In The Sex Toy Industry

This is another major factor you will be up against if you believe you can get a slice of the sex toys industry.

People who buy sex toys, on a regular basis (and let’s be honest it’s not that many people) will tend to use the same sites they have used previously.

That means the big sites that have been established for years, have almost always built up a very loyal customer base. You will be doing exceptionally well if you can lure those customers to your brand new site.

The Difficulty of Building Trust With A New Website

When it comes to online sex toy sales, trust is crucial. The safety and quality of the products that consumers purchase are important considerations.

It is much easier for established websites to gain the trust of their users because they have already established a solid reputation for themselves. So any new sex toys websites have a considerably tougher time gaining the confidence of potential customers.

I have seen this time and again in the industry. New entrants to the sex toys industry, invariably fail sooner or later. That’s not to say every single new sex toys website has failed, but believe me, the vast majority do.

Only the ones with perseverance (and a very healthy bank balance) are able to get established and grab themselves a little slice of the market.

The Difficulty Of Stocking Your Sex Toys Website

So let’s say you decide to go ahead with starting a sex toys website. What way are you going to handle stock? Because you’re going to need a lot of products in order to compete with the big boys.

You might go down the drop shipping route. However that is fraught with difficulties too. Especially because of the nature of what you will be selling….sex toys.

You are to going to have to quality check the products before you consider sending them out to customers and that will require you physically checking them. That means you’re going to have to receive a pretty big order to your location, at least to start.

The quality of the products

The large successful sex toys companies have also established their reputation on the superior quality of their products. So you are going have to ensure that your products are as well made and as safe as theirs. That is no easy task.

There are numerous variables to take into account, such as product sourcing, inventory control, delivery, and customer support. Effective website management requires a great deal of knowledge and expertise, which not everyone possesses.

The Perils of Legal Problems

If you want to start a sex toys website you will need to take into account a number of legal considerations, because sex toys are a sensitive subject.

For instance, website operators must ensure they are complying with laws governing the distribution and sale of adult items. Legal action may be taken if these requirements are not followed, which could be expensive and detrimental to you.

You’re also going to look at reliable and trustworthy adult payment processors, that will accept high risk transactions.

The Challenge of Scaling Your Business

Growing a website that sells sex toys is not easy. On the (pretty slim) chance that your site becomes very successful, you must be able to manage more customers and sales. Infrastructure, technology, and manpower must all be heavily invested in for this to be possible.

It takes a great amount of planning and preparation to scale a website, and it isn’t easy.

So in conclusion I apologise if I have come down very hard on the sex toys industry, but I have seen so many startups fail, that I really think it’s one of the worst adult business ideas to start.

However looking at Flippa you can see that people do buy these types of ready-made sex toys websites, with the rather delusional idea that they can grab market share, of an already saturated industry, already totally dominated by the major players.

So before you jump in and potentially waste your money on a sex toys website, weigh all these considerations before deciding whether to go down this route. You know my opinion on it anyway!