Millions of adults around the world are looking for ways to add a little excitement to their lives. Many of these people would like to spice up their lives with a discrete, convenient purchase of adult toys for their own entertainment. All that’s needed is a platform that provides these items for sale online to succeed in a growing, but competitive market.
Starting an Adult Toy Business.
Starting an online sextoys business is like starting any other type of online business. The more planning that is put into it at the beginning, the more likely the business will be a success. While the adult toy market is huge, there’s a lot of competition. Many businesses source their products from the same drop shippers and make similar price markups. Just like in any other popular industry offering large numbers of products, you’re best to start with a specific niche related to a long-tail keyword. Don’t try to compete with established vendors straight away. You would be better to focus on a specific product and aim to make your online store the definitive retailer in that micro-niche. This strategy will make it easier for you to focus on choosing which products to sell and building your online store around them as a leader in that field.
Security.
Starting an online adult toy store involves a certain amount of additional security for you and your customers. For example, plain packaging is an industry-standard, but if you buy from a drop shipper, this is taken care of for you. Operating in this market also influences your payment processing. The adult toy industry can be “high-risk” in part because many customers are embarrassed by an adult store showing up on their credit card statements. The increased risk means you will have to work with a high-risk payment processor. You will also need to implement age verification to comply with regional laws that prevent minors from buying these products.
Drop shipping.
Using dropshipping means you don’t have to stock any products yourself. The products are shipped directly from supplier to customer, but you keep the profit from the sale. Using drop shipping also means little or no up-front investment, as you don’t need to buy inventory, and you don’t need warehousing space. You won’t even need to do the packing and shipping yourself. Drop shipping is essentially the same for any product, you just need to find a supplier that carries the products you want to sell. You will also need to ensure that your supplier is reliable, supplies high-quality products, and ships them in a timely manner.
Payment Processing.
You will need a payment processor to accept credit card payments through your website. The Adult Novelties industry is considered high-risk for payment providers. An industry can be considered high-risk for various reasons, for example, being highly regulated or selling high-value products. Industries that require age verification for purchases are always considered high-risk. But with a little research, you will find a payment processor that handles high-risk industries right out of the box.
