How to Start a Sex Toy Business : A Complete Guide

Key Takeaways:

• The sex toy business is a fast-growing sexual wellness market, where success depends more on trust, privacy, and compliance than on product variety or pricing.
• Choosing the right business model and niche is critical-generic sex toy stores fail, while focused, value-driven brands convert and retain customers.
• Legal compliance, product safety, discreet shipping, and data protection are core business requirements, not optional safeguards.
• Growth in this niche relies primarily on SEO, educational content, and community trust, as paid advertising options are limited.

Earlier, sex toys were considered a taboo topic. But now, slowly, sex toys are being considered as an important part of wellness, due to their many health benefits. The global sex toys market was estimated at $35.2 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $62.7 billion by 2030. With the market booming, there could never be a better time to start a sex toy business.

This article is a comprehensive step-by-step guide that teaches you how to open a sex toy shop on internet and sell adult toys online. The guide is suitable for everyone, from complete beginners to experienced professionals looking to dive into this business. That said, let’s get started.

Understanding the Different Types of Sex Toy Business Models

There are many ways to sell sex toys online. And as someone who is looking to sell adult toys online, the first step is to understand the different types of sex toy business models. Knowing the pros, cons, and execution methods of each business can help you understand and make a decision as to which business model might be suitable for you.

In this section, we’ve listed the different (and most important) types of sex toy business models and explained briefly how each one works.

a. Direct-to-Consumer Business Model

In this business model, you will be the face of your sex toy business. In simple terms, as a business owner, you will be building your own website, a brand, and engaging directly with customers. And all purchases will be made by consumers directly visiting your website.

Typical characteristics of the D2C business model is you get full control over your

• Branding, pricing, customer experience
• Customer data and relationships
• Brand equity

On the other hand, starting a D2C model sex toy business will take more time to start as it requires you to focus on marketing, setting up operations (website, shipping, payments, customer support, etc), and requires more upfront investment.

Some amazing examples of D2C sex toy businesses that directly sell adult toys online and have made a fortune are Lovehoney, Lelo, Dame Products, and more. 

If you’re someone who is in it for the long run, more like an entrepreneur who doesn’t make some money but builds a brand, this is an ideal business model for you to get started.

b. Selling on Marketplaces

This is an easier way to sell adult toys online. The “marketplace seller” business model is where you list sex toys on platforms that are already built and have constant traffic.

To help you understand better, marketplaces like Amazon and eBay have exclusive categories for sexual wellness products. You can register yourself as a seller and start listing your products on the platform. The platform already has high traffic, and since the platform is highly reliable, consumers start making purchases.

When we searched for “sexual wellness toys for men,” these were the results.

While this business model supports a faster launch and lower upfront marketing cost, the cons are that.

• Branding options are limited
• High competition with other sex toy sellers
• Should abide by the platform’s rules and policies
• Risk of sudden delisting due to the sensual nature of the products

This business model is suitable if you’re looking to sell sex toys as a side hustle or simply be a reseller.

c. Dropshipping Model

This is another popular business model to sell adult toys online. The dropshipping business model started to gain popularity in the early 2000’s, and advancements in technology played an instrumental role in shaping it.

Selling sex toys via a dropshipping model means you don’t have to hold stock, the supplier ships directly to customers, low upfront cost, and easy to start. You have to build a website and import the dropshipper’s inventory onto your platform. And when an order is placed, the dropshipper fulfills the order from their side. Intimate Dropshipping is a reputable dropshipper in the US that helps you start selling sex toys online.

The tradeoffs are low margin, slow shipping, and no control over product quality. This model is best suited for beginners who look to start slow, validate the market, and conduct experiments.

Those are the main sex toy business models you need to understand and explore. Each one has its pros and cons, and it’s up to you to decide which works best for you.

Understanding the Psychology of Your Customers

While sex toys are now classified under the sexual wellness category, the majority of people still view them as taboo. In fact, 73% of Americans in 2022 considered them a societal taboo, and 66% viewing discussions about them among friends as taboo, and it is slowly changing. This single fact changes a lot of things in the sex toy business.

People fear being judged by society, the customer support, and the brand itself, which makes privacy a big part of the sex toy business. Most of the time, the decision to purchase a sex toy is driven by loneliness, curiosity, and relationship needs. And in this moment of vulnerability, they don’t need someone to judge them. Customers also have questions like, “Is this normal, Should I explore this,” and more.

As a seller, you need to understand this and respect their privacy. It’s all about trust. And to win their trust, you need to educate them with manuals, assure them it’s normal to do this, and take measures to protect their privacy. We’ll see more about this during the later sections of this guide. But that’s basically what your target audience’s mindset will be like.

Legal, Compliance & Customer Protection

Selling adult toys online is completely legal. That said, there are a lot of restrictions and privacy concerns that come along with it.

Age Restrictions & Access Control

In almost all countries, sex toys are an “18+” consumer good. This means you should be careful about ad targeting, email list building, influencer collaboration, and who visits your homepage. 

As a brand, you must actively demonstrate across all instances that you prevent underage access. This is both your responsibility and a legal shield.

Content Regulations

You must refrain from using explicit imagery and graphic language. Instead, you should stick within regulatory limits and provide informational clarity across all your product images, descriptions, blog content, and ad creatives.

Use an educational tone and neutral language to attract consumers while eliminating the gross factor.

Regional Laws & Import Rules

Before you open a sex toy shop on the internet, you need to research your selling regions and know what is legal to ship. It’s because rules vary by country. Some countries restrict certain product types, some countries ban specific materials, and some countries impose customs scrutiny on sex toys.

You need to understand the labelling requirements and prepare custom documentation if necessary, especially when you ship across international borders.

Data Privacy & Customer Protection

As we said earlier, customers are extremely sensitive about exposure, and you need to protect their identity across all formats, especially digitally.

Ensure there is secure checkout, encrypted storage, very minimal data retention, and GDPR/local privacy compliance. Treat security and customer protection as the heart of your business to increase repeat purchases and earn a loyal customer base.

Failing to follow the above regulations will lead to platform bans, legal notices, and more dire consequences.

Choosing the Right Niche in the Sex Toy Market

To be honest, the sex toy market is wide, and finding the right kind might be a bit difficult. But when done right, it’s a piece of cake.

The difference between a normal eCommerce brand and a sex toy business is what consumers look for. In normal eCommerce, consumers look for price, delivery speed, and customer reviews. But here, customers look out for emotional safety, the tone and value, and most importantly, they want to know whether the brand gets them.

A generic sex toy shop doesn’t resonate with anyone but a niche; on the other hand, a focused brand feels relevant and safe.

So, here are the steps to define a niche.

By Audience Group

There is a diverse group of audience you can cater to. For instance, you can open a sex store focusing solely on women, or couples, LGBTQ+ communities, or even long-distance partners. Your brand’s messaging should be in such a way that it resonates with the target group because each group has a different expectation and value.

By Intent

Beyond the audience group, you can think about why people want to buy sex toys. Is it for enhancing relationships? Or is it for self-care or therapy?

This thought process can help pin down the brand messaging and shape your product selection and content strategy. For example, your sex toy store’s messaging can be like, “We help couples rekindle their lost romance.” This shows that your store is a couple’s exclusive who look for intimacy.

Here, look at the website of Dame Products.

They’ve clearly put out the message that it’s a women-centric sex toy store that’s built by women with efforts spanning over a decade. This is a perfect example of what we’ve been trying to say. Messaging and niche selection like this will instantly resonate with their target group (women) and build a loyal customer base in the long run.

By Delivering Value

How does your brand stand out when compared with other regular competitors? That’s where you deliver value. Here, value can be anything. For example, you can deliver value by saying your products are eco-friendly & sustainable, or they are built using medical-grade materials, keeping safety in mind. Or, your products being discreet is itself a high value, as people can fit them into their daily lives easily.

This is how Emojibator started ruling the market, by being discreet.

So, that’s how you define a niche for your sex toy business. Now, let’s look at how to validate a niche. This is important because you need to have enough people in the market to engage with your niche.

Explore Search Trends

Find out what people search for in your niche. Use a combination of keywords and phrases and complete searches on Google. The more relevant the search results are, the more alive and in-trend your niche is.

Forums & Communities

Search for information and questions related to your niche on platforms like Quora, Reddit, and more. This will help you gain insights into what’s shaping your niche, what people expect, and how to stay on trend.

Competitor Sites

If a competitor does it, so should you. If your competition is actively selling related products and there are very recent reviews, it is understood that people are actively consuming them.

The trend you should look for is repeated questions, confusion, unmet needs, and customer complaints. Put simply, you have to find the gap because that’s where the opportunity lies.

So, that’s how you define and validate a niche. Going niche-based comes with huge benefits like a clearer brand identity, a seamless content creation process, more relevant SEO, and higher conversion rates.

 Product Safety & Quality Standard

If you don’t want your customers coming back to you saying, “I got an allergy” or “The product broke after using it twice,” this section is important. Understanding product safety and quality standards can save you from a lot of customer complaints, refund requests, negative reviews, and legal scrutiny.

When you are selling adult toys online, customers’ health and comfort lie in your hands without being said. So, whether you manufacture sex toys or you source sex toys from a vendor, you have to look out for the following things.

• Non-toxic, non-porous materials
• Hypoallergenic composition
• Clear disclosure of what materials are used in manufacturing the products
• Compliance with recognized standards
• Proper electrical safety for powered items

Safety standards change for each country. So you need to check what the compliance standards are for the particular region and ensure that all of it is checked. Compromising on standards might help you acquire products at a lower price and increase revenue in short-term but in the long run, it will not work out.

Finding the Right Sourcing Sex Toys the Right Way

Now that you know about product quality & standards for sex toys, this section will be easy for you.

So, there are three ways by which you source sex toys for your store. We will look at them one by one briefly as follows.

a. Purchasing Ready-made Products in Bulk

In this model, you’ll be purchasing sex toys in bulk from established distributors. You can choose the products you want to purchase, set the quantity, and order them in bulk.

The benefits are huge as you can quickly open a sex toy store and start selling adult toys online, thanks to the minimum order quantity benefits and low process complexity. On the other hand, there’s very little differentiation in the market as many other stores sell the same products. Plus, there’s no control over the quality and safety factors.

This model is suitable for beginners and resellers who want to experiment with how the market performs.

b. Private-label Sex Toys

This is a comparatively better choice if you’re looking to start your own sex toy brand.

The only additional benefit here is that you can customize packaging, colors, and bundles. This gives your brand the uniqueness that other resellers in the market don’t have. But again, this model is still not fully unique as there is dependency on the supplier, and you can only customize the packaging, but not the product itself.

This approach is suitable for entrepreneurs who cannot spend much on research & development but still want some level of uniqueness in their brand.

c. Custom Manufacturing Sex Toys

This is where ambitious entrepreneurs with strategy & planning end up. Here, you manufacture your own sex toys by setting up a research & development plant. You can practice all the safety and quality control methods we’ve been preaching above, making your brand truly unique and standing out amidst competitors.

Those are all the pros. As for the cons, the cost is high, initial research & development takes time (and can be complex at times), and most importantly, it requires large capital investment.

This approach is well-suited for well-funded founders.

d. Quick Tips to Choose the Best Suppliers

Before you choose a supplier, here are some tips for you.

• Ask vendors for manufacturing details and materials included.
• Check whether they have the necessary compliance documents.
• Order a sample quantity to check the product personally.
• Check for their reviews on platforms and know how consistent they are in production.
• Ask questions that make them feel uncomfortable. If they feel so, walk away because something is not in place.

All these tips will help you know whether the supplier you choose is an honest and transparent vendor. Moving on to the next step.

Building a High-Performing Product Catalog

First-time buyers don’t know what they need. They might not know the right term, or they simply want guidance. A premium sex toy store’s catalog should not confuse buyers. Instead, it should guide them to complete purchases.

Here is the catalog of the brand Lovehoney. 

They’ve clearly grouped the categories, and each category has a product listed clearly. So, when someone enters the store, they don’t have to guess where they’re heading. Instead, they can explore and choose what they want all by themselves.

You can create catalogs for your store based on

• Experience level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
• Use-case (Wellness, Couples, Solo, Long-distance, For Him, For Her, etc.)
• Toy Type (Wearables, Handheld, Remote-controlled, etc.)
• Products (Vibrators, Lingerie, Dildos, Lubes, etc.)

You can further guide customers by adding sections like Most Loved, Editorial Picks, Trending, Starter Kits, and more.

To put it short, your sex toy store’s catalog is your real-time salesperson. Make it feel professional, guided, and useful.

Choosing the Right Platform to Build a Sex Toy Store

So there are three ways to build a sex toy store, each differing in terms of cost, control, build time, and long-term scalability. In this section, we will see all of them briefly and discuss how it works along with their pros and cons.

a. Using eCommerce Platforms

This method is the most sought-after method for beginners looking to open a sex store with very little investment. eCommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce are ideal options for first-timers since it is easy to build a store using readymade templates, add products, set up payments, and start selling.

The pros of building a sex toy store using eCommerce platforms are that it is easier & faster to launch, and there is a low technical knowledge requirement. You can easily set up payment gateways and start selling adult toys online. 

But the cons are that you need to find a vendor who can supply you with sex toys and monthly platform fees. Beyond this, some payment gateways deny adult product transactions, classifying them as a high-risk niche.

While setting up a sex toy business on an eCommerce platform costs around $500, the monthly platform fees for custom apps will quickly add up.

b. Using Whitelabel Sex Toy Business Scripts

In this approach, opening a sex toy store becomes much easier, thanks to ready-made whitelabel scripts that are exclusively built for adult toy stores. Whitelabel scripts come with specific preloaded features that a sex toy store should have to function seamlessly.

xMarketplace by Adent.io is one such adult eCommerce website script with a dropshipping API. The platform comes with a built-in dropshipping API that makes it easy for you to source sex toys.

More features like multiple revenue streams, mobile responsiveness, and discount coupons make this one of the best sex toy dropshipping scripts around. Payments are always a matter of concern in adult businesses. xMarketplace resolves this by coming with built-in payment gateways like Verotel and NMI.

With a price of $199, it gives users a great edge as the upfront investment is very low and is quick to launch. xMarketplace also helps with domain and hosting services.

c. Building a Custom Website From Scratch

As the title says, in this approach, you will be building a sex toy store from scratch. This means you have full control over the frontend, backend, design, flow, integrations, and more.

While building a brand you dream of and offering your customers a fully tailored experience is possible, it comes with higher upfront costs, a longer development timeline, the need for a dedicated sex toy design and development team, and ongoing maintenance. 

Building a custom sex toy store from scratch typically costs around $10,000 as a base investment. This estimate does not include prebuilt features, additional custom functionality, or monthly maintenance contracts.

This approach is best-suited for highly-funded founders who are in it for the long run! 

Those are three ways to open a sex toy shop on the internet. As we said, each has its pros and cons and is different in terms of pricing and time taken to build. This also directly connects with how you plan to source your sex toys. It’s all a connected circle.

Shipping Sex Toys to Customers

Like we said earlier, your customers’ privacy matters above all in this business. And shipping plays a crucial role in maintaining your customers’ privacy.

Customers generally worry about who might get to see their package, whether the packaging has any sensitive information that might reveal the product inside, or whether it will be noticed by their family members. Your shipping must be designed in a way that addresses all these concerns.

Here’s an example of how a discreet shipping package will look.

Here’s a quick checklist for you to follow when you start selling sex toys,

✅Plain outer boxes that don’t reveal any brand names.

✅The sender details should be very minimal.

✅No revealing details about the product inside.

Following these tips will help you ship out products discreetly to customers.

Setting up Customer Support for Your Sex Toy Business

A brand can stand out in many ways, and customer support can be a differentiator for your sex toy business, provided you do it right. But customer support works differently in this sector.

If it were a normal sector, customers would reach out to the business day and night, citing various complaints. But in this industry, customers deeply hesitate to reach out to the business. That’s because they don’t want to reveal their personal details. They fear being judged and prefer to stay anonymous rather than revealing their identity. But despite all this, if someone reaches out, then there is a real concern waiting to be addressed. If these customers are treated smoothly, you’ll rapidly build a loyal customer base.

These are some support channels you can begin with:

• Emails are the primary method of customer support
• Help articles for customers who hesitate to reach out
• Options to track orders automatically
• Contact Us option

Customers’ support must feel easy, human, and private. Make sure the factor isn’t missed out.

Marketing & Growth Strategies for Your Sex Toy Business

Before we discuss the marketing and growth strategies, let’s talk about the challenges first. 

This isn’t a niche where you can run flashy ads and scream sex toys. You have to be subtle here, as many ad platforms restrict this category, impose keyword restrictions, and monitor the creatives posted.

Instead, you can double down on SEO, content marketing, and community building. Educating your audience in this niche brings them one step closer to you and builds their trust in you.

SEO & Content Marketing: Start churning out beginner guides, how-to choose articles, comparison articles, and more. Your content works as an evergreen organic traffic engine, bringing more users and conversions.

Email Marketing: Reach out to your customers now and then to nurture them. Emails are a great way to reach out to your customer privately and maintain the relationship long-term.

Influencer Marketing: You can reach out to relationship coaches, influencers and education-focused creators and build partnerships. This allows you to pool in their audience to your brand, converting traffic from highly relevant sources. 

Paid Ads: While it’s difficult, you can still use paid ads as an accelerator to drive traffic. Make sure to be careful about the language and graphics you use to avoid account termination.

In this niche, it’s all about building a highly trustworthy community. Create educational series and member-only content to constantly keep your circle engaged. Those are some of the ways you can market your sex toy store.

Final Few Words

That’s the complete guide on how to open a sex toy shop on internet!

To sum it up for you, you’re entering a very real, highly-demanded business niche. A sex toy business is purely driven by safety and trust because you’re entering the most intimate space of your customers’ lives.

So, make sure you gain the trust of your customers by maintaining a clear tone, by investing in good products, and by setting up great customer support.

If you keep your customers at heart while making every decision, you’ll be rewarded highly in the long term. And that’s sex toy business for you!