Selling into the Adult Products Industry

December 1, 2005 7:31 AM

What's the best distribution strategy for selling a new product into the U.S. adult products market?

This will be a manufactured good, along the lines of a dildo. It is not pornography.

Is my best strategy to sell directly to retailers? Or are there reputable wholesale distributors who can get this out to a gazillion more retailers than I would be able to reach directly? What's the typical markup at each step along the way?

I would appreciate pointers to specific companies and industry resources more than generic business advice.

This will be a part-time gig for me. I'm not interested in marketing directly to consumers, building a retail web site, taking out ads, etc. I want to go through existing retail channels. Because of the manufacturing process, I need to sell 1,000+ units for it to be worth my while.

I'm confident that the product is good and is not currently available. But I need to understand more about the channel(s) for getting it out there.

posted by alms to work & money (4 comments total)

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posted by spooksie at 9:00 AM on December 1, 2005

I'd target the sex-positive online retailers first, because they'd probably be the shortest route to volume -- I suspect they'd have the flexibility to bring in a new product that they're excited about and promote it well. (They do that for other products all the time.) If they're not interested in going direct they'd be able to point you to their wholesale folks, at least. Talk to Good Vibrations, Blowfish, Toys in Babeland (which I guess is just "Babeland" now), and maybe Stockroom if it's at all BSDM-ish.
posted by mendel at 9:26 AM on December 1, 2005

Disclosure: I make and sell products independently, but not adult-themed products.

Have you tried getting appointments with local adult retailers? This works especially well with independent owners. Cold calls are tough, but you can get a lot done with face-to-face meetings. In my experience, markup is usually 40%-60%. I don't have experience with wholesalers, but it might be a better idea to start small with a few stores so you can have a few sales figures before going to a larger distributor.
posted by Alison at 9:32 AM on December 1, 2005

Oddly enough I'm coming at this from the other side of the equation. I want to be a retailer. I'd go for the distributors. It's so hard for retailers to keep track of all the new products out there, especially so when they have no "representation" through a major distributor.

Get yourself a copy of the Adult Novelty Business magazine. There are several very reputable distributors around. One of the biggest and best known is Doc Johnson.

Good luck and by all means, keep me in the know.
posted by FlamingBore at 10:32 AM on December 1, 2005