Rant: FYP (For Your Pleasure) Sex Toy Parties
So on my facebook page I allowed a friend request from someone that I apparently went to high school with (even though I don’t recall her) because she seemed cool. Like someone I might want to be friends with. Why? Because unlike many of the people I know in my area/state, she openly is sex-positive. Or so I thought. I thought this because she had a side business of at-home sex toy parties of the FYP For Your Pleasure Inc brand.
Basic premise of this and similar others is that you gather up all your little girlfriends and their friends and you giggle over the sex toys. It’s like a Pampered Chef party or a Tupperware party – except it’s sex toys. And if any of you girls (or your wives) have been to anything like this, be it jewelry, kitchen gadgets or food baskets, you know that once you’re there you are subtly pressured in a Stepford Wife way to buy something. The hostess only does well for herself if you all buy stuff. And for the moolah she sinks into these you’d better believe your sweet tookas that you’re gonna get pressured.
Out of curiosity I clicked over from one thing to another to actually happen upon the For Your Pleasure site. After much clicking I ended up at the online store.
I know that many retailers have various pricing and that I happen to be affiliated with ones that are very reasonably priced, but I about fell off my goddamn chair.
At FYP, the Njoy Small Plug is $85.00. At Edenfantasys.com, that plug is $59.99. At FYP the Njoy Fun Wand (fuckers don’t even CARRY the Pure Wand) is $115.00 vs EF which is $87.99. Tantus Goliath? $82.00 at For Your WalletRape er I mean For Your Pleasure, and $59 at EdenFantasys. For Your Pleasure also charges tax no matter where you are located – other retail sites only charge tax if you are in the state they are in. FYP has no offers of free or reasonable shipping charges. I placed a dummy order of $75 and the shipping was $9. EF gives free UPS ground on orders over $59 or free overnight on orders over $100.
I know that at these FYP sex toy parties, the hostess doesn’t have products to let people take home right then and there so they DO have to pay the tax and shipping. They’re bullied and pressured into buying something before they can have time to go look for a better deal elsewhere or a more pleasing color. I’d be willing to bet my left tit that the hostesses of these parties NEVER talk about phthalates and using condoms on toys.
I know that when I was in New York in November I also had a hard time keeping my mouth shut about the prices in the one sex toy shop we went into. Granted it was a MUCH better place than the ratty gross skeeve-dives here in my area but they were no Babeland brick-n-mortar – that shop was at least run by women and felt non threatening – probably because of the lack of Live Nood Gurls. Anyways, while it was cool to see all these toys I’ve only ever seen online live and in person, I also knew that they were overpriced. I am no savant with numbers but I could vaguely recall prices of Lelo toys and knew they were upselling by $20.
I’ve been invited to a sex toy party here once run by a coworker’s friend and I politely declined with a prior commitment excuse – because I knew I wouldn’t buy anything and I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut about the jelly rubber and the CalExotics garbage and the exorbitant pricing. To say how I knew these things I’d have to admit to a couple of things that I don’t feel like letting those people in on. So I figured it was better that I don’t go.
I don’t know how to spread the word better about these goddamn parties, but maybe if enough of us reviewers write up a post on it, the search engines will eventually point a few untrained housewives and corporate powerhouses to our post before they get suckered into these gigglefest “buy a cute little bunny to put in your kitty!” travesties. I could probably be a lot more eloquent about this and give even more information and examples but I’m honestly just too ticked off right now.
So if you are an internet searcher who came here via this post? PLEASE don’t be shy about emailing me or IM’ing me to ask about toys. I will be more than happy to educate you and help you.
So true. I went to one once. It was also incredibly heterosexist. They gave us penis erasers.
I’ve just been invited (and have declined to go) to a party similar to this. I knew I didn’t want to go regardless of what they were selling but checked out their catalog anyway. Junk. And a lot of “sexy” games to play. Ugh. I’m sure those sex games are good for someone but certainly not for me. I told a handful of my close girlfriends that if they were really interested in buying toys that I would give them some suggestions. You can bet that anything I suggest will be body safe, well reviewed, and from a reputable company.
I noticed that my local Babeland store is having a free event next month where they’ll be hosting a tasting of local chocolates with aphrodisiac ingredients. I asked a few friends if they would be interested in going with me. I promised them it would be WAY more fun than a home sex toy party. :-)
Several of the women I work – I’m a Male Nurse – with went to one of those not too long ago. One of the women, happened to be 18 years old, and for some reason sees me as a big brother she can tell ANYTHING too. She told me she’d bought her 1st toys there. I almost fell over when she told me what she’d spent on 3 toys that she had to wait 2-3wks to get hold of, I told her she should have waited like I’d told her, and I would have taken her to (um.. if you live in the general area of PA where Lilly & myself happen to, you know the name of the place) and she could have gotten her 3 toys for 1/2 the price and had them right away.
I’ve since forwarded a few links from your reviews Lilly to her. If she’s going to have to wait 2-3wks for something, it might as well be worth it!
~ Actually if she lives in our area, even if she selects UPS ground at Edenfantasys, she’ll likely have it the next day. UPS ground from NJ/NY/CT is essentially next day here. But also I don’t know which place you’re talking about! I only know of the creepy ew ones on Rt 15.
You have just described the difference (and problems) between Multi-level-Marketing (MLM) and affiliate marketing. In affiliate marketing, an individual – such as you – can recommend, refer, suggest items from various manufacturer sites they have an affiliation with. Essentially, Lilly serves as a remote sales rep and receives a commission or similar for sales. The customer wins (assuming the affiliate is good), Lilly wins (commission earned) and the company gains more sales.
MLMs on the other hand, such as Amway, Avon, Juice Plus, Primerica, and others are really legalized pyramid schemes. Independent, unsalaried salespeople of multi-level marketing, referred to as distributors (or associates, independent business owners, dealers, franchise owners, sales consultants, consultants, independent agents, etc.), represent the company that produces the products or provides the services they sell. They are awarded a commission based upon the volume of product sold through their own sales efforts as well as that of their downline organization. (from Wikipedia.com)
MLM distributors often have incentives to sell certain products (e.g. special deals) and some can set a level of pricing or margin/profit. Not all MLM is bad, of course, but one must be aware of the nature of the MLM business when buying!
BTW – this is an opportunity for me to put a plug in for Lilly: She is a wonderful, knowledgeable, and caring sales rep. I have personally purchased from her, am very pleased with what she has done, and highly recommend her as a top-notch source for your adult toy purchases.
Disclaimer: Lilly does not pay me nor compensate me in any way, shape or form. These views are mine alone, based on my experiences as a consumer. B.E.G
~ lol, thank you for the praise ;)
MLM makes my head hurt, I’d never be able to pull off doing one of those, too much work, heh.
I have to completely agree. Not all parties are quite as bad. I am going to be doing some BDSM toy parties in the future with my BDSM group, and I’m kinda looking forward to it. The thing is just that you have to find the right company and the right hostess. I do agree that most of them are just crap though.
Hmm…well, I will say this: it depends on the company hosting the party. I’ve been to two sex toy parties. One was incredibly bad, like what you are describing. The other was SO much fun, and the rep was extremely good at her job. She did talk about the concerns associated with certain materials, there were tons of products to demo (think creams and lubes, not a dirty old vibe that everyone was trying in the bathroom), and it was just…a really fun atmosphere. I also didn’t feel any pressure to buy – but I did, and she had what I wanted in stock, in her suitcase, so I could just take it home. Maybe it was a bit overpriced, but then, you’re paying for the experience of the party as well.
So, I think it goes both ways. Sex toy parties can be extremely fun, but it depends on the company and the rep, like Kayla said.
Talk about a rip off on price. I got invited to one of those parties a long time ago. I am glad I didn’t go.
“For Your WalletRape er I mean For Your Pleasure”
^ Thanks for making me joke on my jawbreaker.
Erm, that should’ve said CHOKE. Go me.
Ohh i love it when you get all Ms. consumer advocate about sex toys and parties. Somehow strangely that turns me on. ;)