Sex Toys: A thriving online business in Nigeria.

It is usually assumed that anything that has to do with sex definitely catches attention, thus any sex-inclined business thrives. Sex toy shops are no exception to the rule. Ironically peddling such trade on the internet attracts more patronage than having a physical shop.

It was discovered that there were two major reasons why people opted for the online mode of doing the business. The first is the mentality of Nigerians towards anything that has to do with sex.

It was learnt that an average Nigerian would feel uneasy entering such stores and would not want to be seen in such places. Another problem is the regulatory activities of the National Agency For Food,  Drugs Administration and Control. Running a sex toy store goes hand-in-hand with selling sex enhancing products. These products have to be certified by NAFDAC. And in order to avoid such stress, some people opt for the online channel.

Mrs. Bukola Fawole, Managing Director of www.viewden.com, said that when she started the business, she first got a shop at Surulere, Lagos but she had to pack up about two years ago due to low patronage.

While operating the shop, she sold both sex toys and sex enhancers.

She stated that despite the choice location of the shop, it was not an advantage for her sex toy business as people who had the ‘balls’ to come into the shop often window-shopped.

“People did not come to buy our products. I closed the shop when a friend of mine advised me that it was better to take my goods and services online. The few people that entered the shop always came in the guise of buying enhancers but by the time they left the shop, they usually left with either a vibrator or any other sex toy. That happened rarely like one out of a hundred,” she said.

Investigation showed that aside her online shop, there are about 20 other online stores making good money from the trade while the physical stores for the sex toys in a state like Lagos, the commercial nerve-centre of Nigeria, are not up to 10.

One instance of visiting a sex toy:The sex toy store was quite small and could easily be described as a cubicle. From outside, one could hardly know that it is a sex toy shop but upon entering the shop, one would be greeted by the range of products on display; from the vibrators to the various range of sex enhancers. The products are properly arranged on a glass shelf.

On the left were different types of vibrating dildos which women use. The top shelf had what Wunmi, the sales girl, said was the most sought after dildo in the shop, a huge nine-inch black fibre-skin dildo which is worth N40,000.

The shop had been in existence for over five years and Wunmi stated that the toy that did not move off the shelf fast enough is the two-in-one dildo. The concept of the dildo is for a woman to insert one part in her vagina and the other in her anus.

The enhancement products also varied from buttocks enlargement creams to that which could reduce the buttocks size. Enhancements were also available for men as there were those to reduce or enlarge the penis either temporarily or permanently.

Wunmi also corroborated Fawole’s claim that it paid to have an online store as opposed to a physical one. She stated that aside banishing low patronage, rent issues would no longer come in.

Fawole further stated that when she listened to her friend and went online with her toys, she had 120 per cent positive result. She said she was overwhelmed with the kind of clientele she has built just  over two years.

She said that about 90 per cent of those who placed orders were men who either  got the toys for their wives or girlfriends . She said that men usually procured sex enhancers for themselves.

Giving an age range of customers, she said that men were usually between 35 and 75 years. “I even have customers who are 80 years old,” she added.

Citing an example, Fawole said, “I have customers who are 80 years old. There was a time an 80 year old man came to me to say that he wanted to enlarge his penis. I was tempted to ask why he needed it for but I minded my own business. I have had 75-year-old men placing orders to get vibrators.”

It was also gathered that size matters a lot while purchasing the sex toys, with most clients, the bigger the better.

Another online sex toy operator who did not want to be mentioned stated that most ladies like it massively big. He stated that most times when men order penal extension- like a detachable penis- the sizes are usually big.

He explained that the penal extension is used mostly by men with weak erection. Some doctors upon seeing that a man has a weak erection ask them to see a sex therapist who in turn recommends penal extension.

“There was a time a man came to place an order for a fibre-skin penal extension. He said he wanted 12 inches. I was really shocked because when I saw that of 10 inches, I was surprised. There are two types of penal extensions, the fibre-skin which has a human feel quite close to the skin and we also have the PVC which is a mixture of rubber and plastic,” he said.

Fawole who is also a certified sex therapist, gave reasons why people buy sex toys. She said that most times, they want to experiment new forms of sexual play because all their lives, they had been doing the same thing which could lead to boredom.

The sex therapist said, “A sex toy is a toy, like a vibrator for instance and it does what the penis cannot do. There are several sex toys like the finger toys, tongue toys; bandages like whips, chains, handcuffs, etc. A lot of couples have boring sex lives and from my years of counselling, we have learnt that most divorces start from the bed. About 95 per cent of men do not know about sex. They think it is just to go in and come out without foreplay. If you start with a toy like cock ring that rubs the woman’s clitoris during sex, it helps the woman to reach orgasm. It has been researched that about 92 per cent of women all over the world cannot reach orgasm with ordinary penis during sex, including me. A man needs to do other things and that is where the sex toys come to play.”

Fawole also explained that sex toys are sometimes prescribed by doctors for some medical reasons. “Some people are advised medically to opt for sex toys. There is the instance of a virgin who found it difficult to break her hymen. She was advised by a doctor to get a vibrator for the process. I also know of somebody that was advised by a doctor abroad to get a vibrator because she had fibroid. Widows who do not want to go into any relationship buy these sex toys too,” she said.
















By Ademola Olonilua