Flutterby™! : Patriotic Purchases

Patriotic Purchases

2001-10-10 16:41:30+00 by TC 6 comments

on Oct. 20, a 14-inch, red-white-and-blue "Star Spangled Rammer" dildo will go on sale at sex shops across the nation, with proceeds benefiting relief efforts.

[ related topics: Good Vibrations Humor Erotic Sexual Culture ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:32:57+00 by: Dan Lyke

Sssshhh. Don't let the folks over at Divine Interventions hear about this or they just might make one...

#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:32:57+00 by: TC

Nope they are working for the other side with the "Allah the Way" dildo set to hit the market about the same time :)

#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:32:59+00 by: DaveP

Actually, this reminds me of an application I'd love to have the time to build.

If you look at Best Web Buys, you'll notice they do comparison shopping online for books, CDs, DVDs, video tapes, etc.

But nobody does comparison shopping for sex-toys, and it'd be nice to be able to find the cheapest price there, too.

Anyone else feel like spending some time on the programming needed?

#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:32:59+00 by: Dan Lyke

My problems are two-fold:

There seem to be so many variations that a straight-across comparison is often meaningless. I mean, sure, it's possible to say "who's got the lowest price on the Hitachi Magic Wand", but once you get outside of the big vibrators, toys aren't really a commodity.
I'm reluctant to assist in the commodification of everything. Even though Pleasures of the Heart in San Rafael is brightly lit and well stocked, I still end up at Good Vibrations over in Berkeley because of their smaller selection, and my impression that the sales staff is... er... intimately... familiar with the product line and therefore can make better recommendations. I'm willing to pay extra for that.

Besides which, a good portion of the rest of this problem can be reduced to comparison shopping between hardware stores, and I don't think it's price-competitive to buy that sort of thing online. Ace is the place with the helpful hardware, man. Or at least the ropes and screw-eyes and...

#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:33:00+00 by: DaveP

Point well taken, but I'd like to offer a comparison. I shop for science-fiction books at a small place called DreamHaven here in Minneapolis, for the same reasons you shop at Good Vibes or Ace. I still buy books online too, though. I don't think doing one precludes the other.

I think one of the big things that lets Best Web Buys exist is the fact that all the retailers they comparison-shop have affiliate programs, and they've got to be making money off the referrals. I would bet that's their business model, in fact. Some of the online toy stores have affiliate programs, so that part of the equation works.

There are some products that you're not going to need a recommendation for. For example, you may have a favorite brand of condom. That's a commodity, and I'd be surprised if you can't find a better price online than you can by walking into a retailer. Shipping costs might be an issue for small quantities, but that's offset somewhat by the benefit of being able to shop from home and have a plain-brown package delivered to your door.

On the other hand, some items may require more umm... consultation before purchase. Maybe the answer for those is to set up some sort of recommendation and review server.

I don't know. It's an idea I've bounced around with some local friends, and I'm fleshing it out as I go.

#Comment made: 2002-02-21 05:33:00+00 by: TC

Dave if you ever get out to the Bay Area you should buy Dan a cup of coffee and ask him about the repeatedly shelved wwww.thecucumber.com project that we always agree would be a hoot and good use for spare programming cycles but we never seem to have those "spare cycles" to start it.