The weeks of social distancing are dragging on. We see our friends on Zoom, and treat our Hinge matches like we're in some Austenian courtship.
After a while, though, video chats and sexts just don't cut it. Many of us turn to masturbating to not only to relieve our newfound horniness (even for a brief time), but also just to give us something to do. Even New York City knows that: In the city government's handout about having sex during this time, it says that, "You are your safest sex partner."
Given endless boredom and loneliness and New York City's blessing, we are buying sex toys. Lots of sex toys — so much so that the industry is booming.
Sex toy site Adam & Eve, which claims to be the #1 adult toy superstore, has seen a sales spike of over 30% each day for the past week (over numbers from 2019), according to their spokesperson. Some top-sellers include the Satisfyer Pro 2 vibrator, Adam & Eve's g-spot vibrator, and Adam & Eve's rabbit vibrator.
The spike may not just be from singles, either. In fact, another one of the site's top sellers right now are couple rings. We all have more time on our hands, including couples quarantining together — so more the opportunity to buy a new sex toy. Adam & Eve's resident sex therapist, Dr. Jenni Skyler gave Mashable three tips for couples during this time: make a short term list of goals; enlist a daily check-in; and to actually have sex.
It's not just superstores seeing a sales bump from self-isolation, either.
From the first week of March to the second, Emojibator saw a 225 percent increase in overall sales (which includes wholesale, Amazon, and online stores), and a 345 percent increase in online store sales alone. They also sold out two of their signature toys, the original Eggplant Emojibator and their dual clitoral-suction vibrator The Chickie.
"The demand for our products have skyrocketed this past week, in part due to everyone stocking up on their favorite stay-at-home activities with Coronamania," said Emojibator co-founder and CMO Kristin Fretz in an emailed statement. Before people in the U.S. began to self-quarantine, they already felt the coronavirus impact in terms of longer shipment wait times, but they were able to restock without significant delays.
"Exploring your pleasure is really a great way to feel alive during this strange time."
Dame Products reported a 30 percent increase in sales since February, seeing spikes in certain major cities like New York and Los Angeles. "So many aspects of our daily life that make us feel human are not accessible right now," Alexandra Fine, CEO and co-founder of Dame, told Mashable. "Exploring your pleasure is really a great way to feel alive during this strange time. More pleasure means better sleep, less stress, and overall improved wellbeing."
To keep up with demand, Emojibator will debut limited-edition styles for their toys in the upcoming weeks. Fretz said, "With the same brand of shame-free wellness our brand was built on, we have been encouraging customers to stay in for a night of self-love to help avoid the pandemic!”
Fine said that starting today, Dame will donate one percent of its sales to the Food Bank of New York to aid those in need at this time. "While our special brand of 'in-home entertainment' is proving to be quite popular at the moment," she said, "we know there’s much more we can do to help people weather this storm."
