Buying Sex Supplies For The Bedroom: Just Like Buying Cereal?

Some of the joys of this job are to try out some products before writing about them. When I was able to receive over $400.00 of sex toys in the mail, it was a big ol' gay Christmas, Hanukkah, Arbor Day celebration in my house. My roommates joked that I would be hibernating in my room "doing research." That's just false! Some of them had to be used in the shower, too. But I did share my results in What Are The Best Sex Toys For Beginners?

Would I have bought these toys in a shop? Maybe not. And it's not because I am frugal, but it may be because of a little shyness. Let me elaborate.

I was at the local Publix one day and me, being frugal was looking at the "buy one – get one free" (BOGO) deals on cereals. I sometimes pace back and forth, seeing if there are some brands that are offering a BOGO. This day, I was walking back and forth and saw a young, cute, sexy, omg, blond guy doing the same. I shocked myself and blurted out to him, "are you looking for good BOGOs, too?" That was the beginning of a nice conversation, but once he found his desired cheap ass cereal, I watched his mighty fine ass walk away.

It was a great experience and I was happy I said hello. You see a lot of pretty people in Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale, but this guy was beyond wow and appeared to be very nice on the inside, too. That is hard to find. Little did I know, I would see him about a week later, but in a different kind of store. I NEVER go into the sex stores on Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors, Florida. Well, not never, but I've lived here for three years and have been in one twice. As I was poking around with a platonic friend at the Justin Bieber sex doll and the rear end exploratory devices of the massive kind, who should walk in, but that mighty fine piece of a man. I of course eaves dropped as to what he was looking for. He needed a new end piece for his shower wand. YAY! He likes to prepare and be clean. My mind went everywhere but mainly back to, well, one part of his body in particular and the product he was looking for that night.

He quickly and confidently purchased and left. I and my platonic friend finished our browsing, poking, pointing, giggling, didn't purchase anything, and left, never to see the blond beauty again.

Now granted, a starting a chat about Apple Jacks is a little different than striking up a conversation about an anal probing wand / shower attachment. But if I had approached in the sex shop, maybe we would have been eating that BOGO cereal together the next morning. I need to take that chance next time. But if you are reading this, blond mr clean, hit me up.

Why are we like that in sex stores, especially when we are in there and we actually need something like lube and condoms? Are you shy about where you buy sex toys, supplies, goodies? You may not be alone. New survey results from SuperDrug Online Doctor tell us so.

Sexual health shopping is something nearly everyone who is sexually active has done, so why are people still so embarrassed by it? To find out, … SuperDrug Online Doctor surveyed over 2,000 people, asking them how they felt when they purchased sexual health-related items over the counter. Some surprising findings:

Gay and bisexual people are more likely than straight people to shop for contraceptives farther away from home to avoid running into familiar faces.

80% of women feel "awkward," "embarrassed," or "anxious/nervous" about buying condoms and other contraception compared to 72% of men agree.

Middle aged people (45 to 54) are most likely to go without contraception to avoid facing the cashier.

Men are most afraid of buying contraceptives from a young woman. Women on the other hand, fear buying them most from someone they know.

Yes, the study focused on contraception, but we're thinking the results may be similar if sex toys were on the survey.

You can head over to see all of the findings from the original study here. I'm a visual learner, so I've included some of the charts. For more verbiage, head over to onlinedoctor.superdrug.com, Buying For The Bedroom: A look at sexual health shopping, but the graphs do provide a wealth of information. Click on images for a larger view.