Only a couple of months ago, we started building Konfettie, a marketplace for body-safe, adult products. Who are we exactly? Shortest explanation: We are the Sexy Etsy filled with artisan sex toys and more. Even though Konfettie is still in the start-up phase, we already went from 0 to live in a short period. Here's our story so far.

Initially, we were looking for a platform that would fit our adult product. What struck us was the immense amount of low-quality adult products and brands to be found online. Companies that got stuck in the 90', sex toys being sold as novelty items, labels were stating body-safe while not being body-safe at all, and a massive amount of tacky stock photos. 

Sex toys are labeled as handmade while they have been bought from websites such as Wish or AliExpress. These items are indeed not handmade. The only purpose is to resell these low-quality adult products. Do these resellers even know what they are selling? They don't have a clue! Moreover, they don't care. 

 

How one image motivated us

One image that worked as an accelerator for Konfettie was the image of a realistic wolf dildo next to a kid's sippy cup leash on a competitor's marketplace. Unfortunately, this shopping experience is just wrong. Would you like to buy a dildo while also shopping for your baby? No thanks! 

The more research we did, the more evidence we found that there are lots to improve for the vendors and the shopping experience for consumers. 

 

Dungeon days

Many websites selling sex toys are hardcore kinky, using the standard colors black and red and photos of women with unrealistic body types. We thought there must be people who have never seen a sex dungeon from the inside but are curious about products related to BDSM and different kinds of kink-play.

People who are interested in unique and high-quality products that are branded accordingly to the 21st century. 

 

How to find body-safe products?

We then discovered that many cool brands are selling body-safe items while competing against low quality, low safety, and low value (re-)sellers, all on the same platform? 

Our thoughts were: how will customers find suitable body-safe toys that match their curiosity when these websites are flooded with shitty products? To make matters worse, we discovered that most people were not even aware that body-safe products are indeed a choice. And an important one, for that matter.

Market challenges

Censorship for adult businesses is harsh online. Marketplaces keep their policies unclear, which leads to shops not obeying the rules and, as a result having to shut down—leaving them with a loss of income.  

Another contributor to this unfair situation is caused by users who are shocked to find adult products on their beloved chaste marketplace. What happens? They report these adult shops because they do not like the content leaving these adult businesses in the cold. 

Our conclusion: people searching for a new knitting pattern don't want dildos popping up on their screen. 

Does this mean Konfettie accepts everything and everyone? Certainly not! It is still our job to make sure our visitors feel safe and comfortable when shopping with us. Hence the fact that we check every vendor before we allow them to sell.

 

If you don't know, now you know.

We were shocked when we found out that the sex toy industry is unregulated. After that, we started ordering items from various websites only to find out they were toxic, porous, or both. In short: some toys are harmful to the body, or the material is porous, which means you will be unable to clean them. 

We were already confused about all the material names and the flat-out dishonest marketing messages. So Konfettie has to step up and inform consumers about body-safe sex toys. And we love to do this! 

 

Talk before you can walk

The most valuable information came from talking to companies that were selling solely body-safe and high-quality adult products. So we took a deep dive into marketplaces and how they work and continued to expand our knowledge and network in the sex toy industry. After talking to almost 100 sellers from all different countries and in all sorts of categories like pegging, erotic art, dildos, butt plugs, whips, and more, our mission became clear: Design the body-safe standard.

Design the body-safe standard

Konfettie is more than just a website. Together with our founding sellers and all the sellers who will join us shortly, we are designing the body-safe standard. How exactly? By exclusively approving vendors that meet our criteria: only body-safe materials, high-quality items, the ability to do custom work is a plus. Of course, branding has to be on point so that every person feels welcome at Konfettie. 

Only the best body-safe products are welcome, and we take pride in the fact that we curate 100% of our sellers and will continue to do so. We will continue to keep curating all of our sellers as this is not negotiable. It became evident when a potential investor said he would invest in Konfettie only if we would drop the body-safe proposition. No deal!

We continuously discover new research about body safety and share this information with you and our sellers. Body safety is our priority. You might even say it is the reason Konfettie exists. 

 

It starts with believing

Furthermore, we feel exhilarated that our initiative has been welcomed with open arms by sex toy creators and creators of high-quality adult products. They believe in designing the body's safe standard as much as we do. 

Why do the people behind the companies selling at Konfettie believe this? Selling toxic and porous products is not an option for them. 

Our sellers love to help customers find their desired adult product, whether it's a pegging harness, a custom artisan dildo, or a collar engraved in it with the name of a lover. 

Most of our sellers started their adult business because they could not find body-safe toys or items themselves. And because of their passion and resilience, they have been able to build a company around it.

 

Our ideal customer? A curious one!

Today they share their products worldwide with customers from all over the globe. One of the best parts of Konfettie is that the website is accessible for everyone. So are you vanilla with a twist? Perhaps you are living a 24/7 Dom/submissive lifestyle? Are you single and into fantasy toys? Or in a relationship looking for a way to spice things up? 

The only thing that all the people mentioned above have in common is: they are curious. And that is all that's necessary to enjoy Konfettie. 

 

Partner up to grow 

Within a couple of months, Konfettie went from just a registration at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce to two screens in an office at the leading tech-hub of Rotterdam 42 Workspace. In addition, we partnered up with a fast-growing digital agency called Varias. 

Since then, Konfettie has been amazed by how much open-minded people want to work together with us. 

 

Success ahead

Our critical source of truth is the sellers that sell the unique adult products on Konfettie. They have dealt with many other websites and marketplaces that did not cater to their needs and treat them as legitimate businesses. 

They help us with building this marketplace by providing us with their brutally honest feedback. Only then can we grow. 

It will be a long journey from start-up to scale-up, and not everything will be perfect from the beginning. But as long as we keep talking to our sellers and customers, we are confident that together we will change this industry for the better.

 

Thank you, Covid and Netflix

Because of the pandemic, the consumer has become more frisky! Lockdowns have left us more willing to experiment with our sexuality. Singles and couples feel the desire to explore their sexuality more often and with new products. 

 

And with so many stuck at home, they spent a lot of their time on Netflix. They are doing a fantastic job airing shows like Sex Education, Bonding, and much more inclusive and informative series and showing enormous audiences that toys, kinks, and fetishes are for everyone to enjoy. 

 

Commonplace 

In our experience, sex toys are now commonplace. People are discussing sex toys with friends, partners, family. Some even discuss sex toys at the lunch table during work. Sex toy businesses are legitimate, supportable, and acceptable.

 

That is why we will not refer to this industry as still being a taboo topic. Listen to the famous Sade song if you insist on hearing the word. However, it does not suit this industry for any purpose anymore. 

 

Last but not least

We hope you will follow Konfetties' journey from start-up to scale up and support our mission: Designing the body-safe standard. 

You will support Konfettie and the growing number of sellers that put their heart and soul into their products. They value your safety and go above and beyond in providing you with custom orders and body-safe toys. 

Supporting these sellers means saying YES to your safety and YES to celebrating, whether it's your curiosity, fetish, or sexuality. 

With curious regards, 

Emilie 

Founder and CEO Konfettie 

PS: Since we are a start-up we appreciate every feedback you, as a user, give us. Feel free to contact us to let us know what we can improve to create a better experience for you!