As the title suggests, it can be a walk in store, online, a friend/SO introduction, or end use.
Only ever been online and it’s been great. Too shy irl.
As for end use…. It’s a little more complicated. I started with toys similar to one, and two fingers in circumference (2.25 & 3.50); and those are great; no muss, no fuss…. But, i wanna muss… (Cree for coitus)
then for the next one, I used “average sizes per country” (went with Canada) as a baseline; and boy, was. that. a. lot… 5 in cir, and I only got the head in (generalized it by going to the closest whole or half). The 4.50 arrived a bit ago, and it’s doable… though, still have to think sadly; thus cannot let go mentally. So, I’m guessing that somewhere between 3.75-4.25 would be the perfect fit (metaphorically & literally).
And on the bright side, if I ever get up to those sizings, they’ll already be there; though, I’m staring at them like because damn…. Things made me feel simultaneously inadequate and euphoric. the euphoria being because I remember one of my friends saying “you have an overgrown clit” which weirdly helped.
Maybe i’m the exception to the norm but I saw something that looked good, picked it up, walked to the counter and paid. Shopkeeper put my new battery-operated boyfriend in a liftle paper bag for me- I think he was more embarrassed than I was!
I watched “that” episode of Sex and the City and just knew I wanted a rabbit as similar to Charlotte’s as possible .
This was back in the 90s, way before online shopping existed. So, I took myself off to that “UK well known high street store” and bought my first toy, which was a pink rabbit powered by AA batteries. I loved that bunny very much for many years, until it’s death.
The experience of buying it in the shop was absolutely fine. I went in knowing what I wanted (as, I suspect, did a lot of other girls who’d watched the same tv episode recently!) and the shop staff were very pleasant, not making anything embarrassing. I did transfer it to sharing an opaque clothes store shopping bag before walking around town and travelling home, though.
Early 80’s a certain Sunday newspaper…a hard cream plastic vibrator with a “dial” at the end where the batteries went in to control the speed of the very “buzzy” thing…didn’t do anything much sexually as it was so hard it hurt more than gave any pleasure…
Thank goodness (in sexual toy case anyhow) for technology.
Similar experience, 80’s from a certain chain in Blackpool. Horrible, hard plastic flesh coloured, dial at the base rocket shaped vibrator. Batteries never seemed to last long either!
Then stuff from the back of The News of the World, always tacky and over priced!
Back in the late 70s , the only place was usually a porn shop . Magazines , costumes and videos . As @CurvyJilly and @WillC said , the vibrator in pink with a dial on the end and old school batteries often last just long enough for her to almost have an orgasm . However the first one I bought was fairly firm , but had a weird latex ? skin . For us gentlemen , about the only thing they had was novelty prophylactics . Oddly I remember a buddy bought one with a chicken head on it . Later he and his girlfriend told of it being put to use and the head came off . They said it took a good 20 minutes to retrieve it . Lingerie was ALL , very poorly made . Where we live , a much better local shop opened up and had the best quality products and carried a better selection of VHS porn . They even had sexy underwear for us guys ! Years later I found out my buddy’s wife’s friend and another lady started it around 1980 . They continued and expanded and made a good living . It was called Lover’s Package . I think there might still be a couple of their stores . Online pretty much killed the mom and pop’s brick and mortar store , like a million other small businesses . I wonder how much money I have spent on sex toys and lingerie ? I probably do not want to know . I think quality rechargeable batteries built in has been one of the best advancements .
I remember the short lived Hustler Megastore in Birmingham in the late 90’s if i remember correctly, very poor quality and very expensive. Didn’t last long!
Also buying videos from ads on the back of Sunday papers!
Agreed. I got the Romp Dash as a freebie in one of my orders. And… should’ve bought that when I reached a certain point of being on E years ago.
Doctors and elder trans women say you shouldn’t use your hands to wank after you reach that point. After the second time it happened, lesson learnt.
The saying “to beat ones meat” took on a new literal meaning… it lightly puffed out for about a half day: I’ve heard other stories, and I “got off” easy in comparison.
Sounds a lot like the back of a Spencer’s. Cheap toys, ridiculous markup. Never actually went back there, though, I could tell by a quick glance what you’d be getting. To be fair, think those were more so gag gifts more than anything.
I also had the horrible beige plastic vibrator with the twisty dial and the massive battery. Way too hard and uncomfortable, it never managed to make me orgasm at all.
My first experience was at a ‘party’ and I got a little gold bullet. I thought it was the best thing ever, and used it to within an inch of its life, until I discovered the rabbit.
My partner’s first toy purchase was actually just recently. He got himself a penis pump and a set of cock rings. We’ve been trying to spice things up a bit recently and now have a drawer full of items. Things we both like, things we like on our own and things we like to use on each other.
My first toy was a little bullet from a competitor shop in the early 2000’s. I was nervous and intimidated by the shop but my BF convinced me to go in whilst he milled around the outside like a weirdo. I was hooked on toys from the first time I used it. It was always little bulllets until a several years later when I finally got a rabbit and that was a game changer for me!
First purchase was mail order from a porn mag, and yes, it was hard plastic with a speed adjusting dial on the base.
It started us on the sex toy journey though and the next purchase was from an adult shop. I bought some lingerie and asked the chap at the counter if they sold vibrators. He called his wife over (it was a small husband and wife business) and she took me into a side room with where I was confronted with a wall of vibrators. She must have sensed my nervousness as she proceeded to talk me through the options and asked my OH’s preferences.
Much easier now with Lovehoney on line, but I did enjoy that personal service
I forgot to mention , several times I went to brick and mortar stores , Lover’s Package they tried to hire me . I guess my ease at talking about sexual stuff and my easy going demeanor and knowledge that they thought I could make them some money . However when I told them that they would have to beat Boeing’s wages and benefits because I was a machinist , they seemed a bit deflated . The other problem is I would probably never get a paycheck , because I would buy too much stuff .
I got a classic lady finger from a local joke shop and the rest was history, after 8 of so years lovehoney appeared and I joined the orgasm army (the original forums) since then I have three suitcases of toys at my disposal
(Cree for coitus)
(generalized it by going to the closest whole or half). The 4.50 arrived a bit ago, and it’s doable… though, still have to think sadly; thus cannot let go mentally. So, I’m guessing that somewhere between 3.75-4.25 would be the perfect fit (metaphorically & literally).
because damn…. Things made me feel simultaneously inadequate and euphoric. the euphoria being because I remember one of my friends saying “you have an overgrown clit” which weirdly helped.
.
