Between tariffs, market restrictions, and overreaching laws to hinder free speech, the sex toy industry is facing challenges that are hitting wallets and livelihoods.
Will you be able to buy a vibrator next year without uploading a video of your face while holding up your driver’s license? Will buying a pretty international dildo mean you have to pay twice the price due to tariffs? Will brands stop shipping to your country because of regional laws with prohibitive requirements for small businesses? These are all very real possibilities—and some restrictions are already in effect.
I can’t see the future or magically find workarounds. But I can share what I know, links to resources, and ways that we can make a better future where we don’t have to face these restrictions. Skip to the bottom for a summarized list.
Note: My perspective is US-centric and consumer-focused. I am not a lawyer and none of this should be taken as legal advice.
Table of Contents
- US Tariffs
- UK VAT Restrictions
- EU General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR)
- EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)
- US Anti-Porn & Age Verification Laws
- Credit Card & Marketplace Restrictions
- Summarized List
- End Notes
US Tariffs
Let’s start with a hot topic right now: Tariffs.
I can’t tell you for sure which tariffs are going to be implemented or when, especially since it’s changing by the day. I literally cannot guarantee that the information here is going to be accurate an hour from now. But I’ll share the info I’ve been able to figure out.
When the US places a tariff on another country, that is an import fee for packages from that country. This fee is billed to the importer when the package goes through customs (unless the tariff was already paid as part of the initial purchase and then marked as paid by the seller). For small companies, it’s most likely they will not pre-bill the tariff, so the bill would be sent to the buyer when the package reaches customs.
The de minimis exemption means that international packages valued under $800 should not be subject to tariffs when arriving into the US. If you buy a $250 dildo or buy $500 worth of fantasy sex toys, you should be fine (for now). But if you go on a $1000 shopping spree, you’re probably going to get a bill.
The de minimis exemption is being removed for China and Hong Kong on May 2. All packages, regardless of amount, will be subject to a tariff. If you were to place an order with a Chinese company like Master4Fancy and it arrived on or after May 2, you would have to pay a tariff of 145% or higher* when customs sends you the bill. (The fee may be lower for items under $800 imported through the mail system. My Master4Fancy package was delivered by a third party that would presumably be subject to the full tariff.)
* 145% + Section 301 tariffs. I believe Section 301 would place an additional 7.5% tariff on dildos, but it depends on the exact code used by the shop and I’m not well versed in Section 301.
The de minimis exemption could be removed at any time for any other country. There’s a flat 10% tariff across the board for countries not otherwise subject to higher tariffs. If you buy a dildo today from Australia and the de minimis exemption is removed tomorrow—because who knows if we’ll get a heads up—you could get a 10% bill when it goes through customs regardless of package value. Tariffs on most countries aren’t nearly as bad as those on China, but when you’ve got expensive toys and expensive shipping, the extra percentage isn’t ideal.
US customers aren’t used to paying fees on packages. I have literally never had to directly pay a tariff, duty, or other kind of import fee on a single package I have ever ordered, toy-related or not, and I’ve ordered a lot. I suspect this is going to be a logistical mess from every angle.
Prices for domestic orders, even for domestically produced dildos, may go up due to an indirect impact from tariffs. Any materials imported into the US are going to be more expensive. This means that the price of packaging, pigments, and silicone could go up, which could translate into higher product prices for customers if US companies cannot absorb the costs. And as the cost of living increases through higher prices at the grocery store and other necessities, small businesses and their customers are going to have more bills to pay, meaning prices could go up and businesses could have a harder time staying afloat.
That’s not to mention sex toys like vibrators or those from mainstream brands which have a lot more involvement with China. Those prices could skyrocket if they haven’t stocked up in advance of the tariffs, and not everything can be produced domestically.
US residents can reach out to their senators and representatives to combat these tariffs. Make your voice heard. Call them. Fax them. Tell them these tariffs are hurting your wallet and hitting small businesses as a tax on Americans in an economy that’s already difficult. Even Republicans will push back on tariffs. Even if your representatives are already voting against tariffs, thank them and ask them to keep it up. Continuous pressure tells them how important this is to their constituents (and, as a result, their mid-term elections).
UK VAT Restrictions
VAT, or value-added tax, is similar to sales tax. For international packages entering the UK which are valued at £135 or less, the business must register for VAT, collect VAT at the point of sale, and maintain records related to VAT, due to a change that took effect in 2021.
This is extra administrative work and record-keeping for the exporting business. Businesses of any size may determine that this is not worth the time or effort in order to sell lower-value packages to UK customers. As a result, some companies, including Bad Dragon, require UK customers to purchase more than £135 worth of goods. Some companies may also avoid selling to the UK at all, but I believe this is rare.
Considering the price of dildos, I can see why companies might decline to do the extra record-keeping. £135 (~$175 USD) is often the cost of 2-3 dildos, maybe with a couple squishies on top. It’s certainly not ideal if all you want is a single dildo or squishies, though, unless your tastes run large.
EU General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR)
The EU’s GPSR, implemented on 13 December 2024, is a list of regulations for businesses and individuals selling or sending to consumers in the EU with the goal of ensuring that only safe products are available on the market. You can read more about what this entails for small creators in this article from Folksy or read the full text here.
Safety is important. We don’t want dangerous sex toys that can cut you or harbor bacteria, or toxic toys made of unsafe materials. Maintaining safety documentation makes sense, even if I don’t quite know what that should look like for a silicone dildo.
However, one of the requirements of GPSR is for sellers to have a representative physically located in the EU. When so many fantasy sex toy companies consist of 1-5 people, that’s straight up not feasible. Many small businesses no longer sell to EU customers because of this.
There are compliance agencies out there that will step in to act as representative. But you’ve got to find one, make sure they’re trustworthy, verify that they are willing to work with sex toy companies, pay the fees, potentially agree to a long-term contract, and make sure they’re large enough to handle PPWR (more on that in the next section). Not all agencies will work with high-risk category companies like sex toys, and not all sex toy companies can afford the fees.
It is my understanding that the EU GPSR applies to almost all products sent to EU consumers (including digital goods and gifts). In my opinion, it’s prohibitively broad and does not sufficiently make room for small businesses or sending gifts to friends.
Companies within the EU also need to meet the requirements. Since they’re already physically located in the EU, that step is much easier to complete.
EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)
Multiple countries within the EU have strict packaging laws. I’m all for greener packaging, but the additional administrative work would put a strain on some companies. For example, the German Packaging Act requires companies to register themselves and their packaging, which also involves recycling fees.
On 12 August 2026, requirements outlined in EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will take effect. On top of ensuring their packaging meets certain requirements, businesses will need to register with every single EU state to which they wish to sell goods (article 44 (2)). They will also need a physical representative in each member state to which they wish to sell goods (article 45 (3)). (Note: Where articles reference PPWR article 40 (2) related to representatives, that is from an older version; the section is now article 45 (3).)
Forget about non-EU companies shipping to the EU; companies already located in the EU won’t be able to sell to their own neighbors without hiring a compliance agency. Maybe it won’t be that bad and compliance agencies will charge affordable fees, but as with GPSR, those fees might get too expensive and those agencies might not all work with adult-oriented businesses.
US Anti-Porn & Age Verification Laws
It’s very understandable to want users accessing an adult website to be adults. However, proposed and implemented laws are overly broad, ineffective, and may not be secure. I’d love to see better filtering options on the internet to delineate adult content vs. broader content, but ID verification is not the safest or most effective way to address it.
Sharing your legal ID online is something to be very careful with. Done incorrectly, it can open you up to identity theft or worse. Asking everyone to upload their ID into some third-party verification resource and connect it to their adult-oriented internet activity doesn’t sound quite as safe as I would like, and it’s the kind of thing that would send people towards sites that don’t comply with the laws.
This impacts more than just porn sites. Texas SB 3003, as an example, would require all businesses selling sex toys to buyers in Texas to verify age using ID. Texas already requires age verification for porn sites, which has been challenged in a case that has gone up to the Supreme Court.
While my focus is sex toys, this is intertwined with sex worker rights, LGBT rights, reproductive rights, and free speech as a whole. What impacts one group will impact another by virtue of being chased after by the same organizations, community overlap, and the root of such censorship. It’s even getting harder to navigate social media with so many things getting censored or shadowbanned. (Thankfully, Bluesky places the experience in the user’s hands without shadowbanning porn (which can be hidden in the settings) or queer content.)
One question that draws an easy link between all of these: How do you define pornography and obscenity? If enforcement of the Comstock Act is broadened, then we could see a prohibition on mailing/shipping porn, reproduction- or abortion-related medication, books with LGBT characters, fanzines—and yes, dildos.
We’re already seen negative impacts on sex workers from SESTA/FOSTA which did more harm than the good it claimed it would. We’re seeing broad censorship of LGBT books, media, and topics due to being labeled obscene or pornographic by virtue of including LGBT topics or characters.
Age-verification laws tend to be state-specific. You can call or fax state legislators to ask them to vote with your interests. Defend Online Privacy makes it easy to send a message to your representatives.
The Free Speech Coalition tracks age verification laws, age verification bills, and has a helpful FAQ about the topic. Their policy position on the topic is thorough and highlights additional concerns and alternative ways to address the topic.
The ACLU, among other organizations, fights for people’s rights and includes information on current events and how to take action. There are state-specific branches that you can follow as well.
Credit Card & Marketplace Restrictions
The groups pushing anti-porn and age verification laws are the same ones pressuring credit card companies not to accept payments related to obscene content. Companies shy away from explicit and adult content as a business risk due to these groups and credit card companies; even OnlyFans said they were banning porn (which they walked back pretty quickly). Etsy, once a highly reputable site where many sex toy makers got their start, now prohibits sex toy sales.
Many indie and fantasy sex toy makers have had to set up their own storefronts since Etsy is no longer available and they need to select sex-toy-friendly payment processors. It’s a little harder to find shops outside of marketplaces, but there are ways to keep in touch.
Marketplaces make it easy to find similar products from multiple brands, which is why Etsy helped indie shops so much. Now, there aren’t any quality marketplaces near that size which will accept sex toy vendors. Buyers are going to end up on places like Amazon where it’s much harder to weed out quality, reputable sex toys from the dropshipped ones. Not only are the materials questionable (what corners are they cutting to get the costs so low?), but a number of dropshipped fantasy sex toy brands rip off designs from other companies, a practice that ends up hurting independent creators.
I’ve seen maybe 2-3 reputable dildo companies selling on Amazon and have never seen a reputable one selling on Aliexpress. These marketplaces seem to boost the biggest sellers and may not be very appealing for indies, especially with so many bloggers and collectors saying never to buy from Amazon.
I can’t blame someone for being tempted by a cheap dildo, especially if prices go up, but I would ask to please consider your health (no one wants a toxic toy) and look for discounts from reputable shops or lower-priced lines first.
Some indie shops are thriving. Others are struggling or have shut down in the wake of Etsy kicking them off the platform. It’s not a great landscape out there with so few viable marketplaces and the risk of further barriers to business. With Amazon being the easy place to browse, indies have to work harder just to be seen.
I haven’t yet seen a viable marketplace that I would be willing to support. I hope that one takes off (or more than one!). I hope that credit card restrictions, age verification laws, and obscenity laws lighten up to allow more freedom. In the meantime, we can support shops in their endeavors, support promising new initiatives in this space, and work towards a better legal landscape.
Summarized List
- US Tariffs: Tariffs will result in an additional bill of at least 10% on international orders coming into the US, which the buyer has to pay. Thanks to the de minimis threshold, this fee only kicks in for packages valued higher than $800. However, de minimis is being removed for China and Hong Kong on May 2, and China has an extremely high tariff. De minimis could be removed for other countries with little to no warning.
- UK VAT Restrictions: Due to administrative difficulty of remitting VAT for low-value packages, some businesses require orders to the UK to be higher than £135 before shipping.
- EU GPSR: Many small businesses and individuals no longer sell to customers in the EU because of a requirement for a representative physically located in the EU.
- EU PPWR: Many small businesses and individuals may no longer sell to some or all EU countries when this is implemented in August 2026 because of administrative work and a requirement for a representative physically located in each EU state to which they wish to ship.
- US Anti-Porn & Age Verification Laws: These laws restrict freedom of speech and approach child safety and sex worker safety in ways that end up hurting more than helping. They are intertwined with anti-LGBT and anti-abortion initiatives.
- For state-specific laws, send your input to your state legislature.
- Credit Card & Marketplace Restrictions: Companies shy away from explicit and adult content as a business risk. It limits where small brands can set up their storefront, making it harder to reach their audience.
End Notes
We’re facing a lot of challenges right now and sex toys are just one piece of a bigger puzzle. I’m optimistic that things can get better. People are fighting for better rights and protections. Despite everything, some small businesses are still finding success and may be able to continue innovating and finding their markets. A lot of countries have local brands that make fantastic products which are available domestically. Even as prices creep higher, there’s still opportunities to find an affordable deal, shops intentionally making lower-priced sex toys, and shops giving back to the community through initiatives like packer donations.
But it’s not going to work out for every small business. Prices are likely to increase and it’s going to be difficult to order dildos into some countries. PPWR in particular worries me in regards to indie toys; if I were in the EU, I’d be making a list of what to buy before August 2026. As for the US, we’ve got to keep pushing back against restrictions on free speech in order to keep sex toys—among other things—legal.
Stay informed, do what you can to make things better, and look out for your neighbors and your rights.
If you have any other helpful resources, please share the links!