FAQ · Procurement · Compliance
What buyers ask before the first order
67 straight answers on MOQ, reorder minimums, samples, lead times, volume pricing, exclusivity, certifications, payment and shipping — written for importers, distributors and private-label brand owners. The short version: MOQ 300 units mixed across all 25 models, reorder from 200, samples in 3–5 business days, production in 25–35 days, and a 12-month warranty on every order.
Still stuck after reading? Send three lines — market, volume, configuration — and we answer within 24 hours.
Looking for a manufacturer for your own adult brand? Slow Duo supplies wholesale, OEM and ODM from a single China factory: open at MOQ 300 mixed units, sample in 3–5 days, scale to private label with NDA and buyer-owned tooling. This page answers the ordering, pricing, product, compliance and verification questions B2B buyers ask before the first order.
- How to find a manufacturer
- Start an adult product brand
- MOQ 300 for startups
- Private-label vs white-label
- Verify a real factory
- Discreet shipping
- Amazon / eBay compliant
- Dropshipping vs wholesale
- CE / RoHS / FDA
- NDA before specs
- Meta bans adult-product ads
- SEO-first go-to-market
Answers on this page reflect the terms we will put in the quotation and the supply agreement. Where a figure is genuinely not published, we say so rather than estimating. More on the manufacturer →
The short answers
If you only read one section of this page, read this one.
How long the money is out of your account
Most lead-time arguments are really cash-flow arguments. The sequence is always the same three phases — sample, production, freight — and the thing that surprises a first-time buyer is that freight grows faster than production as the order gets bigger.
Ordering & pricing
What is the minimum order quantity?
Wholesale MOQ starts at 300 units on existing moulds and standard colours. All 25 models can be mixed within one order to reach it. Custom logo or colour raises the minimum to 500 units, a retail packaging or gift-box programme starts at 500–1,000 units, and a new mould starts at 1,000–2,000 units. Reorders drop to 200 units on most models.
Do you publish a price list?
No. Unit price depends on model, battery configuration, packaging, certification scope, Incoterm and volume — and it steps down at the 300 / 500 / 1,000 / 2,000-unit tiers. Tell us your market, volume and configuration and we will return an itemised quote within 24 hours.
Can I order a sample before committing?
Yes, and we encourage it. Stock samples dispatch in 3–5 business days; a custom-spec sample with your logo or packaging takes 7–15 days. The sample fee is credited against your first production order.
What are the lead times?
Standard mass production is 25–35 days after sample approval and deposit; branding on an existing model runs 15–25 days; rush production of 15–20 days is sometimes available. A new mould runs 45–60 days from brief to first article.
What payment and shipping terms do you work on?
30% deposit with the balance before shipment, and net-30 terms after your third completed order. Documentary letters of credit are accepted above USD 15,000. Shipping is ex-works, FOB or CIF, and we prepare carton marks, barcodes and customs documentation to your importer's specification.
Product
How many models are in the range?
25. Three dual-motor bodies — A0158 at 122 mm, A0171 at 137 mm and A0170 at 139 mm — two single-motor bodies, A0183 at 135 mm and A0187 at 151 mm — AB0296, a 355 mm telescoping oral unit — AB0212A, a remote-controlled wearable — AB0136, a dual-head wearable that pops open for wear — AB0178, a bird-form suction unit — AB0128, a pen-form teaser with swappable heads — AB0133, a 160 mm wand with three interchangeable heads — AB0158, a 238 mm rabbit-form unit with two swappable heads — AB0160, a 218 mm rose-form unit that records a voice memo — AB0166, a 245 mm tongue-licking wand with a three-button remote — AB0172, a 222 mm hands-free clamp with three motors — AB0175, a 200 mm bendable unit that becomes a suction or tongue wearable when you bend it — and AB0176, a 116 mm rabbit form with a suction opening and a lit base. AB0180 is a 238 mm telescoping insertable with a wireless remote, AB0182 is a 238 mm inflatable plug that grows from 35 mm to 80 mm, with a wireless egg remote, AB0186B is a 275 mm telescoping insertable with three-stage extension, magnetic charging and IP7, AB0191 is a three-piece rose-bud egg set with tongue-licking and a wired controller, 22 x 61 mm, AB0195 is a sculpted qipao-form wand with a ball head that swivels through a full arc, 210 x 45 mm, AB0196 is a dual-action insertable with a suction cup and two slapping paddles, 129.5 x 35 mm, AB0198A is a swan-form G-spot wand with a suction crown and a vibrating tail, 150 x 37 mm and AB0199 is a peanut-waist insertable with pulse telescoping and a 10 m wireless remote, 209 x 33 mm. The 25 share the same control platform, silicone specification and build standard.
What is the difference between dual-motor and single-motor models?
Dual-motor models run two independent motors, each with its own pattern and intensity, so two zones can be controlled separately. Single-motor models give you the same build standard and mode count at a sharper entry price point, with one motor driving the device.
Which certifications does Slow Duo hold?
Slow Duo holds CE (LVD + EMC + RoHS), RoHS, FDA material safety and IPX5 water resistance. We list only certifications we actually hold, and full certificates plus test reports are released to verified wholesale partners.
Does the product require an app?
No. All models are controlled onboard. There is no app, no account and no pairing step — nothing for a retailer to support and no data leaving the device.
What is the warranty policy?
Every order carries a 12 months from the shipment date, with a written resolution plan within 48 hours. If a verified quality issue arises we supply replacement units, credit toward your next order, or a partial refund, depending on the defect scope.
OEM, ODM & exclusivity
Can I sell Slow Duo under my own brand?
Yes. Our OEM programme covers logo, colour, packaging, manual and UI customisation on all current models from 500 units. Structural changes — new housing, motor pairing or control layout — fall under ODM, and the mould is 100% buyer-owned.
How does market exclusivity work, and what does it cost?
Catalog market exclusivity from 3,000 units a year for a 12–24 month renewable term; a mould you commission is yours permanently. Exclusivity is documented in the supply agreement with a defined territory, annual volume commitment and term.
How long does a custom project take?
Branding on an existing model follows a sample timeline of 7–15 days. A new design on our existing motor platform runs 7–15 days to sample; a new mould runs 45–60 days to first article.
How do you protect our designs?
A mutual NDA is signed before any technical discussion begins. Your artwork, briefs and mould files are stored on access-restricted servers, and any mould you pay for is your intellectual property, documented with a tooling ownership certificate.
Quality & compliance
How is the product tested before shipment?
Five stages: incoming motor screening for balance and current draw, a full discharge soak on every assembled unit, a motor noise check against the ≤60 dB at 30 cm specification, runtime sampling on the same rig, and an outgoing audit of charge, mode count, button response and finish. This holds the outgoing defect rate below 0.1% with 100% final inspection, not sampling.
How do you describe the product in compliance terms?
Slow Duo is positioned as a wellness device for relaxation and comfort. We do not claim it treats, cures or heals any condition, and our copy avoids medical claims so that partners can brief their own compliance teams on defensible language.
Why do you never publish retail prices or sell direct?
We are a B2B-only brand. We do not sell to end consumers and we do not compete with our clients' channels, so there is no retail price to publish. Commercial terms are set per market and per volume, and quoted directly to you.
What is the difference between CE, RoHS and REACH?
They regulate three different things, and none of them substitutes for another. CE is the manufacturer’s declaration that a product meets the EU directives that apply to it — for these devices, EMC, Low Voltage and RoHS. RoHS restricts ten specific substances in the electrical and electronic parts. REACH governs chemical substances in the article as sold in the EU, including the silicones, colorants and coatings. A product can satisfy all three and still be refused over a labelling point. The three regimes compared →
Do I get a per-batch test report, or only a brand-level certificate?
Both exist, and they are not the same document. A brand-level certificate says a product family was tested at some point; a per-batch report is tied to the units actually in your shipment. Ask for the second one before you book freight — it is the document most often missing when goods are held, because it exists and is only released when somebody asks for it. What ships with an order →
What is UN38.3, and does my shipment need it?
UN38.3 is the transport test for lithium cells and batteries: altitude, thermal, vibration, shock, external short circuit and overcharge. Any air or sea movement of a lithium cell needs it, so a rechargeable device cannot be booked without one. It is a transport test, not a product safety certificate, and it sits in the battery layer of the compliance stack rather than replacing anything in the chemical or labelling layers. Where each document sits →
Is the silicone phthalate-free?
Yes, and it is screened rather than asserted. Phthalates are screened to REACH Annex XVII across six groups with a not-detected result, and restricted substances are measured to IEC 62321 across ten substances, all below the EU threshold. "Body-safe" printed on a box is a marketing word; the screen behind it is the part worth asking to see. What body-safe actually covers →
Shipping, documentation & verification
What shipping terms and modes do you use?
Ex-works, FOB Shenzhen or Guangzhou, or CIF. Samples move by DHL or FedEx; bulk orders by air or sea. We prepare carton marks, barcodes and the export documents to your importer's specification, and can coordinate directly with your freight forwarder.
Can one order mix models, colours and packaging formats?
Yes. Combine the three dual-motor and two single-motor models freely to reach the minimum, and mix packaging configurations within the same shipment as long as each meets its own minimum. Cartons are marked per SKU in 6 / 12 / 24-unit inner packs so your warehouse can receipt without repacking.
What documents ship with an order?
CE Declaration of Conformity, RoHS certificate and 10-substance report, FDA material compliance statement, MSDS for all skin-contact components, the per-model water-resistance batch test report (your model's own rating), product spec sheet, commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin. Battery and freight documents — UN38.3, IEC 62133-2, the DGM air declaration and the sea-freight identification certificate — are available on request.
Which markets do you ship to, and what does each require?
We have served 30+ export markets since 2014. For the US we prepare FDA material compliance and MSDS — FCC is not required for this app-free range. For the EU, CE covering LVD 2014/35/EU, EMC 2014/30/EU and RoHS 2011/65/EU, plus WEEE guidance. The UK takes UKCA on request, Australia RCM, Brazil MSDS for customs, Japan PSE, and South-East Asia a CE plus MSDS baseline.
Can I audit the factory or book a third-party inspection?
Yes, and we welcome it. SGS handles material and substance testing, Bureau Veritas reviews the CE technical file and electrical safety to IEC 62368-1, and QIMA runs pre-shipment AQL 2.5 / 4.0 sampling at the factory with reports returned within 24 hours. You can book QIMA directly using the factory address — we charge no coordination fee.
Does the platform support app control if my market needs it?
The Slow Duo range is app-free by design — no app, no account, no pairing, which is a selling point at retail. If your market requires app control, the same factory builds BLE 5.0 devices with white-label app capability: your app name, icon, colour theme, custom vibration patterns and OTA firmware updates. Raise it in the brief and we scope it as a separate programme.
Do I need UKCA as well as CE for the United Kingdom?
For the UK market, UKCA is the marking that applies, and it applies on its own rather than alongside CE. UK REACH covers chemicals separately, and the labelling rules require an English warning label plus a named UK importer. If one consignment goes into both the EU and the UK, it carries both document stacks. Destination by destination →
Who has to be named as importer of record?
You do, or the importer you appoint does. Both the EU and the UK require a named economic operator with an address on the packaging and in the technical file, and the factory cannot be that entity for goods sold under your brand. It is also decided late — after the product is finished — which is exactly why it is the row most often missing when a shipment is inspected. Five destinations compared →
Finding a manufacturer & starting your brand
How do I find a factory and start my own adult product brand?
Start by choosing a clear segment — wellness, not novelty — then shortlist OEM/ODM manufacturers that hold the marks your market needs (CE, RoHS, FDA material safety, IPX5 / IPX6 / IP7) and will sign an NDA before sharing specs. Decide your build route: private label puts your brand on a proven mould, white label also rebrands the app and packaging. Slow Duo supplies wholesale, OEM and ODM from one China factory — open at MOQ 300 mixed units, sample in 3–5 days, then scale to private label with buyer-owned tooling. Ask each candidate for certificates with report numbers and a reference letter. Private label vs white label →
Is 300 units a realistic MOQ for a startup brand?
Yes. Standard industry minimums run 300–500 units for stock colours and 500–1,000 for custom colour or packaging; a new mould starts at 1,000–2,000. Slow Duo keeps its stock-SKU MOQ at 300 and lets you mix all 25 models in one order, so a startup can validate two or three SKUs before a large commitment. Reorders drop to 200 units.
How do I tell a real factory from a trading company?
Request the business licence (in the US, the business license), the factory address for a QIMA or SGS inspection, and the actual CE / RoHS / FDA / IPX5 / IPX6 / IP7 certificates with report numbers — a trading company reselling goods it does not make struggles to show all three. Slow Duo is one brand on one Dongguan manufacturing partner with tooling, assembly and QC under one roof, and we welcome a third-party audit and reference letters under NDA. How we verify →
How do I check that your certificates are genuine?
Every certificate we issue carries a report number and the name of the testing laboratory, and you can check that lab against the EU's NANDO database of notified bodies before you order — not after. Our silicone is tested to FDA 21 CFR 177.2600 by SGS, phthalates are screened to REACH Annex XVII across six groups with a not-detected result, and restricted substances are measured to IEC 62321 across ten substances. The full report pack goes out with the quotation, not after the deposit. See the compliance pack →
What should I check before placing a first order with any supplier?
Five things, in this order: ask for the business licence and the factory address so your own inspector can attend; request certificates carrying report numbers you can verify against the named laboratory; ask for a live video walkthrough of the production line rather than a pre-recorded tour; order a sample and test it against the specification sheet; and get the defect rate, warranty and resolution timeline written into the agreement. A supplier who declines the first two has already given you their answer. Wholesale terms →
What does AQL 2.5 actually guarantee?
Less than most buyers assume. Under a single sampling plan at general inspection level II, AQL 2.5 sets a sample size and an accept number for that sample — it is a check on the process, not a promise about every unit in the carton. Sample size grows far more slowly than lot size, so a 10,000-unit lot is judged on a sample in the low hundreds. How the numbers are set →
What does IPX7 mean, and how is it tested?
IPX7 means the enclosure survived 30 minutes immersed at one metre, tested to IEC 60529. It is not a general waterproof claim: IPX5 and IPX6 are jet tests, IPX7 is an immersion test, and a higher number does not automatically include the lower test unless the product was tested for both. The rating is stated per model on its specification sheet, not once for the range. The ratings compared →
Selling on marketplaces & going to market
Can I sell private-label Slow Duo units on Amazon, eBay or Shopify?
Yes — once OEM branding is applied the units are your brand, and we prepare the barcodes, carton marks and market documents your channel needs. Each platform sets its own category and content rules, so brief your own compliance lead on listing copy; we supply the CE, RoHS and FDA material statements plus MSDS so your listing stays defensible. Discreet, accurate product descriptions are part of the brief, not an afterthought.
How much does it cost to launch a private-label adult brand?
Three blocks drive it: the goods (MOQ 300 mixed units, stepping down at the 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 tiers), any custom tooling or packaging, and the certification scope for your market. We return an itemised quote within one business day once we know market, volume and configuration — there is no flat starter price, and we will not quote a figure we cannot stand behind. Sample cost is credited to your first order.
What documents does my customs broker need?
Commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and MSDS are the baseline; the EU adds CE (LVD, EMC, RoHS) with the Declaration of Conformity, the US adds the FDA material-compliance statement, and battery freight needs UN38.3 and IEC 62133-2. We prepare carton marks and a Harmonized System description to your broker’s specification, with accurate product wording so clearance does not stall.
How do I stop copycats and protect my brand?
Trademark your brand in each market before launch, and keep mould ownership in writing — ODM tooling is 100% buyer-owned and comes with a tooling-ownership certificate. A signed NDA covers artwork and briefs before they leave your hands, and an exclusivity clause in the supply agreement locks a territory and term. Ask any candidate for reference letters; a real factory will give them.
Do you dropship to my customers, or is this wholesale only?
Slow Duo is wholesale and OEM/ODM, not a drop-shipper — we do not hold your customers’ stock or ship to end buyers. What we do is discreet B2B fulfilment: neutral cartons with no Slow Duo branding on the outside and documents worded for your importer, so your warehouse or 3PL receipts the goods without revealing the source. Wholesale terms →
Marketing & Meta / Facebook (go-to-market)
Can I advertise Slow Duo products on Facebook or Instagram?
No — Meta bans adult-product ads on both platforms. The advertising policy names explicit sex toys as prohibited, and ad accounts are suspended without warning, often with no appeal. We do not run paid social for you and will not advise workaround creatives that risk your account. What we supply instead is the asset side of a channel that is allowed: neutral product photography, compliance documents and discreet packaging, so your own domain, Shopify store or SEO content can carry the brand. Build your acquisition engine on owned content →
Can I sell them through Facebook Shops or Instagram Shopping?
No. Meta Commerce Policy lists adult products as prohibited content on Facebook Shops, Instagram Shopping and Marketplace — listings are rejected, and one non-compliant item can block the whole catalogue. Slow Duo is wholesale and OEM/ODM, so you sell under your own brand from your own storefront; we provide the barcodes, carton marks and market documents your platform needs, and keep our name off the outside of every carton.
How do adult brands promote without paid Meta ads?
When paid social is closed, the channels that work are SEO and helpful content (guides on materials, safety and use), micro-influencers in wellness and sex-positive communities, email and SMS you own, affiliate programmes, and private communities on Discord or Telegram for retention. Make search rankings your acquisition engine — which is exactly why a manufacturer that documents certifications and a body-safe material story saves you months of copywriting. Two 2026 changes matter for the organic side: Instagram removed hashtag-following at the end of 2024, so ranking now leans on keywords in the bio and the first line of the caption rather than hashtag volume; and the distribution signals that count are saves, DM shares and watch time, not likes. The practical reading is that a post worth sending to one friend outranks a post worth liking, and that the caption is a search surface. The material story, written out →
Do you support age verification and discreet packaging for my store?
Yes. Every order ships in neutral, unbranded cartons with no Slow Duo marking, and documents are worded for your importer so your warehouse or 3PL receipts the goods without revealing the source. For your storefront we recommend an 18+ age gate and a neutral billing descriptor — both standard parts of an adult-brand compliance setup — and we can point your team to the documents that support them.
Are there Facebook groups for finding a manufacturer like you?
Buyers use B2B and entrepreneur Facebook groups to ask for private-label manufacturer recommendations and to vet factories before they commit. We welcome that scrutiny: request the business licence, book a QIMA or SGS inspection at our Dongguan address, and ask for reference letters and the actual CE / RoHS / FDA / IPX5 / IPX6 / IP7 certificates with report numbers. A real factory answers; a trading company reselling goods it does not make struggles to. How we verify →
Questions buyers ask in sourcing groups
How do buyers check a factory before wiring a deposit?
In a consistent order: read the business licence and check the name on it is the name that will invoice you, watch a live walkthrough rather than a showroom video, ask for a per-batch report number you can verify with the issuing laboratory, and ask somebody who has already taken delivery from them. The middle two happen in Facebook sourcing groups and on Instagram — outside a supplier’s own website entirely, which is why a certificate on a homepage settles so little. The vetting checklist →
Can a creator or influencer launch a private-label line?
Yes, and it is now one of the most common first orders we see. The pattern that works is one hero SKU on an existing platform rather than a full line: the creator brings the audience and the brief, the factory brings the tooling and the compliance file. The failure mode is the opposite — several SKUs committed before any of them has sold through. ODM, OEM or private label →
What decibel figure should I ask a supplier for?
The number means nothing without its conditions: the measurement distance, the speed setting, and whether it is a limit or a typical measurement. Ask for all three and compare like with like. Decibels are logarithmic, so the distance between the ends of a published band is a halving of perceived loudness rather than a few per cent. How the figure is taken →
Supplier scoring & delivery performance
How do I turn a supplier questionnaire into a comparable scorecard?
A checklist tells you what to ask; a scorecard lets you compare two answers side by side. Rate each supplier on the same eight dimensions — capabilities, certifications, quality system, samples, production control, commercial terms, communication and references — on a 1–5 scale, then weight them so the dimensions that matter to your market count for more. A weighted total in the 80s signals a supplier you can scale with; anything under 60 needs a second look before a deposit. The eight-dimension grid runs in the vetting checklist. See the scorecard grid →
What is a first article inspection, and when do I require one?
A first article inspection (FAI) is a full dimensional and functional check of the first production units off a new tool or a changed process, before the run is allowed to continue. It catches tooling drift, wrong materials and spec mismatches at unit one instead of at container twenty. Require a new FAI — and a PPAP submission package — whenever the mould, material, supplier or production line changes, not only on the very first order. FAI vs PPAP, and when to trigger it →
What does OTIF mean, and what OTIF should I hold a supplier to?
OTIF — on-time in-full — measures whether a shipment arrived by the agreed date and contained exactly what was ordered, with nothing short-shipped or substituted. On-time and in-full are tracked separately because a shipment can land late but complete, or arrive on time but missing units. For a reorder that feeds a live sales channel, hold the supplier to a high single-line OTIF target — 98% is a common bar — because a missing carton is a stockout the moment it lands. How OTIF interacts with reorder minimums →
Should I require PPAP for a private-label production order?
If the product carries your brand, yes — at least a reduced PPAP submission: the control plan, the FAI report, the material certifications and the process-flow diagram. Full PPAP also bundles capability studies and a parts submission warrant, which matter more when the tooling is new or the volumes are high. The purpose of PPAP is change-point control: you approve a process once, and any change after that goes back through the same gate. What a PPAP package contains →
Market entry, trends & verification
Is the intimate wellness market too saturated to launch a new brand?
It depends which end you mean — saturated vs premium are two different markets. The low end is saturated: generic, unbranded, dropshipped toys are oversupplied and margin-starved, which is the "saturated" story buyers repeat on Reddit. The premium private-label and OEM/ODM segment is growing: it leads with body-safe materials, verified compliance and a real brand, and it is where mainstream wellness retailers are expanding. The question is not "is it saturated" but "which segment am I entering". Start at MOQ 300 mixed units on a proven platform, validate with a sample, then scale — that is the path the growing segment rewards. Compare the programmes →
Do I need age verification (18+) on my store?
Yes, for an intimate-wellness brand it is standard compliance, not optional. Put an 18+ age gate and a neutral billing descriptor on your storefront and require age confirmation at checkout. We ship every B2B order in neutral, unbranded cartons with no Slow Duo marking, so your warehouse or 3PL receipts the goods without revealing the source. Wholesale terms →
What is ISO 22716, and does my supplier need it?
ISO 22716 is the Good Manufacturing Practice standard for cosmetic and personal-care production — the quality-system framework behind intimate-wellness devices. It covers documented process control, batch traceability and cleanroom assembly. A supplier running an ISO 22716-aligned regime is easier to defend to a compliance team and a retail buyer; ask for the certificate and the audit scope, not just a logo on the box. How the line is run →
Are app-controlled (Bluetooth) wellness devices worth it for a new brand?
They carry the highest margin and the strongest differentiation, because the software experience is harder to copy than a product shape — but they add FCC (US) and CE RED (EU) radio certification and a firmware commitment that must be scoped at the brief stage, not after sampling. The Slow Duo range is app-free by design; the same factory builds BLE 5.0 devices with white-label app capability if your market needs it. See the range →
Payments, market size & launch order
Why do Stripe and PayPal freeze accounts that sell intimate products?
Because the category is priced as high-risk by the acquiring banks, and the processors pass that decision down. Stripe and PayPal both publish restricted-business lists that name adult content and adult products, so enforcement happens at account review rather than at any question of legality — a store can trade for months and then be frozen while the balance is held against future disputes. According to the Wikipedia entry Chargeback, a chargeback is a forced reversal routed through the cardholder bank rather than the merchant, which is exactly the exposure an acquirer is protecting itself against in this category. The practical consequence for a B2B buyer is that the payment rail, not the factory, is often the binding constraint at launch: plan for a specialist high-risk acquirer, or go wholesale-first and let a distributor carry the card processing. Wholesale terms →
What does a high-risk merchant account cost, and can I model it before launch?
Budget it before you price the product, not after. Specialist acquirers publish ranges for this category of roughly 4.5–7% plus a per-transaction fee, against roughly 2.9% plus a fixed fee for a standard account; a monthly account fee, a per-chargeback fee and a rolling reserve held for several months are normal, and the reserve is the part that hurts cash flow because it is your money sitting with the acquirer. On a low-ticket SKU that spread can absorb the entire gross margin. We do not process your payments and we do not quote your processing — that conversation is between you and your acquirer — but we do supply the underwriting pack they will ask for: CE Declaration of Conformity, RoHS report, material test reports per SKU, and a live product page that describes the goods accurately. What is in the certification pack →
Does 3-D Secure 2 actually protect an adult store from chargebacks?
Against one kind of chargeback, yes — and knowing which kind is the whole point. 3-D Secure 2 is the current EMVCo cardholder-authentication protocol: it sends a far richer data package to the issuing bank than the first version did, so most payments are approved silently and only the ones the issuer distrusts are challenged. When authentication completes, liability for fraud chargebacks shifts from you to the issuer, so a stolen-card order that authenticated is their loss rather than yours. What it does not touch is a "not as described" or "not received" dispute — those stay with you regardless of authentication. That distinction matters more in this category than in most, because the disputes that actually hurt are as often about expectation and delivery as about stolen cards. Ask your acquirer which dispute reason codes their particular configuration protects, and get it in writing before you build the checkout. Where expectation is set →
What happens if my payment processor terminates the merchant account?
Assume it can happen, and know the mechanics before it does. An acquirer that closes an account for cause reports it to the MATCH file — Member Alert to Control High-Risk Merchants, formerly the Terminated Merchant File — a database maintained by Mastercard that acquirers on every major network query when underwriting. The entry carries a reason code chosen by the acquirer: excessive chargebacks is the most common, alongside fraud, misrepresentation on the application and card-network rule violations. It stays for five years from the filing date, and only the acquirer that filed it can remove it early. It is not a credit record and it is not permanent, but a hit declines most new applications on sight. The protection is unglamorous: describe the business accurately on the application instead of optimistically, keep the dispute ratio under the scheme threshold, and never process another business's transactions through your account. If you are listed, the route back is a specialist acquirer who prices for it plus documented evidence of what changed — not a "removal service", which is a reliable way to lose money. Payment terms defined →
How big is the sexual wellness market, and why do the published figures disagree?
This is the most misquoted number in the category. Estimates published for 2026 range from roughly USD 3 billion to over USD 60 billion for "sexual wellness", and the spread is a definition problem rather than a forecasting one: some reports count condoms and lubricants only, some count pleasure devices only, and some count the whole intimate-health basket including supplements, intimate hygiene and telehealth. A twenty-fold spread between reports is the tell that the scope differs. Before a figure goes into a deck or a funding application, ask which products it includes and which year it is measured in — a number without a stated scope is unusable. Market-by-market compliance matrix →
Should I launch direct-to-consumer or wholesale first?
They answer different questions. Direct-to-consumer gives you the margin, the customer data and the repeat-purchase behaviour, and it puts the payment rail, the ad restrictions and the last-mile discretion problem on your own desk. Wholesale gives you volume and somebody else's audience, in exchange for a thinner margin and a buyer who will hold you to a reorder schedule. A workable sequence for a first label is wholesale or a marketplace listing to prove sell-through on a small number of SKUs, then DTC once you know which two models actually move — because by then you are funding ads against a product you have evidence for. Either way the first order opens at MOQ 300 units mixed, so the wholesale-first route costs you no extra commitment. Compare the two programmes →
Tariffs, HS codes & landed cost
How do I find the right HS code for a massager or vibrator?
Start from what the device does and what it is made of, because no schedule has a heading written for the product itself. In practice three arguments get used: an electrical-apparatus heading where the powered function is the point, a toys heading where the argument rests on purpose, and a massage-apparatus heading where the product is genuinely sold as one. The first six digits are the international Harmonized System; everything after them is national, and the rate lives in the national part — so the honest answer is that the code is a decision made by your broker against a specific schedule on a specific date, not a fact the factory can hand you. What we supply is the input to that decision: material by component, motor and cell specification, and whether the device carries a radio. How classification and clearance work →
Why does the same product get a different HS code in the US and the EU?
Because only the first six digits are international. The Harmonized System is maintained by the World Customs Organization and every member schedule is built on it, but each administration then splits those six digits its own way — ten digits in the US HTS, a different structure in the EU TARIC and in the UK tariff — and the duty rate attaches to the national split, not the international stem. That is why a supplier quoting "the HS code" without naming the schedule has quoted half a code, and why a classification that holds in one market does not travel to the next. Tariff engineering that assumes it does is how a landed-cost model ends up wrong by a margin nobody planned for.
Is the US de minimis exemption still available for small shipments?
No — treat it as gone and model from there. The low-value duty-free limit known as de minimis was suspended in 2025, first for goods of China and Hong Kong origin and then for all origins, so a parcel that used to clear with minimal paperwork now needs a classification and a duty payment like any other import. The practical effect on this category is that the small test shipment stopped being a cheap way to validate a product: a first order of a few cartons now carries the same entry overhead, proportionally, as a pallet. That is an argument for putting the sample spend into samples and the first production run into one shipment rather than splitting it. What the first order looks like →
What belongs in a landed cost that buyers usually leave out?
The fixed tail. Brokerage, bond minimums, entry filing and inland delivery are charged per shipment or per entry, not per unit, so they do not shrink when the order does — which is the arithmetic reason 200 units cost more per unit than 800 with no volume discount involved, and why splitting a first order into two shipments usually costs more than one shipment of the same total. On the value side, the base every percentage is applied to is the customs value rather than the invoice total, and it is adjusted for items the schedule says belong in it. Build the model with your broker before you set a retail price, not after the first entry. The seven layers, one by one →
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