How to Launch an Adult Product Line — from Brief to Retail-Ready Shipment
If you are adding adult products to an existing retail business — a chain of stores, an e-commerce brand, a wholesale catalogue — the manufacturing itself is the easiest part of the project. The hard part is that nobody tells you the sequence: what to prepare, what a factory needs from you at each step, and how long each step honestly takes. This page is that sequence, written from inside a factory, with the real numbers we publish on our terms page.
Everything below assumes no prior experience in the category. You do not need a product idea to start; you need a target market and a rough budget. The rest is a series of small decisions, each of which we spell out here.
The two entry paths — and why the first one exists
There are two ways in, and the difference between them decides almost everything else:
| Catalogue moulds (existing tools) | Private mould (your own tool) | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum order | Flexible — test runs of 100 pieces per model are realistic and have been done repeatedly by small buyers | 1,000 pcs per model and colour (fixed rule) |
| Tooling cost | None — the tool already exists | Quoted per size and complexity; you own the tool and its exclusivity |
| Time to first sample | Within 7 days, including a colour or hardness change | Typically about one month from brief to sample when confirmations go smoothly; several months if rework cycles are needed |
| Best for | Testing market feedback before committing capital | A design you want to own exclusively once the market is proven |
The catalogue path is not a consolation prize — it is the economically correct first move. A first run of a few hundred pieces on two or three existing models tells you what your customers actually buy, at a fraction of the cost of tooling. Buyers who skip this step routinely redesign a private product based on assumptions the market then corrects. Once you have real sales data, commissioning your own mould is the natural second step — and by then you know exactly what to build.
Step 1 — Define the market and the channel before the product
Two questions shape every later decision:
- Where will it sell? EU retail, US e-commerce, both? The destination determines which compliance documents you need (Step 4) and which packaging languages and marks apply (Step 5).
- Shelf or unboxing? A product that hangs on a peg or stands on a shelf needs packaging designed for display; a product that ships in a plain box to an online buyer needs nothing more than protection and a leaflet. Say this out loud at the start — it changes the packaging quote more than almost anything else.
Step 2 — Pick first products from the catalogue
Browse the product library — every model has real production photographs, measured dimensions and the finishes it supports. Pick two or three that fit your market. For each one you can change:
- Colour — single colour, multi-colour, marble/swirl, gradient, glow-in-the-dark, pearlescent
- Hardness — the material is liquid silicone and the shore hardness is adjustable to your specification
- Branding — neutral packing, blind shipping, or your own packaging artwork
A first test order of 100 pieces per model is a real pattern, not an exception — we have quoted and shipped such runs for buyers who wanted market feedback before scaling. The economics work because the tool already exists and sampling is fast; the factory's only meaningful setup is colour and packaging.
Step 3 — The private-mould development loop
When you are ready for a design of your own, the loop runs like this:
| Stage | What happens | What you provide / receive |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brief | We evaluate the concept — no cost, no commitment | An idea, a sketch, a physical sample or a reference product |
| 2. Design | Our designer shapes the concept — outer form, inner structure, texture — and makes a clay model | You receive the clay model for confirmation |
| 3. Confirmation | You approve or request changes | Video or photo confirmation is fast; a physically couriered sample is slower but exact |
| 4. Tooling | The mould is machined in-house — about two weeks | A physical sample from the new tool |
| 5. Sample approval | You test and approve; the tool is then locked to your specification | Approved sample = the contractual reference for production |
Two honest notes on timing. First, the confirmation step is the schedule's main variable: when confirmations run on video and photos, an entire brief-to-sample cycle has completed in about one month; when a physical sample must cross borders for each round, or when the design goes through rework, the same loop can stretch to several months. Second, rework is normal and is not a failure signal — a texture that reads well on screen can feel wrong in the hand, and it is far cheaper to discover that at the clay or sample stage than after tooling. Budget for one extra loop and you will rarely need it.
Step 4 — Compliance and documentation
The materials we use are tested to CE, RoHS, FDA and California Prop 65 requirements, and documentation ships with the goods. What this means for a first-time buyer:
- You do not arrange or pay for material testing per batch — the factory's material certificates travel with your shipment.
- Market-specific obligations (language of instructions, recycling marks, local registration) are yours as the importer; tell us the destination country and the packaging is built to match.
- Ask for the test documents before your first order — any factory that manufactures in-house can produce them the same day. A factory that cannot is a reseller, whatever the website says.
Step 5 — Packaging: the part most suppliers leave to you
This is the step that decides whether your goods arrive ready to sell or as a bulk bag of parts. A factory that treats packaging as its own job delivers retail-ready goods:
- You send packaging artwork, a drawing, or just a creative direction — the packaging is quoted as a separate line so the cost stays transparent.
- You receive finished product in colour box, blister or poly bag, with your SKU, barcodes and compliance marks applied.
- Cartons are sized for shipping — built to the dimensions that stack efficiently in a container and flow through your 3PL without repacking.
- Blind shipping is supported — goods can arrive with no reference to the factory at all.
Step 6 — Production, delivery and iteration
Orders up to 10,000 pieces ship within one month of sample approval. Goods hand over to your forwarder or 3PL — DAP by carrier of your choice, or delivered into your warehouse network.
Iteration is where the catalogue path and the private path start to converge. Products evolve through generations the same way your assortment does. Our own powered series is a working example: a vibrating core built on a shared receiver-board platform now fits four different moulds, is in its second generation (more power, longer battery life), and has been combined with the rainbow multi-colour process — a finish most competitors cannot produce at all. A buyer who starts with one catalogue model can inherit exactly this kind of platform evolution without ever paying for tooling.
Colour capability compounds the same way. The most extreme case in our catalogue is a nine-mould series built on one three-colour marble recipe (poured so the swirl never repeats twice) — the same colour-development machinery that produced it is what lets a first-time buyer put a marble or glow-in-the-dark finish on an entry-level catalogue mould.
The honest timeline, end to end
| Scenario | From | To | Realistic duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample of an existing model (any colour/hardness) | Brief | Sample in hand | Within 7 days |
| Test run on catalogue moulds | Approved sample | Packed goods | ~1 month (≤10,000 pcs) |
| Private mould, smooth confirmations | Brief | Approved sample | ~1 month |
| Private mould, with rework or couriered confirmations | Brief | Approved sample | Several months |
| Production after any sample approval | Approval | Packed goods | ≤1 month (≤10,000 pcs) |
What to send us to start
Four things, one email: the model codes from the library or a reference photo, your target quantity (a realistic repeat quantity helps more than an optimistic first number), the colour and hardness you have in mind, and your market and channel. Evaluating a brief costs nothing, and the reply comes within one business day — from the factory floor, not a trading desk.
Questions first-time buyers actually ask
Can I really order fewer than 1,000 pieces for a first trial?
Yes — on catalogue moulds the minimum is flexible, and 100-piece test runs have been quoted and shipped repeatedly. The 1,000-piece minimum applies to private moulds, where a new tool has to be amortised across the run.
How long does it take from my idea to a physical sample?
About one month when confirmations run on video and photos. It stretches to several months when the design goes through rework or every confirmation waits on an international courier. Existing-mould samples — including a colour or hardness change — ship within 7 days.
Do I need to have a product designed before contacting a factory?
No. An idea, a sketch or a reference product is enough. The factory's designer develops the shape, inner structure and texture, and produces a clay model for you to confirm before any tooling money is spent.
Who handles testing and certification for a new market?
Material compliance — CE, RoHS, FDA, California Prop 65 — is covered by the factory's test documents, which ship with the goods. Import-side obligations such as instruction language and local registration belong to the importer; the factory builds packaging to the destination country's requirements.
Can goods arrive at my warehouse without the factory's name on them?
Yes. Neutral packaging and blind shipping are standard options, and cartons are sized to your 3PL's handling requirements so nothing needs repacking on arrival.
Working on a product that needs the right material? Send us the application — temperature range, hardness, finish — and we will tell you which one you actually need, including when the answer is the cheaper one.
Disagree with any of this, or have a case that behaves differently? Tell us. If the data says we are wrong, we correct the page — and we will say so.