Community posts
Is there a market for bondage accessories/fashion?
Ok, Mini story time.
>Helping my obese friend move in with his equally obese girlfriend.
>Making casual conversation.
>He changes the topic to my leather work.
I’ve been working with leather as a hobby for about 3 years now. I sold a few commission items enough to buy a heavy duty sewing machine and a 100W C02 laser to do engravings and precise shapes.
>Asks if he can commission me to make him something.
>Suredude.jpg
>"Awesome! The GF and I are really into heavy bondage and the restraints we get from ebay keep breaking. Could I get you to make us a whole set of cuffs, collars, and straps?"
>…
It caught me off guard and I changed the subject quickly, but it did get me thinking. He offered to pay me $600 for a full set of gear (wrists, forearms, legs, collar) and even having to make them 2-3x the size of a normal set the margins are not bad at all.
Would it be worth looking into making fetish gear? I don’t think its a full time job situation, but it may make me more money then knife rolls and book jackets. The other issue is I have no connection to that community so how would I be able to get my name out there?
Hey dude, how are you?
Proof I’m not just some horny role player…
I’m genuinely looking for advice
nice work on that book
i’m guessing you’ve heard of etsy already?
At least charge him 1K dude this’ll be nice handmade stuff
You don’t have a connection, but they probably do. Offer to give them a discount if they introduce you to other buyers
I was considering that. But I don’t know if they are a part of any IRL community or just online. I want to avoid shipping stuff for now.
I don’t care so long as they are willing to pay. My morels are flexible. Bank account, not so much.
Understandable, but I cant imagine kicking up a table outside the local Synagogue would go over well.
Where are you based out of?
Id dig a custom collar if possible?
Western canada :/
But I’m not apposed to shipping.
I have,
but I haven’t looked into it to be honest. that would probably be a good place to start.
I live in western canada too!
A vancouver suburb to be exact
Hmm… I’m a province over but that’s much closer than I expected. Never got a commission on a Korean basket weaving forum before…
So, if you are serious about commissioning something custom, how exactly do you swap contact info on an anonymous imageboard without doxing yourself.
>how exactly do you swap contact info on an anonymous imageboard without doxing yourself.
This. I have no idea but I wonder if it’s possible. Maybe with a throwaway tripcode, and a throwaway chat account?
>both make a tripcode and post throwaway discord IDs
>on discord prove who you are by straight up giving each other the password to your throwaway tripcode
>or you could ask each other to post some specific message with the trip code
>once verified then exchange real details through discord
>delete the discord, never use those trips again
look up PGP you hecking stupid
I know what PGP is but you expect the average LULZ user to be able to use that shit? PGP is old, outdated UX and has non-ideal defaults when it comes to encryption algorithms.
>cant imagine kicking up a table outside the local Synagogue would go over well.
It literally would
I’d wear some bondage shit. I hook up with girls who like to get cut up, they’d like the fits.
Fetish gays will pay exorbitant prices for artisan dildo harnesses or whatever.
Downside is you’ll have to interact with fetish gays.
Lots of hebrew perverts are into this and they have lots of hebrew money so this would be quite lucrative. Fat Mike talks about this openly because he’s a punk freak but there’s lots of other rich hebrews who are into this sicko stuff more secretly. Not to be antiemetic or anything, just stating the facts.
i see working with furfags in your future
it’s cheap but if its nothing serious, aliexpress has a shit ton of stuff
This is really more of a topic for /hc/ or similar. The subject of this thread is talking about fashion accessories but the body of your post seems to be talking about bondage gear. The is absolutely a market for bondage themed fashion accessories, but good luck getting the majority of people who wear that sort of thing as an ACCESSORY – rather than as fetish gear – to pay a fair price for what you produce when they can get fake leather collars from Taobao for less then $5.
this
i’m based in seattle and there’s a lot of leather/bondage shops that have been in business for a long time. your customer base is going to be more gays than anything else. all of the shops are based right in the gay bar hub.
If you are making really high quality stuff there’s a market for it for sure.
Anyone just casually dabbling in BDSM will be happy with cheap plastic handcuffs and dog collars, but the ones really into it and willing to drop tons of cash on personalized equipment for their fetish are obviously going to look for quality.
I imagine it’s going to be pretty hecking hard to break into that market starting from scratch, especially if you live somewhere with no real BDSM scene.
I wouldn’t even know how to find the scene if there was one in my city. The common consensus seems to be to talk to my friend who is already in it and see if he can recommend me.
Problem is is that’s really hecking awkward, like I’ve known the guy forever, his parents are friends with my parents. if it was all online, yea, sure that’s easy. but when you have to see the hecker on a regular basis that’s a different story.
I disagree with the personal investment statement. I make a heckload of DnD stuff and I’ve never played it. I just like working with the leather, regardless of what I make.
I’ve made some basic riders tack in the past I’m sure I could make something durable. Comfortable, well that might be an issue… depending on the price I would probably layer a soft piece of upholstery leather on the inside with a wad of batting in between for cushioning.
it wont be easy, that’s for sure.
Those crappy padlocks really drag the look down. That looks like some high level craftsmanship and then they throw some 50 cent Chinese crap on them?
Just a thought but I think you can stand out by having higher quality metal fittings and locks. Maybe get someone to give the padlocks a nice black or deep red or brown finish.
>Problem is is that’s really hecking awkward
You might not be cut out for this line of business
>Problem is is that’s really hecking awkward, like I’ve known the guy forever, his parents are friends with my parents. if it was all online, yea, sure that’s easy. but when you have to see the hecker on a regular basis that’s a different story.
Welcome to adult life, op.
Get out and explore the kinkier areas, and you’ll run into people you know from other contexts. Got to compartmentalize that where needed.
Businesswise, set up an etsy shop or something for the stuff you make.
Maybe ask your friend if he has other acquaintances who would be interested after you make his stuff and try to get an in to your local scene?
Honestly though if you don’t have a personal investment into the fetish it’s probably not going to go all that well. Making good collars and cuffs is very different from something like a simple belt.
The leather needs to be very soft and supple, it needs to not hurt the person bound no matter how much weight gets placed on it, yet also durable and secure enough to not give in and lose its shape. It’s a whole science and you might be in over your head even just making a collar for your friend if you’ve never done that sort of stuff before.
The market is great, while its a niche, many people of this stuff think of themselves as artisans in their "craft" and are willing to spend good money on that. You have to like the tought of working on that stuff though.
Getting into that market is easy, you already habe one customer and if he is happy and you tell him you want to continue that work you will soon be drowning in work. Everyone of this subculture knows 1 other person who is into that and the news of a good an affordable craftsman will travel down the whisper net fast.
t. a pervert
>Would it be worth looking into making fetish gear? Yes. That stuff pays a lot an requites nothing that a regular leatherworking shop doesn’t already have. Why the heck not?