According to Alberta Health Services, the Canadian provincial health agency offering COVID-19 health information, “The safest sex partner is yourself.”

With this in mind, it only makes sense that COVID-conscious consumers are buying more sex dolls than ever before. In particular, the ‘people staying at home’ category “has seen strong sales across the industry, which started an uptick mid-March,” said Nick Love, Social Media Manager/Doll Guru at Silicone Lovers. “Our onsite traffic has increased tenfold and we’ve had to employ more staff to cope with demand. This has been reflected not just in our own figures but by how busy the (dollmaker) workshops have become.”

The increase in sex doll sales is certainly being driven by a lack of access to willing bodies. But that’s not all: People isolating at home “have an emotional need for people; not just games, PCs, and videos,” said Sam at Dongguan Junying Plastic Product Factory. “They need someone to accompany them; especially lonely customers.”

Who’s Buying and Why

The stereotypical sex doll buyer is a straight male. They are presumed to be living by themselves and desiring the uncritical female companionship that a sex doll offers.

Now males do make up a big part of sex doll buyers these days, but they’re not the only ones. During COVID-19, “we have seen a big increase in sales coming from couples and females, as well as a surge in sales for male dolls,” said Silicone Lovers’ Nick Love.

The reasons for buying sex dolls are diverse. Beyond seeking individual sexual release, “some customers have let us know they are exploring safe ways to try a threesome without the risk of STDs or jealousy,” Love said. “A lot of new customers are interested primarily for companionship, cosplay and photography rather than sex. We have actually even had customers who have lost their partners during COVID and are looking to fill their loneliness.”

Some clients are buying sex dolls because they no longer have access to bars and other meeting places for casual sex. This is why “we have now more young people inquiring and buying,” said Chrzan, Sales Director at RobotCompanion.ai. “Before the pandemic, we had more senior customers. Now even college students are interested.”

Love also attributes increased interest in sex dolls to gamers and anime fans wanting to bring their gaming/graphics fantasies to life. As well, “I think word-of-mouth through forums (such as) Reddit and Discord during this period where people are socializing more online is really building interest,” he said. “I’ve seen the Reddit subforum ‘r/sexdolls’ grow from 5,000 followers earlier this year to 15,000 today.”

Demand Outstripping Supply and Other Hassles

The pandemic-driven demand for sex dolls is exceeding supply. A case in point: “WM Doll is one of the most popular doll makers on the planet right now and they’ve just had to take on another large workshop space to cope with demand,” Love told YNOT.com. “Where it used to take around 10 days to 14 days to fabricate a doll, the queue for certain brands can be almost twice that now. So, if you’re thinking of buying it’s a good idea to get in the queue before the Christmas rush and the postal slowdown during the festive season.”

Making matters worse are border restrictions and other measures meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.“We had issues with shipping to Europe in March-May where our packages were stuck in Germany for a few weeks during the lockdown,” said Michael Chrzan, Sales Director at RobotCompanion.ai. “So, we had to move them to the Czech Republic to get through customs.”

“We have at times taken alternate measures like shipping overland on trains when there were limited flights; quite crazy logistical feats just to ensure our customers get their products,” said Love. “There have definitely also been longer processing times through customs due to lack of staff.”

It’s not just shipping delays that have been caused by COVID-19. Costs for moving sex dolls have also gone up. “It (the pandemic) raised the shipping fees too much,” said Eartha at Chinese doll manufacturer Jarliet. “It make shipping speed very slow. It is so bad.”

Then there’s the impact of lockdowns on sex doll production. “There were a few scary weeks earlier in the year when all our suppliers actually had to close down and it was very unpredictable,” said Love. “It was not about not being able to access stock as each doll is completely customized by hand so it was more about key staff being allowed to even travel back to their place of work (after the Chinese New Year) once workshops were open, which took some time. Since then they have worked very hard to get fabrication times back to an acceptable level.”

Looking Ahead

Eventually, COVID-19 will ease and people will be able to resume physical contact with human sex partners, reducing the need for sex dolls. But it remains to be seen if the resumption of human contact will slow the growth of sex doll sales or not.

“Whether sales continue like they are is hard to say,” said Love. “We have seen it plateau at a higher level than pre-pandemic, and perhaps this is the new normal.”

This said, “I think people are working out that the economics of dolls, despite the initial outlay, is actually very good versus dating in a relationship and pursuing hook ups or paid services,” he added.

Whatever happens to sex doll sales, Love hopes that the increased usage caused by COVID-19 will make sex dolls more socially acceptable, just as vibrators went from being taboo sex toys to sexuality mainstays over time.

“We are certainly seeing love dolls become more normalized and there is certainly a massive interest now from the mainstream,” he told YNOT.com. “The stigma and taboo surrounding dolls pre-pandemic quickly melts away when you have experienced loneliness in isolation and we think people are much more empathic towards others in this regard.”