Adult Supervision Required: Our ANME Stand Arrived in Two Bags

The latest episode of our podcast I Make Sex Toys is out, and it's the one where the plan fell apart before we'd even landed.

We shipped two crates and a pod to Los Angeles a week ahead of the ANME show in Burbank. They got as far as LAX and stopped. Three sets of power of attorney. A form rejected because "managing director" apparently isn't a real job title. A request for a social security number from a British company. An FDA requirement that didn't apply to us. By Thursday it was obvious the crates weren't coming, so we went to plan B.

Plan B was two black hand luggage bags and an iPad.

That was the stand. Everything else, 22 years of workshop footage, ran as a slideshow on the iPad. And it worked. We spent two and a half days in the main ballroom talking to buyers, and the thing they kept coming back to wasn't the packaging or the display. It was that we make the stuff ourselves, in our own UK workshop, rather than pulling it off a container.

We recorded this one in a Burbank hotel room after the stand was packed up, with Ian aka StuntCock . Caz and Rachel had been sent to the pool. Nobody was left to keep either of us check, hence the title.

What's in the episode

• The full customs saga, and why we've started calling them DH Hell
• Fitting an entire trade stand into carry-on
• Frankie the Tankie, a Jeep the size of a London bus, and a car park with a very low roof
• Moving to Shopify the hard way, and saying yes before you know how
• Two award nominations, no wins, and the disco dildo stand next door that did win
• Ian's route from 23 years in the army to reviewing sex toys
• The photo Ian really shouldn't have sent his mum
• Why independent stores and artisan makers still matter
• Who e-stim actually appeals to, and why "everyone" is the wrong answer

The systems failed. The people didn't. That's most of what we took home from it.

Listen

Play it on the episode page, or find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. Full transcript is on the episode page if you'd rather read it.

New IMST episodes generally land on the second Tuesday of the month. 

source https://estim.store/blogs/news/adult-supervision-required-anme-podcast

No Rules, No Adult Supervision

The show went brilliantly. Getting there was the problem. Our entire ANME stand turned up to Los Angeles in two black hand luggage bags and an iPad. The crates we shipped a week early were still sitting in customs at LAX. I'm Wayne, I run E-Stim Systems, and I make electric sex toys in Watford. This one was recorded in a hotel room in Burbank at the end of the show, with Ian from Joanne's E-Stim Emporium. Caz and Rachel had been sent to the pool, which is roughly how the title happened. We go through the customs saga properly. Three sets of power of attorney, a rejected form because managing director apparently isn't a real job title, a request for a social security number from a British company, and an FDA requirement that didn't apply. Then what you actually do about it, which is plan B in a carry-on and a slideshow of 22 years of workshop footage running on an iPad. Also in here: how a reviewer who cold emailed us for a box ended up making his own kit, what the army teaches you about things going wrong, why buyers cared far more about in house manufacturing than anything on the stand, a masturbation coach, a machine that drove itself across the ballroom, Caz and the lift buttons, and a photo Ian really should not have sent his mum. The systems failed. The people didn't. 00:00 No adult supervision 01:40 The crates that never arrived 05:00 Plan B 07:00 Hollywood, and the world's largest Jeep 09:50 Shopify, and the long way round 13:00 Locaton Location Location 16:10 The show floor, and the disco dildos 19:00 The Burbank Button Bandit 21:00 The photo Ian sent his mum 25:00 From the army to reviewing sex toys 30:00 No plan survives contact with DHL 32:00 Who does this actually appeal to? New episodes drop the second Tuesday of the month. Full show notes: https://imakesextoys.me #estim #estimsystems For purchasing direct from us visit https://estim.store We also have a free user support forum at https://www.e-stim.net You can also follow us on Social media https://www.twitter.com/estimsystems https://ift.tt/jn3qL5K https://ift.tt/Hqyn6Iu https://ift.tt/71xcyUK

The Mr S Electrodes Go Worldwide

Back in 2017, Mr S Leathers came to us with a question. Could we build an e-stim version of a couple of their designs?

We didn't have to think about it. We jumped.

Mr S had spent years making gear people actually wanted to get their hands on. Taking two of their best-loved pieces and turning them into working electrodes was exactly our kind of problem. We took their originals, applied a bit of British know-how, added our own twist, and the result was a pair we're still proud of: the E-Bead 2.0 and the E-WMCBP 2.0.

The E-Bead 2.0. Two beads of aircraft-grade aluminium in our satin finish, separated by a rigid insulator, on a captive 1.5m cable that plugs straight into your box. Wear it fully inserted for deep sensation, or half-in so one bead sits outside and gives you that natural thrusting twitch. Small or Large.

The E-WMCBP 2.0. The Electrified World's Most Comfortable Butt Plug, and yes, that's the actual name. A bi-polar e-stim insertable machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminium, with a angled head for easy insertion and a slim neck that holds it snug. Where Mr S's originals were silicone and conductive rubber, ours is solid metal, so you get better conductivity and a plug that lasts. It strips down for cleaning too. Medium or Large.

Here's the news. For a long time, both of these have only been available to a limited market, but as of today, that's changed. Both collaboration designs are now available worldwide.

If you've been eyeing one of these from the wrong side of a border, the wait's over. Wherever you are, you can now get hold of the electrodes that came out of one of our favourite partnerships.

Nine years on, and still going strong. 

⚡

Browse the range → estim.store

source https://estim.store/blogs/news/mr-s-electrodes-worldwide

No ElectroGel to Italy

Shipping ElectroGel to Italy

Quick heads-up for our Italian customers.

Our E-Stim Systems Electro Gel is produced in the EU, where it's classified as a cosmetic. Unfortunately Italian customs have now changed the way they handle cosmetic imports, and they now charge £44 plus Italian VAT on every order to process the documentation. That charge lands on each shipment, so it makes sending gel into Italy unworkable for us right now. We've had to pause Electro Gel orders to Italy for the time being.

Nothing changes anywhere else. If you're ordering from outside Italy (or the US where a separate issue exists), then your gel ships as normal.

We're working on a fix. Until we've got one sorted, a simple water-based lube should do the job with your e-stim kit if you're in Italy and caught short.

We'll update this post the moment anything changes. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for bearing with us.

source https://estim.store/blogs/news/no-electrogel-to-italy

The new EU €3 customs charge from 1 July 2026

If you're in the EU and you order from us, there's a small customs change worth knowing about. It's live from 1 July 2026.

The EU now applies a temporary €3 customs charge on low-value parcels coming in from outside the EU. It affects orders with a goods value up to €150.

The rule was built to deal with the river of cheap parcels flooding in from the likes of Temu and Shein, but unfortunately the net doesn't tell the difference between a mass-market dropshipper from China and a small British workshop. And since we're now classed as outside the EU, it catches us too. Some of us are still missing you our EU friends. 

So no, it isn't a fee we've invented. We ship to you from Watford, and unfortunately the UK sits outside the EU, and that's why it lands on your order.

The charge is applied per item by its customs category, not per parcel. Most orders won't notice. A mixed order spanning different product types could carry more than one €3 charge.

What isn't changing

Orders over €150 aren't caught by this rule. It's not VAT, which works exactly as before. And it's not a hidden E-Stim Systems surcharge. We've added nothing.

What you'll see

For eligible EU orders, we sort the customs side for you through our shipping setup, so any charge is shown at checkout rather than sprung on you at the door. You see the full cost up front, with nothing extra to settle when the parcel arrives.

No nasty surprises once your order's on its way. That's the part we care about.

source https://estim.store/blogs/news/eu-3-euro-customs-charge-july-2026