Any “Orange Is The New Black” fan will not find the concept of selling used underwear foreign or entirely unheard of. The inmates at Litchfield Penitentiary, under the leadership of Piper, started their own, little side hustle selling their used underwear to men who’d they’d never meet. It was so successful that the power ended up going to Piper’s head and the side hustle that could have turned into an empire, crumbled. Still, the idea was kind of brilliant. Getting paid good money for very little work is pretty awesome.
Then again, “Orange Is The New Black,” is a fictional show. Who knows whether something like this would work in real life.
Well, according to a recent article on XO Jane, it can…quite well, actually.
This XO Jane writer, Julia S., claims she furnished almost her entire apartment from the money she made from selling her used panties on Craigslist.
In a week’s time, she made $550.
But there were a few downsides. One, this author delivered her underwear to the men, in person. She only went to one man’s house (because he had a daughter.) But everyone else, she met in well-lit, public spaces like coffee shops and in front of clothing stores. Which is still quite risky if you ask me. (Anyone can follow you home.) And because they had her cell phone number, she received a few dick pics and inappropriate messages that eventually wore on her, causing her to ultimately slow down on the selling, once the goal of furnishing her apartment had been met.
If I were doing this, I would have no contact with these men. They would communicate with me only through e-mail and they would receive their underwear, my underwear, through the mail. No need to know what I look like or have access to me in any way. The type of person who orders used underwear from the internet might just be strange enough to want to meet the woman who provided them. If you remember, the no-contact transaction is the way the women in Litchfield did it. And they were making so much money, they could split it between several inmates.
Plus, as one commenter on the article mentioned, if you don’t actually want to sell your personal, dried vaginal secretions and pubic hair; but still want to offer a product, there was a recipe for imitation discharge, featuring tuna and mayonnaise.
But don’t let this one success story fool you. Two other XO Jane writers who tried to sell their wares, didn’t have as much luck.
Aside from the fact that it’s incredibly weird to think of someone smelling, at the very least, your used underwear and your vaginal fluids being in the hands of a complete stranger, is there really anything morally wrong with profiting off of your vagina, without giving someone access to it?
So, the final question. If you were strapped for cash and needed to make some extra money on the side to finance a non-pressing want or need, would you consider selling your used panties? Or is it completely out of the question?
