I Did It For Science: Selling Panties on Craigslist, by Meghan Pleticha - Nerve.com

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Hypothesis:
Craigslist is a powerful tool. You can use it to get an apartment, find a job, or have sex with a prostitute. In college I was surprised to find out my good friend was one of the latter. He'd started on a whim after meeting some Craigslist sex workers at a party, and now he was making $100 to receive a blowjob. (Don't get too excited, straight guys — he was getting the BJ from another dude.) And one of the girls he met at that party sold her panties on the site for $200 a pair. I'd heard rumors about this kind of thing for years, but here was proof it was possible. Two-hundred bucks for underwear? I wasn't up for posing in my panties, but I could totally do that! Unlike sex for money, selling used underwear didn't feel inherently sleazy or immoral. And sure, a guy buying panties online might seem a little off, but in the words of my friend the Craigslist gigolo, "Just because a guy's a panty-sniffer doesn't make him a bad person." After years of flirting with the idea, it was time for me to find out: can a girl make easy money off her dirty laundry? And how much money are we talking?

Materials:
• panties (worn)
• the internet
• girl parts
• fake name/e-mail account
• bodyguard
• several people in my phone I promised to text after each panty drop off so they would know I wasn't dead

Method:
My main concern (and everyone else's) was my personal safety. So the sensible way to sell my panties seemed to be a mail-order system, until I realized you can only set up a Paypal account in your legal name. My legal name is Meghan Pleticha. Go ahead, Google that. I'm the only hit. Alternatively, I could have them send me a check, which gave them my home address (I don't have a P.O. box) and my name. Somehow, meeting in person (with an escort, of course) actually seemed like the most sensible way to do it. I decided to make it a selling point.

Nervous, I e-mailed my friend the Craigslist prostitute to ask for advice.

He suggested I check out what other people were posting, make up a story about how I'm an impoverished college girl (not far off — I'm an impoverished journalist), and maybe start out asking for $100 per pair, adjusting the price up or down depending on people's response. So I set up an e-mail account under the name "Janey Didit" and posted the following:

"I'm a college girl who just started school in the city and really need some cash for books and stuff. I have a bunch of panties I don't need any more — some are super-cute, some are kind of old! It's $25 for the not-so-nice pairs, but I have some more expensive lacy stuff too. Serious inquiries only please!"

The e-mails started coming in, but not a lot of them wanted my panties. More common were responses like, "I'm not interested in buying panties, but do you like to have your feet worshipped?" The few who did ask for underwear all wanted something more: pictures. They got a standard response:

"Hey, I don't have pics of me in the panties, but here's a shot for you. If you'd like, I can meet you in a cafe wearing the panties (tell me what kind you like) and then go to the bathroom, come out and discreetly give them too you. $100."

Attached was the above picture. Some guys responded asking for more pictures of me, and I was ecstatic. They didn't even question the $100 asking price! But when I said no pictures of my face and no pictures of me in the panties, the responses dried up. And when I started getting more responses complaining that my asking price was too high, I started to suspect that the men agreeing to $100 just wanted to get pictures of me in my underwear for free.

This was the sketchiness I was hoping to avoid, but I was desperate for a sale. I had posted my first ad nearly a week ago, my asking price had dropped from $100 to $40, but still no takers. I didn't like this kind of bartering. Not only do I suck at negotiating, but it was making me feel like a whore after all. I'd envisioned a wallet full of Benjamins and a drawer of new panties. I hadn't envisioned myself — and I'm cringing as I write this — making extravagant promises about how "juicy" my panties were. I was selling myself. It felt gross. I got very close to forgetting the whole thing.

Then I got an e-mail from Kris, who in a very polite and brief e-mail assured me, "I have done this a bunch of times, so I know how to handle myself and the women always leave happy." Finally!

        

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30 Comments

She sounded a bit uptight about the whole deal, no?

CA commented on 10/28

Yes, and I doubt the whole continuing to sell them bit.

JM commented on 10/28

Yeah the whole time I was thinking... this person writes for nerve? Seriously, $100 for something you could steal in a laundromat is high to start with. And then having incredible standards was ridiculous too.

RAM commented on 10/28

au contrare, Bravo Autore, Bravi!

GM commented on 10/28

@JM: Wait, what part do you doubt? The part where she had a chance to sell more, or the part where she decided not to? They both sound realistic to me . . .

LMR commented on 10/28

If she'd just put up a picture of herself in the panties (without showing her face) she would have gotten $100 easily.

BJC commented on 10/28

excellent story, I loved this one. ps. I do not sniff panties.

sh commented on 10/28

"Unlike sex for money, selling used underwear didn't feel inherently sleazy or immoral." I weep for your parents.

dre commented on 10/28

I think this took a lot of guts....now I am going to suspect every man in midtown of being a secret panty sniffer

MT commented on 10/28

thats a writer. well done maybe folks dont like the subject,thats their problem. good work.

rb commented on 10/28

I also knew a CL prostitute who only rec'd head.. interesting phenomenon. I tried doing this, too, but I was too shy and just wanted someone to order them E-Bay style.

gde commented on 10/28

Good test, but ultimately a strange and creepy behavior to buy panties online.

KOP commented on 10/28

my friends paid for a trip around the world doing things. no doubt, it is work...BRAVO!

JAM commented on 10/28

This is something I've always been curious about. Maybe the author would have had an easier time in Japan...

URB commented on 10/28

@URB Ha! In Japan they have used panties in vending machines, so I would assume this author would have a lot of competition.

CB commented on 10/28

This was brilliant! Not only did you get the money for the panties, but for selling the story to nerve and you'll have something you can tell people FOREVER!

PW commented on 10/28

She makes this sound so hard... it is easy money. About 6-7 years ago I was selling not only used panties but also dirty sneakers on eBay and making a killing. Yes, I always included a picture of myself in said garment. Unfortunately eBay changed their policy on selling "used" garments.

LB commented on 10/28

This article was great, it's nice to know not everyone is totally comfortable with letting strangers have their dirty underwear!

AK commented on 10/29

cool. wish men can sell used underwear.....or maybe we can?!?

Jzc commented on 10/30

I would totally do this but I would opt for a mailing system.......piccs from neck down would be fine ........anyone got advice on the best way to start?

ko commented on 10/30

@Jzc: i'm sure men can. but only to other men. unless you're tom jones.

RTB commented on 10/31

@ko: you're really stumped at how to do this after reading this article? how are you even on the internet? step1: buy panties step2: ??? step3: profit!

RTB commented on 10/31

Women profit off of portraying all men as evil. Women are the real sexist chauvinistic pigs.

FU commented on 11/01

Nice one! I always wondered what guys who'd buy used panties were like...now I know! PS - @FU - yeah, clearly women are the real sexist pigs, as indicated by the 166 emails she received from various MALE panty buyers...

YAC commented on 11/02

@RTB, South Park reference? If it was intentional I liked it. Well done.

ZFC commented on 11/02

Have you heard of ebanned?

MRA commented on 11/07

My wife went through menopause last year. The loss of that intoxicating scent from her pussy is something I miss so much I could see myself doing this. $100? No problem.

jm commented on 11/09

Good job girl! I actually am a poor college student selling my panties lol. It isn't bad at all, I kinda like it! www.chloescollegepanties.com Just in case someone gets curious... :)

CS commented on 11/14

I sell my panties too. And I would love to have buyers like she does. penelopespanties.tripod.com

PP commented on 11/15

i'd take a free pair..who says i would sniff em

rot commented on 11/16
 

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