Like most in the industry, Ari Suss had an interest in fetish long before he founded the online bondage and fetish store eXtremeRestraints.com. While working for the Coca Cola Company, Suss began a part-time eBay business shipping fetish gear around the country. Eventually, the small post office box at Coke, which Suss used as a shipping address, became inundated with packages, and Suss quit the soda company to focus on his fetish business full time. In 2000, Suss started eXtreme Restraints with business partner and fellow fetishist Kelly Eberhard Allen.
The company, and every single store hosted by eXtreme Restraints, prides itself on its products. Professional photographers are hired to shoot the site’s 1,500 novelty items being put to good use by attractive male and female models. In 2006, the company introduced online video tutorials for a select number of items. Potential customers now have the option of learning exactly how a new Fucking Machines model works and how to make an educated decision about purchasing.
Today, eXtreme Restraints operates custom stores for Kink.com and FetishNation, and the company last year added Jenna Jameson to its client list—major coups for anyone in the industry.
“We have a very powerful website that allows customers to really learn about products, and we feel our visitors can make a good buying decision based on that,” says Suss. “We always think of our customer first, and if we make them happy, then we’ll make affiliates happy.”
Suss’ background in marketing and finance and Allen’s experience in IT were a perfect match for eXtreme Restraints. Sales skyrocketed for the company, and an affiliate program was launched in 2004. The program is partnered with more than 1,000 affiliates. Suss believes his hands-on approach to the company is a key element to its success. Each item in the company’s 1,500-piece inventory is hand-picked and approved by Suss.
“I’d rather have 1,500 hand-chosen items that I feel comfortable endorsing and selling than 15,000 I haven’t taken an interest in. Our product line is what makes us unique,” he says.
The company last year opened a wholesale fetish and novelty site, and while eXtremeRestraints.com continues to operate as the company’s flagship store, its gay counterpart, BoyzShop.com, remains as busy as ever. Suss later launched JennasLoveShop.com—named for a former flame—to begin selling BDSM gear, lingerie, adult DVDs, and more to a softer, female audience. The future for Suss and his company includes the launch of eXtreme Restraints’ own product line and its first steps in branding.
Given the success of the company and excitement about the new product line, Suss says there is no other place he’d rather be than firmly entrenched in the online adult industry.
“I’ve always been fascinated with the bondage and fetish scene, so it was a great fit that I could run one of the biggest online retailers,” he says. “I think the main reason we understand the market is because we are the market.”
