we are so not alone

[helenr]

I have been selling vintage lingerie items on Ebay. This past week I sold 8 items-vintage firm control girdles, plain knit stockings-all but one to male purchasers. While hardly a statistical cross section of males,it is interesting to me to see the percentages. I might wonder if a sale or two might be to men buying presents for their girlfriends to model, but clearly I don't quiz buyers. I am impressed that these buyers don't hide their identies as I personally have and do when I purchase lingerie-the first initial instead of a name. I am of an older generation (62) and still harbor embarassment and some shame.
I wonder if the true number of crossdressers/transgendered individuals far exceeds any current 'estimates' whatever they might be.
In any event, I am glad for these buyers as I doubt females have any personal interest in boned corsets and stockings of any sort, based upon my observations.

[Karren H]

I "tainted" one of my ebay I'd's by buying a ton of fem stuff and had to create a new one what the rest of the family could see.. Lol. And ebay has gotten better about letting you see what other people are buying..

And I don't even know what a good published estimate of crossdressers would be to compare to.. All I know is when ever I'm out shopping for fem stuff... There is never any guys doing the same.. So based on my limited dataset... And knowledge its approaching 1 crossdresser in the US (me) and you girls are all lying! Lol.

So what ya selling today? Anything good?

[jenniferj]

I tend to agree with Karren - with a very few exceptions, I have never seen another obvious girl like us when I am out(also a rare event) as JJ doing "civilian" things.

I did write a while ago about a girl I saw in Heathrow (I was guy-me at the time), and on our last Chicks'CultureWeekend I saw two or three of us while shopping at Bloomie's. DSW didn't notice them - they were so much better at it than I am and that I think maybe I saw subtle things that she just missed.

This would suggest that most of the estimates of our fraction of the population are too high (so few are spotted), but I also dressed for nearly 50 years before venturing out for the first time and thus would not have been counted. So, some of us are so good at it that few people notice us and most of us are too scaredy-cat to go out. I don't think we can infer anything from this type of data...

BTW, if Karren and I were to go out shopping or something, few people would detect her secret - they would all be looking at me (for my obviousness), if anybody cared at all. Which most people don't.

-jj

[KandisTX]

Most of my eBay purchases have been for femme clothing. I have bought vintage lingerie among other femme clothing items on eBay with very few purchases that were not. I think that with the advent of sites like eBay it has made it so much easier for closeted dressers to be able to purchase their things.

Kandis

[Krista1985]

That is interesting that the buyers don't bother to shield their identities,

It seems that your customers don't care who knows what they are buying, or they don't know how to keep their purchase anonymous. But if your customers are that open, than statistics on how many of us are in a given population should be easier to come by.

I've seen estimates that range from 1 CD/TG/TS in 5,000 genetic males to 1 CD/TG/TS in 20 genetic males. I suppose the large margin of error could be due to variations in the definitions (CD/TG/TS) employed by the statisticians, or their methodological approach, or even the sample populations used to compile their data.

Some research is clearly agenda driven, other reports seem to be genuinely scientific and impartial. At times it can be hard to tell the difference. But no matter what the contents of the report, or the diligence of the researcher(s), I truly believe our numbers exceed official estimates. Some of us may not consider ourselves to fit a researchers definition, others would simply lie outright to anyone collecting such data, heck some of us are in outright denial. At any rate these 'hits' will be recorded as 'misses' and so the data will be unreliable.

[Thalia]

It's my opinion that cders like the "uncomfortable" vintage corsets and bras while ggs don't look sexy in them. In actuality, they're not really attractive. I can't understand the appeal.

[Eve_WA]

My ebay purchases are about 50/50

50% femme things,

50% car parts.... LOL Im sure that makes people wonder...

[helenr]

neat replies. to Karen, I will be listing some sweet Vanity Fair panties and tap pants shortly--amazing the appeal of these items. I am sure that few would believe this, but I have seen prices paid for the vintage ones go into the hundreds of dollars! Maybe some of the rich oil merchants like to have something comfy and sweet under their suits or robes.
Re the comments about statistics, surely there so many variations-think some of the men customers just like something feminine to relieve the pressure of being a male-a pair of nylon panties work wonders! Others like the cruel restriction of a corset. I no longer wish to wear a highwaisted firm control girdle all day long! I have, and it gets rough by 5 PM. My Silk Reflection waist smoothers are comfortable for 16-18 hours a day, daily. why torture yourself-meds killed the fetish part for me.
Yes, as most of us need to present in drab-pretty Karen sure can get made up so nice to pass-must be a real thrill to shop in a mall and not get 'read'--maybe better when the young teens are in school-they are notorious for observing a crossdresser-sharper eyed and more critical--real numbers will be impossible to obtain.

[Karren H]

Shhhh... Pass is a 4 letter word! Lol. And I don't... Ohhh and I love my corsetts so torture me.

[AlisonRenee]

It's my opinion that cders like the "uncomfortable" vintage corsets and bras while ggs don't look sexy in them. In actuality, they're not really attractive. I can't understand the appeal.

Maybe the attraction is to items that we first tried on long ago, because it brings back that first pink-fog experience.

I "tainted" one of my ebay I'd's by buying a ton of fem stuff and had to create a new one what the rest of the family could see..

I've got two eBay accounts - one exclusively for femme buys, created for that purpose only. I don't cross the streams.

[Jannette H]

Ladies,
Ebay is not a good place to shop if you don't want to leave a paper trail. My SO checks on all purchases even Paypal that comes out of our account.
If you want to get caught thats the way. Jannette ony buys on Ebay with my SOs permission It keeps ever thing nice.

[lavistaa62]

When my daughter was interviewing for college one of the school's counselors caught my eye. She evidently caught my daughter's eye as well because afterward she asked if I'd seen the redhead (we had been talking about how nicely people dressed in the city). I said yes, why? Well she was so pretty and nicely dressed she answered. I kept it to myself that I had noticed an adam's apple underneath her scarf when she was adjusting it... No question after spending a good 10-15 minutes making sure- discretely in my mind but I'm sure the poor counselor caught on. As it turned out she also conducted the interview, which was not an accident I'm also sure. My daughter came out and was all a twitter about how nice the school was and how helpful everyone was. Never a word or notice about the counselor. I'm 100% confident that had my daughter copped she would have said something to me so I'm sure she was entirely unaware. That was actually the first time I've ever seen another TG/CD (I am not sure which) and it was very inspirational; she truly was beautiful and not just in a half - hearted way but in the confident, knows how to dress to look her best sort of a way.

[trannie T]

I suspect that vintage lingerie may appeal more to a person buying it as a fetish than to a woman buying it for herself. This would lead to a higher number of men buying your items. It would be interesting to see who buys everyday clothing.

eBay is often like a cyber thrift store,one can find some good deals. I am currently bidding on a denim skirt and respectfully request that the rest of you keep your paws off of it.

[Amy Lynn3]

I have almost a thousand transactions on Ebay. Very few transactions are for ladies wear, but when they are I never cover my true idenity. I do most of my shopping in the retail stores and it becomes a hoot at times. I love to shop retail or online, as long as its for ladies wear.

[sherri52]

Some males find it easier to buy on ebay as the seller doesn't see a face

[Susan.]

I buy everything under my wife's ebay account (I don't have one), so you don't necessarily know the gender of your buyers.

[Satrana]

Ebay presents an interesting case study for CDing. Whenever I have spotted something very feminine like classic corsetry or petticoats then there are always a lot of bidders, most of them anonymous, who push the price up very high. I am pretty sure I am bidding against other CDs exclusively since I doubt if GGs would be interested in bidding high prices for such items and would not bother registering as anonymous.

[helenr]

I have in the past communicated with some female-I presume-ebay sellers via my 'penname' that I use for lingerie, girdle purchases. I present to them, naturally, as Helen. I find it interesting that they are well aware who purchases their Estate items and wish only to have Large and X Large sizes as, clearly, size 34-36 stuff doesn't sell as it won't fit most men. I think this experience has been highly educational for them-an eyeopener and perhaps an opportunity to learn more about our diversity.
I do object to the fetish focused sellers who stress the sissy appeal of an item-clearly trying to ramp up interest by semi-arousal words. I think this is insulting and demeaning to our community. We 'can't' help how our brains are wired.
Ebay's requirement for paypal transaction has killed the money orders used in the past, alas, for those with wives that are more inquisitive.

[Dragster]

[quote=AlisonRenee;1949987]Maybe the attraction is to items that we first tried on long ago, because it brings back that first pink-fog experience.

That's certainly true for me Alison, it was my mother's boned hookside open bottom corset that got me started. It was really tight on me, and the excitement and pressure in a certain place triggered my very first orgasm! From then I was, literally, hooked. But I'm sure I had the attraction earlier, something must have prompted me to put the girdle on!

Unlike Thalia, I do get turned on by seeing women in them; girdles, corsets, corselettes, suspenders, nylons, longline bras, stark white, jet black or bright red, they all push my buttons! Come to think of it, I also get turned on by the thought of wearing most things that would turn me on if I saw a woman wearing them. I must add that, until I can get my wife interested in trying anything like that, my "voyerism" is confined to pictures and film clips (there's loads on YouTube!). I'm a one woman guy, but if I could get her into bed with BOTH of us in this kind of lingerie, I'd feel like I'd gone to heaven......

Tony