We've all got our kinks, but some are more difficult than others to satisfy. Every porn or sex shop sells vibrators and lube. It may even hawk strange and edible undergarments.
But what it doesn't have?
Horrendously smelly socks.
That's where our local Craigslist has come in. The underground sock trade -- possibly a new phenomenon, possibly not (few statistics were available on the matter) -- has sprouted in South Florida thanks to a cadre of Latin women selling their dirty socks for 25 bucks a pop.
"We basically wear the socks for a few days and get them really sweaty," Craigslist user 3956260718 explained to New Times over email. "Then we sell them. It's me and a couple of friends of mine. We've been in the foot fetish for a while. Now we are selling socks. We meet in a public place and do the exchange."
She adds: "This makes money."
With advertisements like these, how couldn't it?
It worked for one 31-year-old guy on Reddit who went by the name of TeamYMD. He put up one ad in 2001 as a joke, saying his socks had been worn by a "hot college jock." Over the next three years, he told the online magazine Daily Dot, he sold hundreds of pairs of used socks and ultimately made $10,000.
Pause. Absorb. Contemplate.
$10,000?!?
Now, just type in "women used socks" into ebay.com and nearly 400 entries pop up. This is a bold new era of commerce and capitalism. And our local South Florida gals -- who messaged us on Friday to decline further discussion of the dirty sock industry -- know it. "Wanna buy worn, stinky socks?" they query in one Craigslist post. "Of course we have to hit the gym to stay looking good and after a long hard workout, our socks are drenched in sweat and smelling so terribly good."
There are as many buyers as there are sellers. One posting urges women to rethink the entire dirty-sock paradigm. "When you take your socks off in the evening after a long day at work or a girls' night out, the smell is rather breathtaking sometimes and you're quick to toss them in the washing basket. Some men, however, would rather see you stuff them in an envelope and sell them for a small sum of money, so they can enjoy the sent of a lady's worn socks."
Yup:
But please, the sellers and buyers caution, serious inquiries only.
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