We’re all familiar with the adage, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” But if Cory Silverberg had his way, wedged somewhere between the two extremes would be sex.

“People aren’t going to stop having sex,” says Silverberg, co-owner of Toronto sex shop Come As You Are. And during a recession, he says the number of opportunities for sex seems to multiply. “Especially if you have a lot of people that are out of work, they have a lot more time on their hands.”

Silverberg says it would be too easy to say economy-driven stress inhibits relaxation and, as a result, sexual activity. Instead, he taps sex as a solution for many who use it as an escape or to reduce anxiety.

Surveys support that finances don’t necessarily thwart fornication. A recent telephone poll by American buyer advocacy magazine Consumer Reports found a failing financial system didn’t slow sex lives of nearly 80 per cent of respondents.

And while other goods are seeing curbed consumption, condom sales appear to be growing. Media research firm The Nielsen Company reported a six per cent rise in the contraceptive’s U.S. sales in January, over the previous year.

But, even if people aren’t sacrificing the most intimate of pleasures when times are tight, Silverberg holds that’s no reason to be confident about his store’s presently sustained sales of sex toys. People don’t need sex toys to have sex, but he says you can at least try to get more bang for your buck.

“What we’re seeing is that people are buying more expensive stuff, because it’s better quality,” says Silverberg. “People are buying fewer things but paying more and going for things that are going to last longer.”

Losing your job may restrict one’s ability to splurge on sex, but Come As You Are offers a sliding scale of toys for both genders. From budget vibrators at $12, through mid-range fleshlights starting at $65, to luxury dildos that exceed $100, the store caters to a cross-section.

That wide appeal is established in the store’s name and is one Silverberg identifies as a motivation.

Come As You Are has an educational mandate; only selling toys, books and DVDs they’ve tested and reviewed to ensure no racism, homophobia or sexism makes its way into the store.

“There is no one way to be sexual and there is no one way to want to learn about sex,” he says. “But we wouldn’t do it any other way because we put a lot of ethics and morality into what we do.”