I bought this as a first flogger, and it's great for that. My girlfriend has a moderate pain tolerance, and it could give her that without any trouble. You can go anywhere from mild to moderate, though strong impacts won't work well. The colors are also great, since black/white, and black/pink aren't intimidating.
There are a few ways to use it, depending on what sensation you want to go for. If you hold back the suede falls, you get more of a thud. Otherwise, it gives a good mixture of sting and thud.
The flogging part is pretty straightforward -- just hold the tails together, then swing. After about 5 minutes of practice, I could hit where I was aiming at. You can hit pretty much any spot on the body (other than the face), since it's not that powerful.