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August 18, 2009

Quriky – Product Research and Production Rolled into One

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Attention all inventors (and wanna be inventors, because all that’s stopping you is most likely a platform to develop your project)! Quirky, a new social product development website, is here to help.

Social product development is a mix between social networks and product development. It’s expensive to go out and have your idea examined by a team of people, so why not let the users on Quirky do that for you?

At Quirky, you can do one of two things. You can sign up your idea for the weekly contest and go against other inventors to see who has the best idea, based on the community’s votes, and at the end of the week Quirky will make your product available. Once a certain number of people commit to your product, they’ll produce it.

The other option is to become a part of the community yourself and actually vote on these products as well as give your input on what you think could make the product better or worse.

Quirky gives everyone an opportunity to make cash as well. For every product sold, 30% of each dollar goes back to the Quirky community. So if you voted for the winning product one week and gave some input on it, you could get a percentage of that $.30 of every dollar. That might seem confusing, but once you sign up and get started you’ll understand it quickly.

Practical Uses:

  • Invent a product without paying the expensive cost of a research group to gain important insights
  • Submit your concept for a new toddler toy
  • Use the community to conjure up names for your gadget in progress

Insider Tips:

  • Sign up and do the survey given to you when you click the link in the confirmation email and receive a $20 Quirky credit
  • Before submitting a project, get to know the community by giving input on other peoples projects first
  • Posting others projects on social networking sites will earn you respect in the community as well as some more cash

What we liked:

  • Quirky provides important feedback on your ideas; if it’s a bad idea, people will tell you why
  • The best ideas get the best reward: production!
  • It’s a great way to get involved with other projects to make money and get your own creative juices flowing

What we didn’t like:

  • Inventors are paid only 40% of every dollar brought in
  • Anyone can join the community and give input meaning some ideas are less than stellar
  • No copyright protection for ideas posted, meaning someone could turn around and steal your concept before it’s implemented

Alternatives:

  • We haven’t seen anything quite like Quirky

Company Info:

  • Launched: May 2009
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: New York City
  • Founded by: Ben Kaufman
  • Web site: http://www.quirky.com

Costs:

  • Free to join the community, $99 to post a product idea
  • $10/weekly to post an already submitted idea (if it didn’t get picked the first time around)

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