A: Quirky is a free community-led invention platform that brings real people’s ideas to life. Invention is hard. It requires a diverse set of skills, and it costs a lot of money. Everyday people have brilliant ideas but no way to see them become real products. Quirky makes inventing and selling products possible by pairing inventors with product designers and big manufacturing companies that can bring their ideas to life. Quirky is essentially the middle man between manufacturers who need innovative product ideas, and individuas with great ideas.

A: We’re constantly evaluating inventions. We don’t just look at your submission once and make a decision – it’s an ongoing process. Sometimes we’re focused on specific categories and we’ll dedicate more resources to reviewing inventions in those categories. But never fear! If your invention is sitting in the Review phase, it’s on our radar and is in the consideration set to bring to market. It may take days or months for us to get back to you on your specific invention, and if you don't hear from us it means we're not currently pursuing your invention. To see which inventions we have selected each month make sure you're signed up for the Quirky newsletter.

A: Ultimately the decision is made by Quirky manufacturing partners based on multiple different factors including: how unique the idea is, if it is patentable, if there is a market for the product, the competitive landscape, how viable it is to manufacture, and the manufacturer’s product development roadmap. They also take into account the market research conducted on quirky.com and the love the invention has received from the community in the form of contributions.

A: Quirky is a completely free platform for inventors and influencers.

A: Check out this blog article to learn more about our royalty structure. For all the nitty gritty details, visit our terms of service.

A: After you sign in to Quirky.com, you will be able to submit your invention ideas. You can work on your inventions on your own, or you can ask other Quirky community members for help. In exchange for the skills and services offered by the community, you will share “influence” with them, which means sharing a percentage of your royalties. Once you’re comfortable with the details of your invention, you will submit it to the Quirky team, who will review your invention for market potential. Quirky reviews inventions on a rolling basis and selects ideas to explore further for refinement (industrial design & renders) and viability testing (IP procurement, prototyping). If we think your invention is a winner, we’ll produce it! When it hits store shelves; you (and all the “influencers” from the Quirky community who helped you along the way) will share in the royalties earned on every unit that is sold.

A: Concept – This is where you give us details on your brilliant idea! You can keep your submission private (see more on that here) or make it public to get help from the Quirky community. Once you’re comfortable with the details of your invention, click to submit it. Review – This is the bucket of inventions that the Quirky team reviews on a rolling basis to identify ideas that we’d like to explore further. You’ll hear back from us on the status of your invention within 45 days of your invention being submitted. In this phase, you can no longer edit your idea and the focus shifts to the market research survey and crowdsourcing competitive products to better understand viability. Development – If your product made it to this phase, hooray! We think your idea is worth exploring further and we dedicate resources to refine the idea to understand its viability. This is where we create industrial design sketches & renders, materials testing, prototypes and pricing analysis to understand if your product has a place in the market. We’ll be sharing updates along the way as your invention is being refined. Production – If after refining the idea and doing viability testing, we believe we have found a winner, your invention will move into the Production phase. This is where your product is being built at the factory, on its way to hitting shelves soon! We’ll be refining elements like product name, tagline & packaging during this phase. Launched – Congrats – time to earn that cash! Your invention is now being sold. This is where we showcase your invention’s full journey and link to our Quirky Shop for shoppers everywhere to buy your invention. And don’t forget – every time it’s sold, you earn!

A: You should receive an email from us immediately after submitting your invention that confirms we received your idea. Quirky evaluates ideas on a continuous basis and will reach out to you if your idea has been chosen to move to Development. Make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter which contains important and timely updates.

A: If your idea is in the Review phase, it’s always in the consideration set. Don’t worry – your idea is safe in the Review phase and will continue to gather feedback from the community. We’ll be sure you’re the first to know if we’re interested in developing your invention. If we don't make your idea after 12 months you may request your IP back.

A: All legacy inventions (inventions submitted pre-bankruptcy) have been placed in the Review phase and will be reviewed on the same rolling basis as all other inventions. Even if your idea is 4 years old, we’re still considering it for development.