What's Your Idea?

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 pursueing 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.

A: In line with the new business model, we are not immediately moving forward with manufacturing products that were selected at Eval. Your invention will be in the Review phase and will be reviewed on the same rolling basis as all other inventions. We know there was excitement around your idea and this will be factored into the evaluation process as we make decisions on which products to commercialize under our new model.

A: Our manufacturing partners are constantly evaluating inventions. They don’t just look at your submission once and make a decision – it’s an ongoing process. Sometimes they're focused on specific categories and will dedicate more resources to reviewing inventions in those categories (these are usually the categories represented in our Invention Challenges). 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.

A: Together with our manufacturing partners, we choose products based on an evaluation framework that includes: 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. We 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 up votes!).

A: Due to the amount of collaboration that happens with inventions and submissions, deleting a user (as in actually dropping their account) would cause a trickle-down effect of other collaborators losing their submissions. The platform would have no idea what to do with any influence the user has earned, nor would it know what to do with all of the orphaned inventions or collaboration entries. It is for this reason we do not simply “DELETE” accounts. However, we can change the account so that it is inaccessible, as well as remove all personal information from it. Please send an email to [email protected] with the subject line "Account Delete Request" and we'll make sure all of your personal data is deleted.

A: We are always adding to/amending the platform, so it’s possible that the submission area may be experiencing some temporary problems. Just shoot us a note at [email protected] with the subject "Site Help" and we’ll help you troubleshoot!

A: We take idea infringement very seriously. If you believe this has happened to you, send us an email at [email protected] with the subject line "Similar Invention" and make sure to include the invention ID number of your invention and the invention you believe has infringed on your idea. Make sure to check the date submitted to make sure it was submitted after your idea as well.

A: No! Quirky is a completely free platform for inventors and influencers.

A: Check out this blog to learn more about our royalty structure. For more details, visit: https://www.quirky.com/terms-of-service

A: As an inventor, if you need help building out your invention idea in the Concept phase before you submit it for Quirky to review, you can leverage the Quirky community to help you by distributing influence (aka a portion of your royalties). You distribute percentage points to the community to help on any or all of the Submission Projects: Features, Inspiration Sketches, Renders & Prototypes, and Pitch. Influence incentivizes community members to contribute to your idea by giving them a piece of the pie if the product makes it to market!

A: You’ll be eligible to withdraw your earnings once you’ve earned more than $50.00 and completed the Quirky Payee Information Form. Send any questions relating to payments to [email protected]

A: Good news! We have an e-shop! Quirky products are also sold in major retailers both online and in-store.

A: Quirky Inc. was launched in 2009 by Ben Kaufman. Through its collaborative platform, Quirky managed to bring more than 150 consumer products to market, with hits such as the Pivot Power Series and Cordies. In 2015, the focus of Quirky was to develop the Internet of Things through with its own line of connected home products, and its own running platform Wink. Things did not go as planned and Quirky, after selling Wink, filed for bankruptcy in September 2015. In December 2015, most of the assets of Quirky Inc. were bought by Q Holdings LLC, a group of experienced investors and entrepreneurs that have been successful at developing, marketing, licensing brands, and manufacturing a wide range of products for retail. Today Quirky is under the leadership of their president Gina Waldhorn, who joined the team at the beginning of 2017 to steward the revitalization of the platform. Since acquisition, the new Quirky team has been working on remodeling the platform so we can bring amazing new products to life.

A: The new Quirky entity (Q Holdings LLC) is not responsible for balances owed by legacy Quirky (Quirky Inc.), per the acquisition, and the balances have been reset to zero. Having said that, the company fully intends to integrate payment to inventors of legacy products that are commercialized going forward. If we are re-commercializing a product that you are an inventor or “influencer” on, we will be reaching out notify you that the product is back!

A: Although Q Holdings is not legally bound to honor or service the products that went to market before acquisition, we will do our best to help you. That being said; we will not have the ability to issue refunds or ship new units in these instances. Please note that our inventory is limited.

A: In December 2015 Quirky inc (the former Quirky entity which filed for bankruptcy) was acquired by the current Quirky entity Q Holdings LLC. While we, the new team managing Quirky, have bought company assets from “old” Quirky, Quirky+GE products were not part of the sale. We are also not a party in prior wholesale transactions between Quirky Inc and any retailer. Therefore, we are unable to service all products purchased under these circumstances. This is because we do not own or have rights to any physical units that exist in the marketplace or in inventory. We would advise that you reach out to the retailer you purchased the unit from.

A: Cashouts are paid 60 days after the end of each quarter. Our licensees report royalties 30 days after the end of the quarter. This gives us 30 days to upload royalties into the platform, distribute royalty rewards, collect payment information, and send out payments. 

A: Quirky Inc. went bankrupt and account balances were reset. We are currently paying royalties to all inventors, but if you earned royalties prior to 2016 those royalties are not reflected in your current account. We did not sell products and in turn cannot pay royalties owed from the previous company. More information on Quirky Inc. is available online, but we have no relationship with the previous company and cannot answer any questions about their business.