Please pay what is owed to the namethis.com community before you fck over the quirky too.

I certainly do not think the quirky community has not pulled its weight. I could not me more ecstatic with the fact that we’ve got 4 products through to production in less then 4 months. We’ve gone way beyond my expectations. And I am grateful.

My comment was meant to simply point out– that what is fantastic about the quirky model is that not everything gets made, but it takes a lot of pieces coming together, a lot of stars aligning, etc– to make a product real… just like in a real product development setting.

As it is said– necessity is the mother of invention. If something is not needed, and people don’t buy it there is no reason to make it/produce it.

My point in my previous comment was simply that, if it is needed– people will buy it– and it will get made. If its not, sobeit. That is what makes quirky great.

I apologies to any who misinterpreted the above.

Hugs Back (Your credit card will only be charged once your hug ships),
Ben

And I was kind of confused by your assertion that what makes Quirky great is that you “can’t [sell, market...] until [we] pull [our] weight.” If Quirky achieves greatness, it will be because you guys have found a way to create a community, harness its creativity, and turn it into products people want. The requirement that this same community buy the products before you commit to marketing them is one way to skin the cat, and it may be “great” for you, but I was truly shocked when I found out. I thought I was investing intellectual capital and didn’t know my $$ was part of the equation. I guess it’s partly a communication problem: Somehow the way the site presents everything made me think you guys were aggressively, publicly marketing the products from the get-go.

I hope you don’t think Quirky fans are disingenuous, Ben. I can love a product but not need it (just because I see a market for a product doesn’t mean I AM that market). Lots of people, out of concern for the economy or the environment or feng shui, do their best to buy only what they need or can at least really use. (Frankly, given my predilection for NOT spending, it’s amazing I’ve been wowed enough to pre-order three Quirky items!)

And with all due respect for the popularity of viral marketing, I have always found it offensive when friends with something to gain try to get me to buy something. (It’s nothing to do with the level of commitment to Quirky; I wouldn’t even let my daughter sell Girl Scout cookies!) I would never presume to tell a friend about a product unless I were truly sure it was something that would be of interest to her. Given that most of my friends are middle-aged women, the tech/hip nature of lots of these products does not make for a natural fit. It’s also hard to “sell” products that in reality may not ever become available. If someone needs something (a mouse pad, for example), they’re likely to find another one before the threshold is met.

I value transparency, clarity, reciprocity, and choice, and I hope you’ll be willing to entertain the notion that for some of us, the idea of perpetual royalty (while really, really appealing!) doesn’t always dovetail with the integrity with which we’ve chosen to spend and recommend.

Lots of hugs (they’re free!),
Stacy

there is an in depth plan in place to get these products out and commercialized once they hit pre-sale threshold. A plan which includes big box retailers, aggressive advertising spends, an extensive PR campaign, and much more.

With all that said, it is important to remember why pre-sales is there. Its our final check/balance before we go ahead an invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into producing a product. It is up to you, as Quirks to get this thing to threshold if you want to see it become a reality.

We provide you with many tools to make that easy, including social sales, etc. Presale commitments do not charge your card, they simply authorize until the product is ready to ship.

Beyond that, there is much incentive offered to all pre-sale committers through the ability to gain a perpetual royalty on the product. When was the last time you walked into a store, bought something, and then benefited from all the people who bought it after you?

You guys are visionaries, early adopters…. influencers– in the true sense of the word.

If you want something to happen, if you want to get a product made– you know how, spread the good word, throw down that credit card. convince your fellow community members that a product is a good one and worth the investment.

We are ready to sell, market, commercialize, and collectively profit from the ideas that hit threshold. But we can’t do that until you guys pull your weight.

And thats what makes quirky great.

-Ben Kaufman

Just seems a shame to let the product miss the holiday season really, add 2 months production time onto it and the pre sale orders will be the only ones delivered around Christmas.

@Nikki, I’ve really tried to push the social sales, honestly I have, over 2000 referrals, 10 sales. Was difficult getting it onto the tech blogs. A lot of forums don’t like people “advertising” even if you make it look like you are just sharing a cool product you have found.

So, if it’s totally up to the community to sell them, any of you Quirksters feel like buying a couple of hundred which you can then sell on at a profit??! eBay quirky product reseller anyone?

Laura Trevey