StashCan Hits quirky’s Online Store

Seriously, at no point during the design process did anyone realize that the current design for the StashCan would be so prohibitively expensive? Exactly at what point did the Quirky team come up with the math that involved preselling a non existent trash can at more than $50, and needing a threshold of 1800+ to put it into production? If it was during the design process, then why wasnt there some kind of community meeting involving a redesign that would place its sale in the realm of reality?

Ben said that presales were our responsibility, and thats all fine and good, but on what planet did you guys figure we could sell 1870 $50 trash cans? The fact that this didnt even make the front page is proof enough that you guys know we wont be able to sell enough to get it out of presale.

Honestly, I think that if the community had been given the option to either redesign it so its price and threshold were reasonable, or leave it the way it is now, most would have chosen the former given the knowledge that it would be so expensive. As is, though, I dont know why you would bother putting an item up you know we couldnt sell enough of to get out of presale, and with numbers like those, theres no way you didnt know this would be the case.

I agree with one of the comments on the product page, we’re going to need a couple of bulk orders to even begin thinking about selling this product.

I disagree that $50 is prohibitive. I worked in a kitchenware store and people paid over $100 all the time for a difficult to use bullet trash can with non of the ease of use features of this one.

Hey guys-

Important to remember, Kat is right. This price was not so much driven by design– but sheer size & plastic amount. Threshold is a similar game. This product is 15x (conservatively) the size of our other products $50/$60 dollars in the upright trashcan market (do some googlin’) is a bargain.

We believe that this can get to threshold. I actually think this is one of our best products yet.

I have to agree that people will spend a lot of money for unique products that meet their needs. That said (and I have an under-counter kitchen bin, so maybe I’m not the consumer here), the fact that this can won’t stand flush against a counter or wall is a real bummer. Space in most kitchens is at a premium and — though this design is aesthetically pleasing and wonderfully functional — that could be an impediment to strong sales. Just sayin’.

I agree, $50+ for a trashcan isnt particularly prohibitive. At the culinary school I trained at, we used copper plated cans as a means of controlling bacteria, and those go for much more than the StashCan does. The amount of money it is going to take to put it into production, however, is prohibitive. Considering we dont actually have a physical product to sell, we have to sell people on the idea alone. In this case, we have to convince people to buy our most expensive product at a volume more than three times that of any other of the cheaper products we offer here based entirely on our word. In the context of Quirky, having a product idea that is nearly twice as expensive as anything else here, with a threshold that is more than three times that of anything else here, has to be considered prohibitive on at least some level.

In the end, actions speak louder than words. For being one of the “best products yet”, it never spent a second on the front page, and reassurance from Ben came after only 2 negative-esque comments on the product page. Personally, I hope this product, one that was banished to the presales page immediately, and needed immediate defense, does make it to production. It would be the biggest morale boost to the community since the Split Stick made it into production. Gotta cheer for the underdog, even if theyre an underdog in an overwhelming fashion.

It didn’t spend a second on the front page because of its product number on a purely basic level. 16 products are on sale in some form or another, thats numbers 1 through 16. Highest 3 in terms of product number make front page so in this case 16, 15 and 14.

This is simply how the front page has been run from an outsiders perspective, I have no facts or understanding of decisions made within Quirky HQ, but to some degree a decision must have been made somewhere to not make an exception for Stash Can.

I don’t wish for the current products to be removed from the front page, but it would be logical to include more products on the front page. Maybe the 5 or 6 most recent products? Cordies could do with some more front page action for sure.

@Ben You also stated in your comment on Stash Can’s product page that you were actively pursuing wholesale orders, does this mean you aren’t solely relying on the Quirky community and their social sales to meet threshold anymore? You defensively stated a short while back that it was our responsibility to bring a product to threshold but this model has only worked for 4/16 products so far, and the remaining 12 products aren’t all that close to hitting threshold just on social sales alone. Are you actively pursuing whole sale orders for these as well? (and by that I don’t mean waiting for an email requesting a wholesale order!)

1.) I think this one will meet threshold. It might take a while, but it will make it. It looks great. And it’s NOT expensive. So called “designer” trash cans are crazy crazy expensive. It’s why I don’t own one. But a lot of people do. And when it does, you folks are going to be thrilled it was priced where it was.

2.) @M: there may only be 4 products in production, and none of the others may be close to reaching the tipping point yet, but they will. Cordies, Kickster and BobbleBrush have all got a real shot.

3.) I’d be curious as well to have a little more insight into the wholesale marketing process. Even a success story or two would be nice. Can anyone provide a link to any retail (online or brick and mortar) outlet that is selling (or plans to sell) any of the “in production” products?

@Binaryorganic
The only case I can think of without knowing any inside info would be ThinkGeek buying the largest amount of digi dudes compared with anybody else during presale phase, you can see this by expanding the digidude section of their profile here on Quirky http://www.quirky.com/users/3375/influence

@M- Ahhh, youre right. I hadnt realized that the StashCan’s project number was so low. Given that info, yeah, I dont think its placement on the sales page was an intentional move. There was such a huge gap between the time the project was finished, and the time it went up for sale, that three newer projects had already beaten it to the punch. Maybe just a victim of circumstance.

@binaryorganic- Projects here seem to have a certain window of success. With new projects up for sale every few weeks, people are forced to constantly shift their focus to keep up. One thing to keep in mind is that getting out of preorders is just the beginning. Something could take forever to get out of preorders, but that very slow trickle of sales may not be enough to actually keep it in production.

Actually, I think these are good questions. Once a product goes into production, what kind of numbers would it have to keep up to stay in production? Is there some kind of deal that allows you to produce items on demand, or at least in small numbers, so that you dont have to spend money on having a ton of them produced only for sales to fall short?

And I like binaryorganic’s third suggestion. I know that DigiDudes got a bulk order, but have any of the other items in production seen a bulk order from some retail outlet? Would be a huge confidence booster to know the DigiDudes bulk order came from somewhere like Spencer Gifts, or some other popularly known retailer.

I can see Quirky having products in specialty retailers like “Sharper Image” and “Brookstone.” A Quirky page in SkyMall would also be awesome. We as a community have to push these products. If we all commit to posting one story/article/post on one site a day the impact would be tremendous.

I will tell you if I’m ever lucky enough to get a product listed for sale (fingers crossed on my macbook wrist/hand protector) I will work harder than that Geico Lizard to boost sales.

Three comments…

Actually, I’m surprised you guys kept the threshold this low. A production run of this size is not worth manufacturing in small numbers.

You did a fantastic job with the final design of this can! It’s truly a designer can that does not belong in a closet or under a sink.

The cost of a so called High End Designer Can such as this can be well over $100. My only regret is the name. This can deserves a better name.

I believe you, the Quirky Team, have proven that you can take what most of us thought was a bomb and turned it into a piece of art!

Nice Job Ben and Team.

@mccoy

The Sharper Imagine no longer exists as its own independent chain of stores. They all closed. Shaper Image now sells through its own website, through retail partners, and in wholesale. The post-bankruptcy Sharper Image would not be a terrible model for Quirky to follow.

I agree that Quirky needs to start building up their wholesale sales channel to start moving some product outside of this website alone, especially through retailers. We need some nice bulk sales of many of these products to get them out of pre-sales and to maintain them in production.

I can’t believe we’re not seeing evidence of products being sold through other sales channels.

There need to be some adjustments to the community-influenced design process to be sure; and these have been discussed extensively in the comments of various projects. But the most glaring omission is the lack of sales being attempted outside of the Quirky community.

Also, your comment about we all need to do more. Until quirky hands out influence for doing so, there will not be a perceptible effort to do so by the community. Maybe, the original submitter of an idea may feel that they have a vested interest in getting the product out there, since their share is quite substantial already. Not to mention the fact that they will get nothing if the product doesn’t get made. But the rest of the community won’t do much until there are clear defined ways for them to do so and to get influence for doing so.

If nothing, this is a process and community that seems to learn from its mistakes. Hope the learning process does not drag out too long.

,..] aquirkyblog.com is one another nice source of tips on this topic,..]

what are the dimensions and or the capacity?