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Posts Tagged ‘influence’

  • Wed, Mar 28 2012

    How to: Collaboration Tools!

    By c tran at 2:00 pm

    Hi all! While you’re evaluating your fellow inventors’ ideas you’ve probably thought: “There’s something missing here and I know what it is!”  Now, you can help your peers hone their ideas by using the Collaborative Suggestion tool: a new part of Quirky that lets you submit great suggestions to ideas that drive those ideas forward. Not only can you collaborate to improve ideas on Quirky, but you will potentially be rewarded with influence for your suggestions.

    Here’s how it works as an Influencer:
    -Submit suggestions to ideas by placing the mouse cursor over the main text of a submission and clicking on the pencil icon that appears
    -Change the text to what you think it should be and/or upload images you think are useful
    -Explain your changes so the Ideator knows why you think this change will help improve their idea
    -Mark the change as either “minor” (grammatical fixes, etc.) or “major” (shifts in concepts, new images, etc.)

    Here’s how it works as an Ideator:
    -Suggestions you have received are indicated at the top of your idea’s page
    -Click on an individual suggestion to see the before-and-after versions
    -Either “accept” or “reject” the suggestion based on whether you think it helps improve your idea
    -”Merge” the suggestion with your idea by making any final edits

    Here’s the breakdown of influence:
    -Major edits that are accepted are eligible for influence for ideas that are chosen.
    -6% product influence is allotted to Collaborative Suggestions
    -No influence is taken from the Ideator’s share so you can accept suggestions without giving up any of your own influence
    -If more than one major edit is accepted, the 6% influence will be divided equally amongst collaborators
    -If no major suggestions are accepted then that 6% influence becomes a part of the community voting influence

    • 3 Comments
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  • Wed, Mar 28 2012

    Influence for Similar Ideas

    By nathan at 10:32 am

    As we have made changes to our process to address the issue of similar submissions, we have attempted to create a system that protects people who submit unprecedented ideas. We now have a mechanism for surfacing ideas that are similar to those we place Under Consideration. We review these similar ideas, and if it is determined that an idea we are interested in has been submitted previously, in a form that encompasses the aspects that interest us, we reward the inventor credit to the submitter of the original idea.

    After seeing this system work for products such as the Double Sided Iron, and the Emergency Sign, we have decided to make an adjustment to the process. Moving forward, and applying retroactively to the Emergency Sign, and Double Sided Iron, we are going to reward 10% of product influence to the submitter, voters, comp shoppers, and revisionists (revisioners?) of the ideas that make it to Eval, but are ultimately not selected because of an earlier, similar submission. This influence will not come come out of the 60% allotted normally for Eval.

    We have come to this decision because it is our goal to reward people for influencing the development of Quirky products. It is clear that the submissions that spark our interest in an idea are influential, even if those submissions are ultimately not selected because of a prior idea. We want to make sure the users that contribute to those catalyst ideas are not left unrewarded.

    • 4 Comments
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  • Mon, Oct 10 2011

    Voting Influence & Rating Changes

    By shirley at 8:00 pm

    Howdy Quirks, quite an exciting day!

    Influence for voting has changed with the new Product Evaluation Process (Beta). People will receive influence if an idea they voted for moves into “Under Consideration”. Even if that idea doesn’t end up winning, voters will get influence in the final idea chosen by Quirky. The point is that we need the community to tell us which ideas they’re most excited about. So you’ll be rewarded for bubbling up the top ideas, not just the winning idea.

    Votes cannot be cast on ideas after they’re moved into “under consideration”. Obvious because of the influence thang, but I still wanted to point it out.

    You still have unlimited votes, and voting influence is still weighted according to how many votes you’ve cast. Since evaluation will remain open constantly, the weighting will look at how many votes you cast in the past 7 days.

    Ratings have gone on vacation. They will be back soon. Don’t worry!

    The definitive blog post about Earning Influence has been updated with the changes to voting. Please continue to refer to that when wondering what else you could do on Quirky.

    • 19 Comments
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  • Wed, Jul 20 2011

    Cash money business.

    By rob at 9:12 pm

    As some of you might have heard, tonight we’re paying out a whole bunch of money to the community.

    One-hundred-sixteen thousand, three-hundred sixty-nine dollars and sixty-seven cents ($116,369.67) to be exact.

    Tomorrow when you wake up (provided you live in a US timezone) take a look at your Quirky account balance. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you find!

    As orders from retail partners (and the associated payments from said retail partners) continue to roll in, expect to see more blockbuster pay days like this one in the near future.

    • 4 Comments
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  • Thu, Jun 2 2011

    Regarding bulk presales orders

    By rob at 4:09 pm

    There’s been increased interest from community members about purchasing more than 25 units of a product in presales. While we have had a policy in place since September of last year, the terms weren’t clearly defined so I want to clarify exactly how bulk orders work.

    We allow Quirky community members to place a presale commitment for up to 25 units of any product. As a community member, you are guaranteed presale influence as long as you complete your commitment within the set timeframe after the product becomes available for shipping, and otherwise comply with the terms and conditions governing your use of quirky.com.

    If you want to place a commitment for more than 25 units for any products, it is no longer considered a standard customer order and there are different rules and restrictions.

    You will not receive presales influence for more than 25 units.

    You must pay up front, in full for all units in a bulk order.

    You must sign a retail term agreement.

    If you want to commit to more than 25 units here’s what to do.

    1. Place a commitment for 25 units as you normally would through your Quirky account. This will guarantee that you are eligible for presales influence, subject to your compliance with the conditions detailed above.

    2. Email questions@quirky.com and let us know how many additional units you want of which product.

    3. A member of the Quirky finance team will reach out to you with a credit card authorization form and a retail term agreement that will need to be completed, signed and sent back to Quirky.

    If you have any questions feel free to submit them as comments on this post, or you can email them to questions@quirky.com.

    • 3 Comments
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  • Sun, May 29 2011

    Starting tomorrow, a new kind of project.

    By rob at 3:28 pm

    Tomorrow morning we’re going to be launching a new kind of project. Instead of starting with Ideation, this project is going to start with Product Research.

    Here’s the deal.

    A retail partner came to us asking us to make a specific product. Since there won’t be an evaluation phase, the 50% influence that’s normally divvied up during evaluation is going to be split up amongst the various design phases.

    Here’s what you need to know.

    The  product they’re looking for is an iPad stand that can fit in a cupholder. Don’t just think about cars here, there’s other things with cupholders like treadmills and movie theater seats (although that would be pretty obnoxious).

    We’re going from sketch to store in one week on this one. Each phase is going to only last around a day, so make sure to check back frequently and participate as much as possible.

    • 14 Comments
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  • Mon, Nov 1 2010

    Unlimited Voting For All!

    By jess at 1:00 pm

    The days of figuring out where you’re gonna assign your 3 votes in Quirky Product Evaluation are over.

    Starting today, you’ll be given unlimited votes for the Product Evaluation phase. Woohoo!

    However, there is a caveat: the amount of influence you can earn from voting is directly tied to how many votes you cast.

    What does this mean? Well, say you vote for a winning idea. You’ll receive more influence if you only voted for two ideas in the round and less influence if you voted for 20.

    Moral of the story? Use your votes wisely! We’re counting on you to bubble up the best ideas each week. With great power comes great responsibility. Do us proud.

    • 42 Comments
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  • Mon, Oct 18 2010

    International Taxation Of Your Influence $

    By jovena at 3:05 pm

    Payouts to our international community of influencers are growing, so it’s time to talk about taxes. Boo. Hiss. Our CPAs looked into the rules and confirmed: payouts to international influencers are subject to United States taxes.

    Quirky must withhold a percentage of your payout based on the applicable tax treaty, if any, between our countries. Percentages withheld under tax treaties will generally range between 5-15% and are submitted directly to the Internal Revenue Service. Please note, if no treaty exists between the United States and your nation, Quirky must withhold 30% of the payout amount for payment to the Internal Revenue Service.

    So, here’s how it’s going to go down. If you’re the lucky first person in your entire country to receive a Quirky payout, you’ll need to give us a week or two to figure out if a treaty exists. You can help us by shooting us an email if you know you’ll be the first in your country to request a payout. We’ll do our best to get a head start on the research.

    • 2 Comments
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  • Mon, Oct 11 2010

    Product Rewards (Products 36 & Under)

    By ben kaufman at 11:56 am

    This e-mail was sent to all affected influencers this morning.

    ——————

    Hello there,

    In early 2010 we announced a change to our Terms and Conditions which stated that product ideas submitted after 03/01/2010 would carry a different reward structure due to the margin constraints associated with expanding the Quirky business into retail.

    At that time, we said that we would try to honor the prior Terms and Conditions for products that were submitted prior to the end of February 2010. And we have.

    Over the past few weeks, however, we’ve found ourselves in a tricky situation.

    As we’ve worked to increase our distribution, retailers have shown interest in some of our earlier products. This is great news. However, because of the old reward structure associated with these products, we found ourselves deciding between:

    a. Not selling a product at retail

    b. Quirky losing money every time a product is sold at retail

    That right there said it all for us. We’ve said all along that Quirky’s biggest strength is the fact that our interests, and our inventor/customer/influencer interests, are always fully aligned. When I found myself having to choose between one or the other, we realized it was time to go back to the root of the issue.

    By changing the reward structure on our early products (Product #36 and under) to the same structure as our current and future products, we solve the problem in a fair way.

    Retailers that want our products, get them. Inventors and influencers who worked hard on products that have not yet taken off, get a new breath of opportunity.

    With this, Quirky can move forward with fully aligned interests between inventors, influencers, and retailers. If a product is great, we all succeed.

    This change will go into effect immediately, and I hope to be making a big announcement related to retail distribution within the next week or so.

    Thank you, and buckle up — things are about to get interesting.

    Ben

    Ben Kaufman
    Founder


    Oh, and the suits told me to say:

    You are receiving this correspondence because you have been allocated Influence in one or more Accepted Product Ideas produced on or before 3/1/2010. Prior to March 1, 2010, Quirky allocated 30% of Product Sales Revenue to Users that had been allocated Influence in the underlying Accepted Product Idea. On 3/1/2010, Quirky amended its Terms of Use (the “Current Terms”) to allocate to Users 30% of Product Sales Revenue from retail sales and 10% of all Product Sales Revenue from wholesale sales. This change was necessitated due to the significantly lower gross margins received by Quirky from wholesale sales. Quirky would like to pursue wholesale sales for certain Accepted Product Ideas produced prior to 3/12010, but is only willing to pursue these sales if the resulting Product Sales Revenue is allocated under the Current Terms (e.g. Users would be allocated 10% of the Product Sales Revenue from these wholesale sales). Therefore, unless you or the other Users who have been allocated Influence in these Accepted Product Ideas specifically object in writing prior to 10/12/2010, all future sales by Quirky will be allocated among its Users consistent with the Current Terms. All initial capitalized terms used herein shall have the meaning ascribed thereto in the Current Terms.

    • 9 Comments
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  • Fri, Jun 25 2010

    Pre-Sale Deal Changes: Pivot Power & Onward

    By ben kaufman at 1:03 pm

    We’re gearing up to launch Pivot Power (which we all adore), but I’d like to bring to your attention a few minor changes we’ll be making to the pre-sale phase on Quirky, beginning with today’s launch.

    1. There will no longer be free shipping in the U.S. associated with pre-sale. Instead we will provide as aggressive a discount as we’re able to.

    2. People that buy in pre-sale will be shipped a laser-etched version of the product, with the # of the unit that they committed to. (also known as awesome)

    Remember: committing in pre-sale actually makes you money on every unit that ships, anywhere in the world… in perpetuity.

    Your purchase immediately makes you an influencer in the product. By way of example, someone who committed to Cloak in pre-sale earned 0.038% influence in the product. They are all set to make close to half their money back on their purchase ($15.37), just by getting in early. Pretty soon, they’ll have gotten the Cloak for free (due to reward payments equaling their purchase price), and then it won’t be long until they’re in the green.

    Getting in on pre-sale is powerful. Numbers with as many decimals as 0.038 sound really small. But once the product goes into distribution, and we start talking in terms of hundreds of thousands of units, we’re talking real money. Selling just 100,000 units of Cloak would net a participant in pre-sale nearly 500 dollars. Insane!

    We realize that the site needs to do a better job of telling this story to stimulate more pre-sales… and we’re working on it.

    • 7 Comments
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