I recently submitted a product design of mine to Quirky.com and have realized that it’s not quite the end-all service that it claims to be. Here’s what I have gathered:
No matter how good or bad your product, it has to be a power strip or a container. Has it been done before? Doesn’t matter… unless they don’t understand your product’s value, then they will use that excuse as to why they can’t produce it.
Does it matter that your design would sell a billion units? No. What matters is that you get granny to vote for it… then it matters that you may be up against another power strip.
Speaking of power strips, my design was actually something akin to a power strip. I figured I had a chance with them right out of the gate. Well…. I found that their site doesn’t work well on the stock android browser (at least for Gingerbread), so no one who had a slightly older phone was able to vote with their phones. (Who uses a big computer anymore? Me. LOL) So, there went half the votes. Android is now the biggest operating system out there, so… who is in charge of their web design? It isn’t like it takes much code to straighten it out, either. So, my opinion of their technical savvy went out the window.
I luckily got the required number of votes. Thought I was in the door! But wait… then they called me. The person with whom I talked to didn’t understand it. What?? They were in NYC… ahhh… a sliding glass (pet door-esque) insert isn’t something most NYC’ers would know exists. They don’t have a lot of balconies there… or backyards for that matter.
So, after I spoke with this person, I still thought I had a foot in the door. Nope. In three days, they had discussed it and decided to go with a box to put pencils in. Whaaaa? Actually, I don’t know what they went for that week, but they said to me that “there are quite a few items on the market that deal with outdoor power supplies. WHATTTTT?? A company that keeps making different versions of the same “new products” thinks the market is saturated with something????
So, here’s what I do think is good about their “service”… You at least have a major place to show your design and claim it as yours.
Here is the mock-up I put on Quirky:
http://www.quirky.com/invent/618308
I got some really good feedback and lots of people stating they would buy one… especially here in South Florida!
So I am going to try to make one myself soon. I will update when (and if) I do.