Quirky is a clever new community portal based around the idea of product development. Submit an idea, other members of the community vote on it and the winner product gets made in a factory and everything.
The site promises to deliver a new product every few days, which is a pretty ambitious goal. The catch? You’ve got to hand over $99.00 to get your product idea on the board. Everything else is free.
I particularly like the fact that influencers (people who back a particular product) can earn money if their choice wins and goes to market.
It’s also neat that intellectual property stays with the product team, rather than the service, so you can run off and make your item elsewhere if you want.
There’s even a pre-sales shop where enthusiasts can put their name down for the item in question before it comes off the conveyor.
Photo by Quirky.