Please, before you submit another idea to this company, read the topic "Hey...What the Heck!!! Ribbon...that's my idea!!!"
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Then, go to your Facebook, Twitter and other social media and let people know. It's kind of old school, but call the BBB and make a complaint. The internet is full of scammers and it appears that Quirky is in that league. Sorry folks but there comes a time when you have to face facts; and the facts are all over these forums that Q cannot be trusted.

Doris - it happens all the time. Q has stated several times that they will pick from the ideas submitted at that particular time. People know this going in. If I submit a green pen and it doesn't win, but the following month a green pen is submitted by someone else and wins, I am out of luck.

I think Q has an overall innovative idea with using community members and such, but they are getting bigger and there is too much gray area.

Too many times, ideas that are picked are overlap with already submitted ideas. They really have to look at their system.

I'm sorry, Stazy; but I don't remember reading that on any of the pages when I first came here and was considering submitting an idea. If I had of read that I would NEVER have submitted an idea to Quirky.
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The very idea that I can submit something one day and someone can copy it (or the Q design department copy it) and then Q can take the last one and give me no credit is absurd. No one being told that upfront would ever submit an idea. Of course, I'm going to go back to read through the terms on Quirky, but I surely do not remember reading any such warning to submitters.
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If that language does exist in the terms, then Quirky is more of a scam internet site than I have come to believe. :-(

To all those unbelievably intelligent, good people in the Quirky community:
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I've only been here a couple of months and it's unbelievable the number of times I've seen people give Q the benefit of the doubt. They express shock and amazement that someone was mistreated in such a manner and with such a disrespectful attitude. And, then they hope for the best.
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But during these two months, I have never once seen Q do its due justice toward its submitters. Yes, they will tweak their web page and pay some homage to the community. But, when it comes to the real core of the company, idea design and development, they continually cheat the submitter and give some flimsy excuse that not even a teenager would believe!
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Scammers rely upon intelligent people believing that they will do the right thing. They prey upon the trust and good nature of good people to do their bidding. In these forums there are numerous highly intelligent, good people and I see them doing what I've been doing, telling Jason they are sorry for his mistreatment and hoping that Quirky will finally treat the submitter with due respect. But, that's not going to happen.
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If Q was going to act like a reputable company instead of a scamming internet site, it would have happened a long time ago. Even Kendo has said as much. Like RickJ said before, if it acts like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, it is a duck! If the company acts like a scammer, talks like a scammer, looks like a scammer, it is a scammer! And, another week or two is not going to change this scamming internet site. :-(

Made it on the Hot Topics @ http://www.quirky.com/community lol

Good move, Hunter, and good luck; and I really mean it. :-)

Stazy, I've read through the T&C in detail and can find no reference to Q being able to take the latest submission on an idea just because they decided it's the right time. So, they may be saying that's what they will do and can do; but, I don't see it in legal terms anywhere. The T&C give them a broad swath of legal cover; but, it's not the legal aspect that bothers me the most. (Please let me know if you find it in the T&C.)
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It's the pure immoral, cheating aspect of choosing an idea today, looking over the archives for similar ideas and copying one in particular, and then screwing the ORIGINAL submitter out of their due influence ON PURPOSE! No one can justify that kind of behavior; and, yet, Q thinks they can get by with it over and over again.
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Well, I have news for them; even if they are in the slightest reach of the imagination protected by the law on this one, they're not protected from the social media and that's what they should really be concerned about.

I received the following answer back from Andy Garcia re my complaint about Quirky ideas being stolen from within:
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Hi Doris. Thanks for voicing your opinion here. However, we've explicitly stated in the past that as a company we do not look back in a retroactive manner when picking ideas. That's not a feasible or sustainable practice as you might imagine. Keep in mind as well, that many, many people have different iterations of the same ideas. In this day and age, there are very few true, unique, and brand new ideas that no one has ever seen or thought of before. So, it's all about how the submitter presents the idea. The idea for the bakeware that you describe may not have been presented in a compelling way and the second time around, maybe it was presented in another way that caught our attention. And in regards to your comment about archiving, that's not at all how it works. All ideas that we pursue are submitted by inventors and people such as yourself. We don't randomly pull ideas out of the archives and decide to pursue them on a whim.

So again, I understand the frustration here but your statements are off base. We are certainly not a scam website and we do our absolute best to bring people's ideas to reality. We'll always stay committed to doing right by our inventors and community members and all feedback is welcomed, positive or negative.
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And here is my response:
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Andy, thank you for making a very valiant effort at defending what has just occurred. Where in the T&C does Quirky tell the submitter that they can submit an idea one day and the next day someone else can copy their idea and submit it and get the influence for it? If Quirky upfront told people that, there would be no ideas submitted and you know it.
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And, WHERE is it explicitly stated that you do not look back when picking ideas? Why are submitters encouraged to put their ideas in the archives!???
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And, obviously, from the Ribbon product
"Hey...What the Heck!!! Ribbon...that's my idea!!!"
SOMEONE on the Quirky staff was looking back over the archives! No one can look at that submission and then look at the final product and not KNOW that someone saw that submission!
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And, the email that Jason received said NOTHING about how he had presented his idea (he presented it flawlessly by the way!); it said that when he presented his idea it was not the right TIME!
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So submitters should be told that if you present your idea TODAY it may not be the right TIME but anyone can copy your idea; and when it is the right TIME, we'll give them influence NOT you!
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And it IS absolutely feasible for Quirky to do a search of its archives PRIOR to choosing an item for production; it's not only feasible, it should be the required procedure! Hell, you even tell your submitters to do a google search before they submit; and, now, you expect people to believe that you can't even search your own archives prior to awarding influence!
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If you do not change this process and continue to dupe people into submitting their ideas thinking that they will be treated fairly, then, yes, you are a scamming internet site and others need to be warned of that fact.

@Doris - I guess after reading Q write a few times about picking an idea only from the ideas submitted during that time period, I took it for granted that everyone knew. I don't read the fine lines an the site as I rarely submit ideas. They need to post it so everyone can see or change how they do things. (They either posted it as a comment on here or on GS, but not a formal statement which is not right).

It is unfair to people - I agree. I would be equally pissed if this happened to me.

Hopefully things change soon as there are going to be a lot of angry people.

For those of you who think Quirky should give Jason Garcia influence for Ribbon and wish to add your support, please go to
Quirky, please reconsider and give Jason Garcia the influence and recognition he deserves.
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For those of you who wish to add your vote to the complain on Get Satisfaction, or create your own topic if mine is too harsh :-), please go to Get Satisfaction Complaint
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There is no doubt that Quirky needs to have a policy in place to protect idea submitters and they need to have that policy in place NOW! Otherwise, Quirky is certainly doomed to failure, since no one is going to submit their idea if the very next day someone can copy it and submit it and receive influence for it!
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The only ones who would submit ideas under those conditions are the unsuspecting and there won't be many of those left after the social media is made aware of the situation!

Doris, I thank you for your passion and hope something comes of it, but I am not holding my breath. I have been here a long time and learnt long ago not to ever submit an idea here. Many, maybe most, of the older members with the same passion have left because of the issues that never get fixed but Q doesn't care because they have planty of new people/marks coming in to replace them. They don't have to change.

Rowan, thanks for your response; I have only been here a couple of months and have seen this happen so many times that it finally made me furious. And, then to hear from others that it has been going on forever with people leaving because of it. That means that numerous idea submitters have been cheated and I don't like cheaters! :-)
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Quirky may not consider themselves as cheaters but cheaters they are and they have a very short time frame to fix this problem because it is definitely spiraling out of control with the increase in submissions.
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Their time frame is short this time because social media can and will destroy them in an instant should they become known as an untrustworthy site for idea submissions.
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And, if a procedure is not put into place very soon to award influence in a fair and equitable manner, it will not be long before Quirky will feel the effects of the power of the social media. I just hope they're not so far into their bubble that they continue to think they are taking the appropriate stance on this matter.

Well, I guess this is one way to make it more likely my submission will win!
Scare everybody else off. ha

Hey- to be fair, Andy Garcia was not here when Ben told the community about archiving ideas in this new version, so that they can be culled at retailer request and still be continued to be worked on by the people most inspired by the product.
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It's in the last town meeting or Q&A, or the one before. Ben talked, committed and now, the staff hired to communicate with us has not been briefed. They clearly need to go back and view ALL the town meetings, so they don't get caught looking uninformed or like bullies. That should occur in their job training week or as good prep before they start the job. KIDS!

Thanks for the info, Anonymous. I've only been here for a couple of months so am not familiar with Q's history other than what I read in the forums.
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I was relieved today when Nathan responded that Q is talking with both inventors to work it out AND they are working on a long-term plan to address the problem. Now, that's what I call a professional way to handle problems. :-)
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I look forward to seeing the plan and hope it establishes a method to make sure that those who submit ideas are treated in a fair and equitable manner.