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Do I understand correctly from reading the comments here that he just found the 'knock-offs' on alibaba and ordered them? The article made it seem as if he act

Do I understand correctly from reading the comments here that he just found the 'knock-offs' on alibaba and ordered them? The article made it seem as if he actually created the knock-offs himself and then found a factory to make them for him. Which is it? Also, if I had an idea for a small little toy/gadget, how would I have to go about finding someone in the world who can make it for me in a factory?

rijoja 10y ago
Yes, somebody other than him made the products. He didn't actually make blueprints and make a Chinese factory make them. The real genius is some forgotten guy in China. He made at least 50'000 USD which I suppose buys you a lot more status in China. I really don't like being negative but this article feels has the same feeling as the Taboola ads at the bottom of the page. This guy made a smart deal sure, but really he didn't create anything new so I'm a bit disappointed with the article since it's not about someone who managed to complete an engineering project in record time or something really cool... but just a $ sign to spark interest. If you want to manufacture something I guess that you go about basically the same way as you would if you wanted to find a company that creates a software product.
- mosselman 10y ago
  Thank you, and the rest of the commenters for the answer, the title and article where somewhat misleading and I didn't watch the video. You are right about the article being poor, it is basically just click bait and it is annoying to have to waste brain energy on trying to decipher this incoherent story. On the plus side though, I have just learned that alibaba factories try to outpace kickstarters and the like, that is pretty interesting and quite clever, despite the sneakiness.
  - Mithaldu 10y ago
    A good way to handle stories like this is to flag them.
- candiodari 10y ago
  Apparently the "source" must have been something like this: http://www.dx.com/p/updated-version-fidget-cubic-toy-for-focusing-black-green-457320 http://www.dx.com/p/updated-version-fidget-cubic-toy-for-foc...
brilliantcode 10y ago
I'm actually pretty interested in the same questions. It's sort of like seeing high frequency trading arbitrage happening. Reacting to market demands faster than others leading to reduced margins for late entrants. I have no idea on what grounds they would try to shut it down if it was just an alibaba product the guy ordered and marked up.
codemac 10y ago
The video states that he just ordered copies off of alibaba, and then sold them in the canadian market. The article later talks about him ordering stuff off of alibaba.
edaemon 10y ago
Yes, that's what he did. The title makes it seem a bit like he designed the products himself, but the article/video make it pretty clear that he just ordered knock-offs from Alibaba. >As with Cozy Bag, Chinese manufacturers on Alibaba had been offering comparable products since shortly after the Kickstarter appeared. Thanks to their experience, Jack and his partners were able to pivot quickly and use WordPress and its sales plugin WooComerce to launch their Stress Cube site by the end of November. They spent less than $5,000 on start-up costs, mostly on a bulk order of 1,000 plastic cubes at $3.65 apiece. The plan was to turn around and sell each for $19.99.
cstrahan 10y ago
The title makes no claim that he engineered these widgets, so I don't see how this is at all misleading. What he's done is impressive precisely because of how little effort he put in -- he managed to make a ton of money by bringing someone else's idea to market.you could try to claim that it wasn't this guy that brought the widget to market, but rather that it was the people in china -- but then you'd be mistaking the market that is Alibaba for the general marketplace (where normal people buy stuff), which is what's meant here by "brought to market". There's clearly a ton of value in being able to give people what they want -- in this case the Kickstarter people put in a ton of effort just to fail spectacularly. So, no, this wasn't an incredible feat of engineering -- but, then again, the article never claimed it to be. It is, however, an incredible story of providing consumers with what they want and making a sizable profit in the process. As someone who works to make money (and not the other way around), this is something that appeals to me. Is my perspective unique here? Because I see a lot of people missing the point entirely.

rijoja 10y ago

Yes, somebody other than him made the products. He didn't actually make blueprints and make a Chinese factory make them. The real genius is some forgotten guy in China. He made at least 50'000 USD which I suppose buys you a lot more status in China. I really don't like being negative but this article feels has the same feeling as the Taboola ads at the bottom of the page. This guy made a smart deal sure, but really he didn't create anything new so I'm a bit disappointed with the article since it's not about someone who managed to complete an engineering project in record time or something really cool... but just a $ sign to spark interest. If you want to manufacture something I guess that you go about basically the same way as you would if you wanted to find a company that creates a software product.

mosselman 10y ago
Thank you, and the rest of the commenters for the answer, the title and article where somewhat misleading and I didn't watch the video. You are right about the article being poor, it is basically just click bait and it is annoying to have to waste brain energy on trying to decipher this incoherent story. On the plus side though, I have just learned that alibaba factories try to outpace kickstarters and the like, that is pretty interesting and quite clever, despite the sneakiness.
- Mithaldu 10y ago
  A good way to handle stories like this is to flag them.
candiodari 10y ago
Apparently the "source" must have been something like this: http://www.dx.com/p/updated-version-fidget-cubic-toy-for-focusing-black-green-457320 http://www.dx.com/p/updated-version-fidget-cubic-toy-for-foc...

brilliantcode 10y ago

I'm actually pretty interested in the same questions. It's sort of like seeing high frequency trading arbitrage happening. Reacting to market demands faster than others leading to reduced margins for late entrants. I have no idea on what grounds they would try to shut it down if it was just an alibaba product the guy ordered and marked up.

codemac 10y ago

The video states that he just ordered copies off of alibaba, and then sold them in the canadian market. The article later talks about him ordering stuff off of alibaba.

edaemon 10y ago

Yes, that's what he did. The title makes it seem a bit like he designed the products himself, but the article/video make it pretty clear that he just ordered knock-offs from Alibaba. >As with Cozy Bag, Chinese manufacturers on Alibaba had been offering comparable products since shortly after the Kickstarter appeared. Thanks to their experience, Jack and his partners were able to pivot quickly and use WordPress and its sales plugin WooComerce to launch their Stress Cube site by the end of November. They spent less than $5,000 on start-up costs, mostly on a bulk order of 1,000 plastic cubes at $3.65 apiece. The plan was to turn around and sell each for $19.99.

cstrahan 10y ago

The title makes no claim that he engineered these widgets, so I don't see how this is at all misleading. What he's done is impressive precisely because of how little effort he put in -- he managed to make a ton of money by bringing someone else's idea to market.you could try to claim that it wasn't this guy that brought the widget to market, but rather that it was the people in china -- but then you'd be mistaking the market that is Alibaba for the general marketplace (where normal people buy stuff), which is what's meant here by "brought to market". There's clearly a ton of value in being able to give people what they want -- in this case the Kickstarter people put in a ton of effort just to fail spectacularly. So, no, this wasn't an incredible feat of engineering -- but, then again, the article never claimed it to be. It is, however, an incredible story of providing consumers with what they want and making a sizable profit in the process. As someone who works to make money (and not the other way around), this is something that appeals to me. Is my perspective unique here? Because I see a lot of people missing the point entirely.