Are you always coming up with great ideas? Maybe ideas are constantly flowing to you but you’re not the best at following through on them? Then, I have the perfect thing for you! You can sell your ideas online and get paid to do what you do best.
Whether it’s an idea for children’s toys, home solutions, sports equipment, or kitchen tools that make life easier, there are plenty of companies that will pay for your money-making, innovative ideas, and some will even partner with you to bring your idea to life.
We’re going to look at the companies that pay people for their ideas.
For the right person, this can be one of the best side hustles to get involved with.
Let’s get right to it!
Companies That Pay For Ideas
1. Henkel
2. Dorman Products, Inc.
3. 3M
4. Jokari Home Solutions
5. BD
6. Wilson
7. Escalade
8. Play With A Purpose
9. Eco-Products
10. Idea Buyer
11. Mustang Survival
12. Unilever
13. Spin Master
1. HENKEL
Henkel is a chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Founded way back in 1876, they are a multinational company that is active in the consumer and industrial sector. Their focus is on:
- Laundry & Home Care
- Beauty Care
- Adhesive Technologies
They operate and sponsor the Henkel Partnership Program, a contest for budding inventors and innovators in technology.
This contest simply rewards you for your idea. But the catch to this is that your idea must be patented.
Simply put, they only buy ideas that already have a patent application, utility, or model design available to the general public.
The application for this contest is straight to the point. When submitting your ideas, you need to submit:
- Basic personal data
- Patent information for the idea
If you’ve invented something, especially if it’s an environmentally friendly product, this could be a great way to get it out there.
2. DORMAN PRODUCTS, INC.
Dorman Products Inc is a supplier of original equipment parts for automobiles, hardware, and housewares.
The company gives auto repair professionals and vehicle owners greater freedom to fix cars and trucks.
They manufacture automotive and heavy-duty replacement parts, automotive hardware, brake parts, and fasteners to the automotive and heavy-duty aftermarket.
Dorman is always on the lookout for either new ideas that benefit their brand or ways to improve an already existing product line.
In applying to sell your ideas to Dorman Products, Inc, all you’ll need is:
- Your contact name
- Email address
- Phone number
- Vehicle information
3. 3M
3M produces various products ranging from office supplies, health care, and even electronics.
Over time, 3M has been identified as a company always looking to expand its product line. As a result, they are actively pursuing open innovation opportunities with business partners and are open to buying new invention ideas.
This one is a bit risky though, because they don’t agree to hold confidential any unsolicited ideas, suggestions, proposals or product concepts.
Just to be clear, 3M:
- Doesn’t feel obligated to acknowledge or review your submission.
- Won’t keep your submission confidential.
- May publicly disclose your submission in an existing or later developed media.
While submitting your idea to 3M, you’ll be required to write a short description of your idea, include your patent URL, and complete fields of personal biodata.
Obviously, with this one, your submission should be free from confidential information, proprietary know-how, trade secrets, or intellectual property of another party.
4. JOKARI HOME SOLUTIONS
“For every problem, there’s a solution. And for every question, there’s an answer.”
This line is from the home page on the Jokari Home Solutions website, and that’s what they hope to achieve: a solution for every problem you can think of.
From the name, you can accurately guess what this company offers. They specialize in homewares, particularly kitchen gadgets and other items utilized around the house.
They’re always on the lookout for new ideas, so if you have ideas about a new kitchen gadget or home solution, you should check them out.
To submit your ideas to Jokari Home Solutions, they expect you to follow one of the following three processes:
- Call the number on the official site
- Send mail to their official mailing address
- Fill in the submission form, after which the process to sell your idea will be explained
5. BD
Becton Dickson and Company, commonly known as BD, is an American multinational medical technology company that is focused on manufacturing and selling medical devices, instrument systems, and reagents.
Aside from this, BD provides consulting and analytics services, but this service is limited to specific geographical locations.
Developing and selling medical technology is of the utmost priority to this company. And as such, BD is always open to hearing new ideas in this area.
If you’re looking to sell ideas online in the medical technology field, you should check them out.
To submit your new product idea, you’re required to download their Consideration of Suggestion Document.
This document contains a form sample and 23 questions related to your idea on an existing product or a new invention.
The process takes a total of four to six weeks, and you’ll be contacted only if they decide to pursue a more detailed evaluation of your idea.
In addition to that, you should note that:
- BD cannot accept confidential information
- They won’t accept any prototypes
- Only drawings and/or literature are accepted
- All mailings must be in flat envelopes no larger than 11″ x 14 “
6. WILSON
There are just a few sports-related companies that allow you to make money selling ideas, and Wilson is one of the biggest. If you’re a sports-lover, chances are you’ve come across the W logo on some tennis balls and other sporting products.
Wilson pays sports-lovers who want to sell ideas online. The company welcomes ideas from sports enthusiasts who are willing to let their ideas bear the W logo on them.
The “Wilson idea Portal” was created for this purpose. You’re required to fill in the required sections with honest answers to show interest in idea submission.
7. ESCALADE
Escalade is a manufacturer and distributor of a wide range of sporting products, focusing on table tennis, archery, darts, game tables, and similar sports.
The company seeks ways to bring new ideas to the market and look out for ideas developed by passionate users of sporting goods and outdoor recreation products.
For your innovation idea to be accepted by Escalade, it must:
- Provide the potential to gain a market leadership position
- Focus on high-growth markets, sectors, customers, etc.
- Provide benefits or advantages, enhancing channel competencies, distribution, and marketing.
To apply, visit the corporate development web page.
8. PLAY WITH A PURPOSE
Play with a Purpose is a company specializing in products for kids, especially products that get kids moving. Their products range from Activity Play, Ride-Ons, to Dramatic Play.
Play With A Purpose remains continuously on the lookout for new ideas revolving around fun activities to keep young stars actively occupied, both indoors and outdoors.
You can sell your ideas online with Play With A Purpose ideas.The process is straightforward. Simply give them a call at the number on their application page or send your idea by mail.
9. ECO-PRODUCTS
Eco-Products is a company that encourages people to sell ideas online for new products and services that fit into its business model of making single-use products that are economically-friendly.
Before you submit on Eco-Products, you should know that:
- Innovation is a crucial driver of their strategy.
- They seek creative ideas in the areas of new products, materials, packaging, waste diversion, and similar applications.
- Only novel ideas that provide value to their business, have demonstrable social and environmental benefits, and are feasible from technical and cost-effectiveness perceptiveness are sought after.
10. IDEA BUYER
Got a bright idea, but you don’t want to sell it to a company because you want to maintain more control (and probably make more money)?
Then, this is the one for you.
Idea Buyer is a 3x Inc. 5000 company that partners with individuals to help launch great new product ideas. If you’re looking for a chance to sell ideas online, you might want to look into their exclusive partnerships.
Idea Buyer has partner products that sell in a range of stores, including Amazon, Walmart, Cabela’s, Buy Buy Baby, Macy’s, Bass Pro, Lowes, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Rather than developing your idea itself, they help you launch new product ideas and bring them to market with a potential partner store.
This gives you the benefit of potentially having your idea in front of a major producer (like one of the stores above), which you might not have access to as an individual inventor.
Idea Buyer is interested in hearing ideas on any type of product, so it’s a great way to make money selling ideas.
11. MUSTANG SURVIVAL
Mustang Survival provides products for water rescue professionals, military elites, and commercial/industrial mariners.
They are always looking to buy new and innovative ideas for their products. If you’re looking for how to sell ideas online, then you should consider Mustang Survival.
To be able to sell ideas online to Mustang Survival, your idea concept must pass the following tests:
- Associated with a working product (Mustang Survival requires well thought out products and does not use this process for sales promotions and inventions)
- A new invention to the public, industry, and Mustang Survival
- Commercially viable for Mustang Survival
12. UNILEVER
Unilever also offers you an opportunity to sell ideas online and encourages new practical innovations from anyone around the world.
It’s a parent company for brands like Ben & Jerry’s, Dove, Rexona, Omo, and many others.
Given the range of products that fall under the Unilever scope, your idea could be in almost any product category you can think of.
Unilever operates a world-class research and development (R&D) facility that aims to make breakthroughs that will keep them at the forefront of product development.
They are continually looking for new ways to work with potential partners through Open Innovation. If you are looking to sell innovative, technological ideas, you should consider partnering with Unilever.
They consider partnerships with established suppliers, start-ups, academics, designers, individual inventors, and anyone with a practical innovation to meet present challenges.
13. SPIN MASTER
Spin Master is a Canadian global toy and entertainment company that creates and markets consumer products for children.
Its brands include Bakugan, Gund, Etch A Sketch, Erector Set by Meccano, Air Hogs, PAW Patrol, Aquadoodle, Tech Deck, Hatchimals, Rubik’s Cube, and Zoomer.
The company has a great platform to sell ideas online and is always looking for new product ideas for children’s toys.
If you have some great toy ideas, this is a great opportunity.
Conclusion
Great products start with great ideas. And every problem-solving product you see today is the result of an idea.
If you have great ideas that can be transformed into useful solutions, why don’t you sell them online and make money selling your ideas?
To have your ideas accepted by the companies listed in this guide, they should be in line with their requirements and criteria, which you can find on their official application pages.
Make sure you do further research on each company and critically read their submission guidelines on their official application pages before submitting your idea.
Obviously, it’s up to these companies whether they will accept, reject or even respond to your idea submission.
So the onus lies on you to ensure your idea is one that meets the specific needs and requirements. You also need to craft a great idea selling application and know-how to sell your ideas to them.
Got any tips, suggestions, or questions on making money selling ideas online?
Share them in the comment section below.
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