Need an advice - Should I trust this company?

[Samy Bazizi]

Hi,

A few months ago I posted my invention on a website called Ideabuyer.com. About 3 weeks after that, they called me and told me that they had an interest in my invention and wanted more information. I sent them a video to explain the invention better, and a day after they call me back and says that their interest is even greater and that there is a real market opportunity for this invention.

Then he told me that they have a team of engineer, designers and everything else needed to bring an invention to the market. Apparently they have brought many invention on the market already. Now I knew it sounded too good to be true, because he then asked me for 10 000$ to start the project, and eventually about 15% of the patent. Now, I have one week to make a decision.

Is it too good to be true? Should I trust them? Anybody else had past experiences like this?

 

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[SmoothFranko]

Remember MJ's risk calculator in TMF

1. What is the worst case outcome of this choice?
2. What is the probablity of this outcome?
3. Is this an acceptable risk?

Do you have the money to cover their cost, if not will you be able to come up with the cash within that time frame, and will doing so put you in debt you can't easily overcome?

 

[Samy Bazizi]

I personnaly don't have the money. Ill have to look out for someone who will want to invest.

 

[croman]

Hi,

A few months ago I posted my invention on a website called Ideabuyer.com. About 3 weeks after that, they called me and told me that they had an interest in my invention and wanted more information. I sent them a video to explain the invention better, and a day after they call me back and says that their interest is even greater and that there is a real market opportunity for this invention.

Then he told me that they have a team of engineer, designers and everything else needed to bring an invention to the market. Apparently they have brought many invention on the market already. Now I knew it sounded too good to be true, because he then asked me for 10 000$ to start the project, and eventually about 15% of the patent. Now, I have one week to make a decision.

Is it too good to be true? Should I trust them? Anybody else had past experiences like this?

I got an associate who didn't know where to turn so he used inventhelp.

What a joke.

They fleeced him out of 20k that he did not have.

They told him they thought his invention was patentable, they gave him this generic general report that looked like some bullshit template they use where they plug in the information and voila!!!

They gave him this cheesy 3d model of his invention too that they charged him something like 5k if I remember correctly.

Of course they will tell you there is interest, of course they will get all excited about it....

Tell them you won't pay any monies up front and let's see how fast their excitement fades....

Personally, I don't know this company you got here, but my personal feeling is that it's no different than inventhelp.

Jokers.

 

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[Samy Bazizi]

I got an associate who didn't know where to turn so he used inventhelp.

What a joke.

They fleeced him out of 20k that he did not have.

They told him they thought his invention was patentable, they gave him this generic general report that looked like some bullshit template they use where they plug in the information and voila!!!

They gave him this cheesy 3d model of his invention too that they charged him something like 5k if I remember correctly.

Of course they will tell you there is interest, of course they will get all excited about it....

Tell them you won't pay any monies up front and let's see how fast their excitement fades....

Personally, I don't know this company you got here, but my personal feeling is that it's no different than inventhelp.

Jokers.

I had contact with inventhelp too. It was an immediate no for me as i had a feeling it would be something like your associate experienced. However, Ideabuyer are not proposing me the same thing. They want to make a prototype with me and their engineers and help me find licence deals. Of course it could be just a scam, but what if I miss a great opportunity?

 

[seoflipper]

I had contact with inventhelp too. It was an immediate no for me as i had a feeling it would be something like your associate experienced. However, Ideabuyer are not proposing me the same thing. They want to make a prototype with me and their engineers and help me find licence deals. Of course it could be just a scam, but what if I miss a great opportunity?

An easy way to understand this is to look at this from the POV of the other party.

Now, for the sake of argument, lets assume that they had 100% good intentions (which they don't). If you were in their position and you spotted a great idea early and had the resources to take it to market...why wouldn't you pony up some cash up front to take a bigger %? How would you ever get good deals if you're not even willing to shell out your own cash?

There's a reason venture capital firms invest in entrepreneurs, not the other way around.

Now lets put that little issue aside for a moment since we're assuming for the sake of argument that they have good intentions. If you were in their position and you figured out an arrangement where you could get 10k up front AND 15% of the rights of a patent if you manage to license the invention...what is your incentive to actually invest money into really pushing to take the product to market?

The incentives are not aligned for you to invest money into actually helping the inventor, the incentives are aligned for you to close as many of these 0 downside deals as possible, make a few phone calls to fulfill your end of the bargain, then move onto the next "deal".

If you get lucky and stumble on a winner, great! If not, you can always find another inventor willing to part with 10k and 15% of their patent. Either way, there is no incentive for you to do anything to help the inventor that they couldn't do better (and cheaper) for themselves.

Now, lets assume they have 100% bad intentions. If you were in their shoes, which business model makes more sense - fleecing 10k from a never ending supply of naive inventors, or actually risking your own resources into taking random products to market? Why wouldn't you just take the risk-free payout and move onto the next victim?

So your best case scenario (very unlikely) is that they don't really see promise in your idea, its just that they make money on the "deal" either way - which is why they're offering it to you. They're not really that motivated to help you but they will make some phone calls that you could make yourself and overcharge you for a crappy prototype.

Your worst case scenario (very likely) is that their business model revolves around parting aspiring inventors like yourself from their savings.

The decision should be pretty clear.

 

[Vigilante]

Trust nobody

 

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[croman]

I had contact with inventhelp too. It was an immediate no for me as i had a feeling it would be something like your associate experienced. However, Ideabuyer are not proposing me the same thing. They want to make a prototype with me and their engineers and help me find licence deals. Of course it could be just a scam, but what if I miss a great opportunity?

Take your time...forget these guys.

Read book/threads on inventions and bringing them to market.

Dont rush.

Dont throw good money around.

When you put your attention on something, it grows...

Keep on this forum, read and absorb.

Things will open up to you...

 

[biophase]

Run away. Do it yourself. Think of how far you can get with $10k by yourself.

 

[jon.a]

Bad, really bad.

 

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[crockbar]

Those buying companies won't really fight for you. You can do it on your own and save all that money.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Does anyone have a link to that bizzaro episode on Shark Tank where the entrepreneur actually gave the sharks money, instead of them giving it the entrepreneur?

Oh yea...

It doesn't exist.

Run. Away. Fast. (Before you get trapped into their business model)

 

[shubham525]

Yeah we dont pay to sharks.
Other from this everyone check out this invention.Hoverbike ,you can search it on youtube.

Our future [emoji6][emoji6]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[Samy Bazizi]

Does anyone have a link to that bizzaro episode on Shark Tank where the entrepreneur actually gave the sharks money, instead of them giving it the entrepreneur?

Oh yea...

It doesn't exist.

Run. Away. Fast. (Before you get trapped into their business model)

lol alright it seems like my decision is pretty clear now... thank you for all the answers

 

[mws87]

Ideabuyer.com

That right there would be your red flag. If only it were that easy, most of us here would probably be multi-millionaires already. Remember: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[Equilibrium]

They gave him this cheesy 3d model of his invention too that they charged him something like 5k

And the template is freely available through google patent search
Inventing 101:

1) There are no short cuts from idea to profitability

2) You (YOU) have to become the, draftsmen, engineer, prototyper, salesmen and marketer to prove to yourself you have a viable market ready invention. Otherwise you will waste big $$$.

3) Never refer to your idea as your baby. Don't get emotionally involved with your idea. Stay objective.

4) Be-prepared to walk away from your idea at a no-go junction. There will be lots of decision cross roads.

5) Never hire idea submission companies.

6) Don't take advise from friends of family, they don't want to hurt your feelings.

Their website looks like a template.
its registered through godaddy (red flag, you can start a domain at 2.99/yr)
in their about me , in small print is ''Idea Buyer.com and its contents are owned by LOXO Group LLC''

oh here they are.


LOXO GROUP LLC
Corporation File #:4995914
Formation Date:01/13/2011
Corporation Type:GENERAL
Corporation Kind:LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (LLC)
Corporation StateE
ResidencyOMESTIC


Corporation Registered Agent
Agent Name:AGENTS AND CORPORATIONS, INC. Registrant Name: George Rand
Address:1201 ORANGE STREET, SUITE 600 ONE COMMERCE CENTER
WILMINGTON, DE 19801
Phone302)575-0877

Content.
Let's look at some of their listings for inventions to bring to market.
''Fruit Sprinkle Bring the taste of fruit to every meal''
are you kidding me?!

if this is the kind of thing they are accepting.. run. fast.

oh their summary sums it all up.
''
The Summary
IdeaBuyer.com is a marketplace to license and sell patents. Since it's founding in 2007, it has become the world's largest marketplace for patents and has processed Billions of Dollars in patent sales.

They started in 2011

 

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[TonyStark]

Does anyone have a link to that bizzaro episode on Shark Tank where the entrepreneur actually gave the sharks money, instead of them giving it the entrepreneur?

Oh yea...

It doesn't exist.

Run. Away. Fast. (Before you get trapped into their business model)

I bookmarked this comment. Thank you MJ

 

[TonyStark]

Hi,

A few months ago I posted my invention on a website called Ideabuyer.com. About 3 weeks after that, they called me and told me that they had an interest in my invention and wanted more information. I sent them a video to explain the invention better, and a day after they call me back and says that their interest is even greater and that there is a real market opportunity for this invention.

Then he told me that they have a team of engineer, designers and everything else needed to bring an invention to the market. Apparently they have brought many invention on the market already. Now I knew it sounded too good to be true, because he then asked me for 10 000$ to start the project, and eventually about 15% of the patent. Now, I have one week to make a decision.

Is it too good to be true? Should I trust them? Anybody else had past experiences like this?

I wouldn't do it if they give you a time limit. What investor does that?