Discount preselling - it's the way of the future, in advance.

http://www.moq7.com/
(via core77...)

One of the problems for a young designer is that it costs a lot of money upfront to create a product. In particular, for small, mass-produced items, sometimes it's simply impossible to get anyone to supply you with components unless you order a minimum order quantity, or MOQ.

This site helps get designers there. The MOQ target is displayed next to each product, and you get to order your item at a steep discount in return for not really knowing when it's going to be delivered (if ever, I guess). It's a great idea for getting young designers' stuff before they get famous, and allowing them to jumpstart their idea into mass production.

There's not a lot there, yet... and most of them are fairly batty (except for the oddly tedious one or two that smell like some fishfood company taking advantage). My favourite, though is this one - a toothbrush which redirects the water flow up into a nice arc for you to drink from. Inspired.