New website aims to link inventors with retailers

Thomas Edison once said, "Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success."A new website called Edison Nation is aiming to provide the success and utility Edison spoke of by linking inventors with retailers who might be interested in their inventions. The site provides an easier way for would-be inventors to navigate the often costly and complicated course of taking an idea from conception to store shelves. They have signed on a number of retailers like Spencer Gifts and Bed, Bath and Beyond to support the site. Human experts and artificial intelligence technology scour through the submissions and select those to be sent on to a retailer. If a retailer selects an idea, the inventor will receive a $2,500 advance and annual payments based on commercialization.