First and foremost ~

WinkElf is handmade
... by me!

WinkElf was created and developed by someone just like you... artisan, mother, seller and buyer. Many of you may already know me as a member of eBay, Etsy, Trunkt and Flickr. I am also a web designer and developer of ecommerce websites. These multiple hats give me first hand understanding of what you need as sellers and buyers.

And how to provide it at the lowest cost.

It all started back in 2005 when, like most, I grew tired and wary of wasting my time on another Big "E" site with their ever charging rules and ever increasing fees. While under development, Etsy was launched by the creators of GetCrafty.com and Craftster.com. With an existing pool of loyal crafters, it was an instant success. I signed up myself, moved my eBay shop over, but soon found that in spite of all the flash, their system lacked in many ways. So development of my vision and ideas continued and later in the summer of 2006, what is now WinkElf was launched.

There are no boards, committees or others to answer to... or pay.
WinkElf (We) works for you, person-to-person.

What is WinkElf?

Designed with the designer and artisan in mind, Winkelf is a shopping community made up of online boutiques from around the world. A "boutique village" offering beautiful store packages for sellers, designers and artisans in need of a web presence... but not quite ready or able to manage a full ecommerce system. Quaint and functional, each store operates individually, can be custom designed and comes complete with it's own elegant entry and unique url. A little corner of the internet where all designers are welcome to showcase their art.

A few features sellers might like...

• Branded and unbranded storefronts for each store... keep your buyers to yourself
• Shopping cart widgets for your blog, Facebook and other pages... Guests can shop and checkout right on your blog!
• Multiple payment gateways including PayPal and Google Checkout
• Editable Shopping Carts including seller discounts
• Each store has their own search engine
• Two buy out options available - Buy Me and Wink Me (make an offer)
• Digital downloads available
• Scheduling and auto-relisting to best suit your time table... spend less time listing and more time creating
• Sellers can list non-handmade goods in their store only... not site wide
• Add html to stores, profile, extra pages and listings
• Choose from a free package and an all-inclusive flat fee package
• Store vacation feature... easy on and off buttons to temporarily disable your listings
• Global seller message - add a note to all listings instantaneously... like discounts, specials and contests
• Earn selling credit with our referral program
• Public forums and private groups

And your buyers too...

• No credit card or sensitive information required
• Multiple payment gateways provided including PayPal and Google Checkout
• Store directory - search by store name, seller and product keywords
• Search by category and keywords... title only or description
• Add store to favorites and be advised on new items for sale
• Watch your favorite items
• Free RSVP's to post special requests
• Buyer feedback with comments only... item details kept private

Taking full advantage of the growing tourism and increasing traffic, shoppes can market themselves individually by using their unique store urls to grow their business. That's right... each store comes with two unique addresses - one to a branded store, the other to the unbranded version. Get a www domain name and begin branding your shoppe with your own permanent web address.

All active members are periodically email and telephone verified to protect ourselves against fraud and trouble makers. Our optional ID verification program ensures you can choose to know who you're shopping with. Private groups and public forums are available to all members to come and play after a hard day of shopping.

Winkelf is your shopping community.
:o)

Samantha
WiNKELF... HANDMADE BY THEMS-ELVES
www.winkelf.com