About Hey Yoink

What Hey Yoink is

Hey Yoink is a free, universal gift list and wishlist maker. Add anything you want, from any store, for any occasion, a birthday, a wedding, a baby on the way, Christmas, or just because. Share one link, and whoever's buying can see exactly what you'd like, without you ever having to spell it out over text or hope they read your mind. Nobody needs an account to view or claim from a list. It works the same way whether the person buying is your partner, your mum, or someone you've never met at your office Secret Santa.

Why we built it

Gift-giving hasn't really changed in decades, even though almost everything else about shopping has. People still guess. They still ask around for hints, drop clues into conversation, and quietly hope they've read the signals right, and still end up getting it wrong more often than not, not for lack of care, but because there's no reliable way to know exactly what someone wants without spoiling the surprise by just asking them outright.

That's the gap Hey Yoink exists to close: a simple, free way to share exactly what you'd like, so whoever's buying can get it right the first time, every time. The idea for it, though, came from somewhere a lot more ordinary than a whiteboard.

How it started

I'd been with my wife for ten years, and despite genuinely trying (real detective work, real effort, actually paying attention all year round), I still got her presents wrong more often than I got them right. This year she finally said it straight to my face: "Just let me buy what I want on your card. It'll be easier for both of us, and I'll actually get something I like for once."

A few weeks later, I was sitting with my best mate and his wife, and the exact same conversation was playing out all over again, this time ahead of her 40th birthday. He'd been with her sixteen years by that point, so she had complete faith he'd nail it without even needing to be asked.

"I have 100% faith in you," she told him, breezily waving off every attempt he made to dig for clues. He kept at it anyway, circling closer and closer, until he finally cracked and just asked outright for a hint. "Jewellery," she said.

So he guessed a bracelet. "Already got me one two years ago." He guessed a ring. "I've got enough rings, thanks." He finally landed on necklace, and that part, at least, was right. Except then he had to guess the actual necklace too, out of every necklace that exists, and got that wrong as well. In the end, she just gave up on him working it out, opened her laptop, and showed him exactly the one she meant.

That's the moment it hit me. If my best mate, sixteen years in and trying as hard as he possibly could, still couldn't get it right without being handed the exact link, what hope does anyone else actually have? That's the problem Hey Yoink exists to solve. Not more guessing. Not more "clues" batted back and forth over dinner. Just the exact thing someone actually wants, shared with one simple link, so whoever's buying can get it exactly right, without ever having to ruin the surprise by asking.

Who's behind it

There's no marketing team, no ad network and no big retailer behind it. I'm Tricky Hartley, a husband, a son, a father and a brother who has never once got present giving right, so I built a free way to fix it. If something's not right, tell me: hey@heyyoink.com.

Where I'm based

New Zealand. A company, Hey Yoink Limited, is being set up to run it; until that's done, Hey Yoink is run by me personally rather than under a registered company name.

Why Hey Yoink is free

Hey Yoink has no premium tier, no paywall, and no account requirement to view or claim from a list. That's a deliberate choice, not a limited-time offer. A gift list only works if everyone involved can use it with zero friction, the person who made the list, and everyone who might buy from it, and asking any of those people to pay or sign up would break that. Every serious alternative in this space is free for the same reason, and Hey Yoink is no exception.

How we make money

We keep the app free by earning a small commission from our affiliate partners when someone buys a gift through a link on Hey Yoink, at no extra cost to the buyer. It works the same way as any price-comparison or gift-guide site that links out to retailers: the price you pay is the retailer's normal price, and the retailer pays us a small referral fee for sending you there. Hey Yoink never charges you directly, never sells your data to advertisers, and never touches or processes any actual payment. That's the honest answer to "how do you make money", we'd rather say it plainly here than leave anyone guessing.

How privacy works

You don't need an account to view or claim from someone's list, and guests who just browse or claim aren't tracked or asked for any personal data at all. If you do create an account to save your own lists, Hey Yoink uses passwordless "magic link" login by email, so there's no password of yours for us to store or lose. We only collect what's needed to run the app: your login email if you have an account, the content you put on your own lists, and, if you set one up, a reminder email ahead of a date you choose. We never sell your data. The full detail, including exactly what's collected, why, and who it's shared with, is in our Privacy Policy.

How gift claims work

The moment one guest claims an item, it's marked as taken for everyone else who opens the list, so nobody ends up buying the same thing twice. The list owner can never see who claimed what, or even that anything was claimed at all, until whatever they asked for actually arrives. That's not a setting you have to remember to turn on: it's how the product is built, enforced at the database level, not just hidden in the interface. We take that guarantee seriously enough to publish a public security and vulnerability disclosure policy about it.

Press and media

Hey Yoink doesn't have a dedicated press office. If you're a journalist or writing about gift-list apps and want a comment, a screenshot, or background on how the product works, email hey@heyyoink.com directly and you'll hear back from the person who actually built it.

Get in touch

Questions, feedback, a bug you've spotted, or a retailer/brand partnership you'd like to talk about: email us any time at hey@heyyoink.com. We read everything that comes in. For anything security-related specifically, see our security and vulnerability disclosure policy.