The fifth Wish list service added in our wishlist comparison table is the website Ookoodoo.com. Created in 2008 and last updated in 2019, this website is based in France, and claims to be their nr1 wish list service. This is also the first non-nordic website that we review. Let’s see its features and services.
Security and privacy
The first things we examine are security and privacy. The site has a privacy policy, you can access it at the bottom of the main page. Although in French, you can translate it using Google Translator. It says that they won’t share any personal information they may obtain from you (Civil State, Names, Address, Identification Number, IP Addresses, Familiar Situation or Lifestyle) with any 3rd parties, but in application of a law, a stating order or a decision from a judiciary or regulatory authority they may be impelled to do it. However, even on the front page there are Google analytics and Facebook connect trackers. Inside the service, Doubleclick Ad exchange joins the picture. Emails are also sent through a 3rd party (Sparkpost) that contains tracking. So, no check mark for respecting privacy.
The site is SSL protected, earning an “A” grade in the SSLLabs Server Test, so it could be said that your internet connection is safe when accessing this site. Also, it doesn’t have any 3rd party ads and the content is well distributed on the webpage, so this is an advantage. However, the service has a suggestions feature and those items have affiliate agreements that can be seen from the links. No check mark for no affiliate links.
List creation
Now, let’s have a look at the wish list creation process. The first thing you need to do is press the button “Create your wishlist” on the front page. Now, they’ll ask you to create an account in order to create the list. To do this, you’ll need to give an email address, your name and a password. By the way, the verification email fell into my spam folder, which is not a good signal. Anyway, after that, you’ll have to choose between five wishlist categories: birth, wedding, Christmas, birthday and other.
The creation process is almost the same for all the categories (saving Christmas): you give the date of the event, choose the gender of the baby (only in birth wishlists) or the name of person (or people, if it is a wedding) that will receive the gifts, then you can customize your list, naming it, giving it a description, uploading a photo and adding a header image. Then you choose the visibility of the list: public, public with password or private.
If you choose the wishlist to be private, you won’t be able to share it; if you choose it to be public with password, you’ll need to provide a 4-digit PIN when creating the list, so in order to access it, the PIN must be entered. You can share your list via email, Facebook or Twitter. Check mark for private and public lists. After you have selected list visibility, you will need to decide if you want to be notified about purchases by email or not. That same setting applies also on the web site, so that if you have asked not to be notified then you won't see reservations on the website either. Check mark from having a surprise me functionality.
Once you did this, you need to give further information: your names and surnames, country, city and address, just in case you want to receive gifts from your relatives directly at your place.
Adding items
After all these steps, you can start creating and editing your wishlist. You’ll see a menu with some options. These are pretty clear, and here you can add products, edit the information you submitted before or print the wishlist. For Christmas, Birth and Gift categories, there’s a necessities option, in which you can see a list of subcategories (housing, sports, men, women, children, high-tech…), in case you are not sure what to add to your wish list.
When you add the products, the page gives you four options: use a bookmarklet, do the whole thing manually, use the mobile app or pick from the suggestions. Check mark for the bookmarklet.
Ookoodoo is a dedicated wishlist service, so there’s a check mark for that. Besides, its desktop and mobile GUI are quite ok, so I’ll add a check mark for that. The main content is highlighted and the buttons are big enough to press each one without accidentally pressing something else. It also has Android and iOS mobile apps so it got a check mark for that as well. We didn't test the mobile app, but users do not seem to be very happy with it as the rating is at 2.3.
The website has a feature called “Contributions”. It allows you to add your PayPal account to your Wishlist, so if you share it, the recipients will be able to give you money.
You can log in using your email and password, or with your Facebook account. Check mark for multiple logins.
Once you’re logged in, every time you access the site, the first thing you’ll see is a page with all your lists. In the upper bar you have more options, so it’s difficult to lose sight of your lists. You can also add wishes from anywhere, which is great, but it’s also something you would expect from a site like this where you can add products manually.
Multi-language
The site is provided in English and French, with a few dialects in each. We can count that as a multi language service, one check mark for that. Nevertheless, at the time of writing this review, the blog and the privacy policy are written only in French. While the blog is not something you must read to use the service, the privacy policy is something very important that everyone should read, so I find it inconvenient that it’s only available in French. Maybe that’s because the users are mainly French speakers, but even so, they should fix that since the UI is available in English.
Purchase tracking
The site also tracks purchases. When you create your wish list, the page asks if you want to receive an email for each reservation someone makes. Once you share your wish list, the recipients will be able to reserve your products, buy them and get them delivered to you (if you provided your address in the wishlist). The people reserving items will need to provide their email addresses and names as the service doesn't automatically log the name of the reserver. Also, reservations are not locked for the person who did the reservation, but anybody who has access to the list can change them so they are not entirely reliable. You can also reserve your own wishes if you don’t want someone to purchase them. Still, a check mark for item tracking.
Other functionality
Users can customize their lists by selecting background header images from a few options. However, when I tried that functionality and selected the last image, I got the first image anyway. However, the background images are very dim, gray and white images. They don't attract too much attention, so it won't make a big difference what image you select (or get). (In WishSimply, you cannot choose a background image, but you can set your header image as you want. You can select one that the service provides or upload an image.)
Ookoodoo has implemented group purchase functionality quite nicely by using Paypal. The list creator can set their Paypal account which is shown to the invited persons. The invitees can then transfer money to that account and deliver a note through the service. The service also says that it tracks the amount of money that has been transferred to that account so that it can show how close it is to the target.
The money transferred to that account can then be used by the list creator as they like. The implementation is very light and clever. The downside is that it involves one more 3rd party to provide the service. Also, not everybody has a Paypal account and some don't want to use it at all. It is quite a tall order to ask people to set up a new bank account just to be able to participate in a group purchase.
Well, that’s all for this review. What’s your opinion on this service? Share it in the comments.
Wish list service review for Ookoodoo
Security and privacy
The first things we examine are security and privacy. The site has a privacy policy, you can access it at the bottom of the main page. Although in French, you can translate it using Google Translator. It says that they won’t share any personal information they may obtain from you (Civil State, Names, Address, Identification Number, IP Addresses, Familiar Situation or Lifestyle) with any 3rd parties, but in application of a law, a stating order or a decision from a judiciary or regulatory authority they may be impelled to do it. However, even on the front page there are Google analytics and Facebook connect trackers. Inside the service, Doubleclick Ad exchange joins the picture. Emails are also sent through a 3rd party (Sparkpost) that contains tracking. So, no check mark for respecting privacy.
The site is SSL protected, earning an “A” grade in the SSLLabs Server Test, so it could be said that your internet connection is safe when accessing this site. Also, it doesn’t have any 3rd party ads and the content is well distributed on the webpage, so this is an advantage. However, the service has a suggestions feature and those items have affiliate agreements that can be seen from the links. No check mark for no affiliate links.
List creation
Now, let’s have a look at the wish list creation process. The first thing you need to do is press the button “Create your wishlist” on the front page. Now, they’ll ask you to create an account in order to create the list. To do this, you’ll need to give an email address, your name and a password. By the way, the verification email fell into my spam folder, which is not a good signal. Anyway, after that, you’ll have to choose between five wishlist categories: birth, wedding, Christmas, birthday and other.
If you choose the wishlist to be private, you won’t be able to share it; if you choose it to be public with password, you’ll need to provide a 4-digit PIN when creating the list, so in order to access it, the PIN must be entered. You can share your list via email, Facebook or Twitter. Check mark for private and public lists. After you have selected list visibility, you will need to decide if you want to be notified about purchases by email or not. That same setting applies also on the web site, so that if you have asked not to be notified then you won't see reservations on the website either. Check mark from having a surprise me functionality.
Once you did this, you need to give further information: your names and surnames, country, city and address, just in case you want to receive gifts from your relatives directly at your place.
Adding items
After all these steps, you can start creating and editing your wishlist. You’ll see a menu with some options. These are pretty clear, and here you can add products, edit the information you submitted before or print the wishlist. For Christmas, Birth and Gift categories, there’s a necessities option, in which you can see a list of subcategories (housing, sports, men, women, children, high-tech…), in case you are not sure what to add to your wish list.
Ookoodoo is a dedicated wishlist service, so there’s a check mark for that. Besides, its desktop and mobile GUI are quite ok, so I’ll add a check mark for that. The main content is highlighted and the buttons are big enough to press each one without accidentally pressing something else. It also has Android and iOS mobile apps so it got a check mark for that as well. We didn't test the mobile app, but users do not seem to be very happy with it as the rating is at 2.3.
The website has a feature called “Contributions”. It allows you to add your PayPal account to your Wishlist, so if you share it, the recipients will be able to give you money.
You can log in using your email and password, or with your Facebook account. Check mark for multiple logins.
Once you’re logged in, every time you access the site, the first thing you’ll see is a page with all your lists. In the upper bar you have more options, so it’s difficult to lose sight of your lists. You can also add wishes from anywhere, which is great, but it’s also something you would expect from a site like this where you can add products manually.
Multi-language
Purchase tracking
The site also tracks purchases. When you create your wish list, the page asks if you want to receive an email for each reservation someone makes. Once you share your wish list, the recipients will be able to reserve your products, buy them and get them delivered to you (if you provided your address in the wishlist). The people reserving items will need to provide their email addresses and names as the service doesn't automatically log the name of the reserver. Also, reservations are not locked for the person who did the reservation, but anybody who has access to the list can change them so they are not entirely reliable. You can also reserve your own wishes if you don’t want someone to purchase them. Still, a check mark for item tracking.
Other functionality
Users can customize their lists by selecting background header images from a few options. However, when I tried that functionality and selected the last image, I got the first image anyway. However, the background images are very dim, gray and white images. They don't attract too much attention, so it won't make a big difference what image you select (or get). (In WishSimply, you cannot choose a background image, but you can set your header image as you want. You can select one that the service provides or upload an image.)
Ookoodoo has implemented group purchase functionality quite nicely by using Paypal. The list creator can set their Paypal account which is shown to the invited persons. The invitees can then transfer money to that account and deliver a note through the service. The service also says that it tracks the amount of money that has been transferred to that account so that it can show how close it is to the target.
The money transferred to that account can then be used by the list creator as they like. The implementation is very light and clever. The downside is that it involves one more 3rd party to provide the service. Also, not everybody has a Paypal account and some don't want to use it at all. It is quite a tall order to ask people to set up a new bank account just to be able to participate in a group purchase.
Well, that’s all for this review. What’s your opinion on this service? Share it in the comments.
Cheers,
WishSimply
Read the previous wishlist review (Wishlistr).