About Us
WLC Ventures was founded in late 2010. The initial reason behind it were the new IRS rules governing reporting of sales income from the likes of Paypal. It turned out that we exceeded all those rules the previous year. About the same time, YourBroadbandStore.com put an end it's retail business. After some hard negotiating with several potential replacements, we decided that the best value for the DIYC community was to source the Keptel Enclosures direct from the manufacturer, AFL Telecommunications.
WLC Ventures is a home operated company. We do have a business address that is used for the large volume of packages and mail that come in but this is really run out of our garage! I have to do it this way to keep the overhead at a bare minimum. Now this is a business and the full intention is to make small but reasonable profit. However, the goal is to ALWAYS offer products at a price that the community cannot get on their own. This is done two ways. The first of all is volume pricing...we buy parts in huge quantities...want to buy 10,000 TRIACs??? :) These quantities are so large that we can no longer meet the Co-Op limits of DIYC or any other site. The second is using the business to form new relationships with vendors who would not normally deal with an individual. This later item has enabled me to work with overseas vendors to get quality products and a fair price.
Customer Service
Hmmm I have to delete the next line - "We are a part time business with ZERO employees as I cannot count my kids." This has changed as the demand has grown. We employ two independent contractors on a part time basis. We handle orders, shipping and packing on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Friday afternoons. As we say in this community, "we have lives outside Blinky Flashy." Sometimes it takes a while for us to get to your orders. Sometimes, its hard to find the time to personally take an international package to the Post Office. I also have a day job that keeps me very busy and sometimes I end up away from home for periods of time. If you have any concerns about when things will happen, please send us an email. If you have a specific time frame where you need something by a specific date, please let us know BEFORE you order!!
Note: We are shipping this year during November and December. Our growth has allowed us to get help and they are handling orders now. If you need something urgent like a replacement for a fried transmitter, please let us know!
Terms of Sale
This is the legal side but I have make sure everyone knows what this means. We sell parts and boards and kits for the hobbyist. All items sold here are for use at your own risk as WLC Ventures cannot be responsible for how they are built or used. No warranties are included whether expressed or implied. In some instances, I can get a vendor to replace some items under warranty but this is on a case by case basis. Some of the products here are UL listed but NOT FOR THE APPLICATION in which the Blinky Flashy community uses them ("community" means DIYC, DLA, PC or any other group). Once again, its use at your own risk! A more formal legal version of this is found in our Terms and Conditions upon checkout.
Shipping
We have worked on getting some decent pricing from UPS. We prefer UPS as their tracking number system is much more robust and timely than USPS. However, for small items that fit in Flat Rate boxes or is less than 13 oz, USPS will be the most economical. We do not mark up the shipping...you pay the actual cost of shipping plus any special supplies (new boxes are the main one here).
Shipping with Insurance is REQUIRED....If you chose NOT TO PAY FOR THE INSURANCE, then the risk of a lost or damaged package is on you! We cannot afford to replace lost or damaged packages at these prices! If we are shipping UPS, then the insurance built into the rates as long as the value of the package is reported.Future Plans
Can you say LED lights? Yes we are working that angle now but it is not going so well. I am currently exploring all options including partnering with other suppliers. If you see a product that you think would benefit the community and fits in with the business philosophy of WLC Ventures, please let me know.
