A gift card is a code with a spendable balance. Buyers get it by email and redeem it at checkout, on one purchase or across several, until the balance is used up. You sell gift cards as a product, and you can also issue one by hand.
Selling gift cards
Create a product and choose the type Gift card. A gift card product has a One-time payment or a Pay what you want price. With a fixed price every card has the same value. With pay what you want, the buyer chooses the value. The amount paid becomes the balance of the card, in the currency of the order.
The product gets a Gift card tab. How it works sums up the three steps Purchase, Delivery and Redemption. Under Validity you choose how long an issued card stays valid: 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, 1 year or Never. For any other length, enter it under Custom (days). The time counts from the day the card is issued.
A gift card product has no Access tab and no shipping, and it is never offered as an order bump. Buyers order one card at a time.
Delivery
At checkout the buyer finds Send as a gift (optional). They can enter a Recipient email, a Recipient name, a Personal message and a Send date. Without a recipient email the code goes to the buyer. Without a send date it is sent right after the payment, otherwise on that day.
The email shows the value, the code, the personal message and the expiry date. You can turn it off as Gift Card Delivery under Settings > Notifications.
Redemption
Buyers enter the code in the Coupon code field at checkout. The card covers the total up to its balance, and whatever is left stays on the card for the next purchase. If the balance covers everything, the order completes without a payment.
A few rules apply:
- The card works on one-time purchases, not on subscriptions or payment plans.
- A coupon and a gift card cannot be combined in the same checkout.
- The card's currency has to match the price.
- A card bought in test mode only works in test mode, and a live card only in the live checkout.
- A disabled card or one past its expiry date is turned down.
Issuing a gift card by hand
Go to Payments > Catalog > Gift cards and click New Gift Card. Enter the Value and its currency. Recipient name, Recipient email, Personal message, Send on and Expires on are optional. Click Create. With a recipient email, the code is emailed on the Send on date, or within a minute if you leave it empty. Without one, nothing is sent and you hand the code over yourself.
Balance and history
The list shows each card with Code, Value, Balance, Status, Recipient and Created at. Search by code, recipient email or buyer email. Click Details to open a card.
The card shows its balance out of the original value, the recipient and the expiry date. History lists every movement: Issued, Redeemed, Refunded and Adjusted, each with the balance after it.
Under Adjust balance, enter an Amount and an optional Note, then click Add or Deduct. The balance never drops below zero. A card at zero is Depleted, and adding to it makes it Active again.
Disable stops a card at once: it can no longer be redeemed or emailed. Re-enable brings it back.
Refunds
When an order that was paid partly with a gift card is fully refunded, the redeemed amount goes back onto the card. When an order that bought gift cards is fully refunded, every card that is still unused is disabled. A card that has already been spent stays active.
Partial refunds and setting an order to Refunded by hand do not touch gift cards. An order paid entirely with a gift card has no payment to refund. In these cases, use Adjust balance or Disable on the card.