Selling gift cards to mail to people out of town

[artnail]

I cannot load a gift card and send an invoice to a client for payment.  I'm concerned to take credit card #s over the phone for my safety and theirs. I have clients that want to send physical gift cards to loved ones in and out of town.

Second concern is how I track this. Recently, I sent an invioce to a client for loaded gift cards. I then took payment and recorded it as 'other payment'. I dont want at the end of the year have this counted as double revenue.

Any advice? All welcome!

[ashc]

Hey @artnail!

Unfortunately there's not a way to load a gift card without swiping/inserting or manually entering a card. You wouldn't be able to invoice the client to load the card up. Since you already accepted payment, you'll need to refund that payment back to the customer and take the card information over the phone.

Wish I had a better answer than this so sorry about that. The only other option you'd have is to set up e-gift cards that they can buy themselves online from you.

[WineSneak]

We have a donor who wants to buy physical gift cards for essential workers. He doesn't live nearby and does not want to give us his CC info. Buying e-gift cards is also not an option since there is no recipient yet.  

[pessosices]

@WineSneak 

@artnail 

While there's no official way to do this, I do have a workaround that I've been using for years.

I set up an item in my online store for Shipping called "Gift Card - Mailed", at the price points that I like as Variations ($15, $25, $50, $100).

Here's mine:

https://pessosices.square.site/product/gift-card-mailed/120

When an order for one comes in, I go to my POS system (tablet, smartphone, Register or Terminal) and load a Plastic Gift Card for the same $Amount that was ordered. I set up a 100% Discount Called "Mailed Gift Card" which I apply to the Loaded Plastic Gift Card Transaction on my POS device, so that I can finish Loading it by hitting Charge and $0 Cash.

Then we're all set, and we mail out the Gift Card!

Hope this helps,

Pesso

[WineSneak]

Thanks. I will try that. 

[artnail]

So, do you send out an invoice then? I'm confused about that. 

[pessosices]

@artnail 

I personally do not send an invoice. I have created an item called "Gift Card - Mailed" on my Online Store that they purchase, and pay for the order through the Online Store. No invoice needed!