Gift certificates for my own store??

[kalamazooclipper]

Hi all I've been playing with the idea of selling gift certificates for my store...that people can buy and give to friends etc for Christmas gifts. It's not the listing I'm puzzled about... It's how to handle the transaction being paid with a certificate. Do you have the person using the certificate do the BIN for what she/he wants, then do transaction cancellations...or just have them send me a want list? And, how about notifying the recipient? I could let that person know about the "rules" for cashing it in. Geez, the more I think about this, the more complicated it gets. Hopefully someone in the group has done this before, and can give me tips/suggestions?? Lorna

[ds_gifts]

Hi Lorna, There are some that have done coupons for their store but not sure about a certificate. I guess they would work the same. I'm not positive but I think it was Treasures that had mentioned something about having coupons. But that would have been a long while back. Probably 18 months or so. --

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[kalamazooclipper]

I did see a store advertising a percent off discount for their store...but there weren't any details in the listing on how to use the discount. Lorna

[unclejoeadamson]

You have to keep track of an account for the Gift Certificate. As long as the GC's account has a balance, anything/everything purchased comes out of the account. When someone orders from you, they will contact you and say they want to use their GC. You get the number from them, subtract their balance from the GC's account. If it isn't enough to pay the whole amount, you send them an invoice for the difference (the balance). If everything's covered (or after you're paid that balance), you just mark it as "paid" with eBay and ship it. If you sell GCs, make sure that you give them an expiration date, usually 6 months or 12 months. That way they will eventually "time out" and any remaining pennies that might remain get absorbed - or encourage the use of the GC before it dies, increasing your sales. -- Uncle Joe
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[kalamazooclipper]

Uncle Joe, that does sound just like the old days when I took checks and *GASP* cash payments. I kept an account for the buyer, deducting new purchases from the total, and writing the transaction & new balance on the thank you note enclosed with the purchase. I'd let the buyer know when her balance was low, and she'd send a new payment. I do like the idea of putting an expiration date on them. It does help sales, as there's always someone out there who doesn't like/use PayPal...and a great last-minute gift idea. Lorna

[nnnlingerie]

The only problem is that if you sell the GC on Ebay and they they purchase items through ebay, you kind of get double charged for that money. Does that make any sense?? -- You don't stop laughing because you grow old; You grow old because you stop laughing!

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[kalamazooclipper]

OhhhOhhhhh..........now I never thought of that!!! So, the only "good" way to do this is to sell the gift certificates with the proviso that the person using it send a want list without buying the lots. This sounds a lot like "of course the buyer will read the item description" wishful-thinking. I used to do this for buyers who wanted to pay cash (ah, the good ole days) in one lump sum, then have a credit balance. I would just let the buyer know when the balance was low. One of the buyers is now a regular PayPal customer. Ah well...the idea sounded good... Lorna

[nnnlingerie]

I do it, but I just try to sell to regular customers or through my blog. -- You don't stop laughing because you grow old; You grow old because you stop laughing!

Naughty and Nice Lingerie Ebay Store