Opt out of gift cards

[JanetCrowley]

I don't want to accept Etsy gift cards. How do I opt out of this?

[DingandKennie]

Good question! I'm not sure if you can when you accept DC.

[Former_Member]

I don't know for sure, but I suspect you would have to turn DC off. Just curious, why don't you want to accept gift cards?

[JanetCrowley]

I foresee this being a big pain. I get all kinds of requests for custom orders. Colors I don't have, and shipping to overseas where delivery is questionable. I've learned from hard experience to refuse most of these orders. If they've got a gift card, it means these orders will already be paid for..and I will be required to fill them. That is not acceptable.
If accepting the gift cards are a condition of the DC, then I'll get rid of it.

[Former_Member]

Janet the gift cards are purchased from Etsy, not individual shops. When it comes to placing an order from a shop, they are no different than any other credit card. You still have the option of not completing a custom order for whatever reason.

I hope that helps.

[Nothingbutstring]

If you get an order like that you can always refuse the order and issue a refund. It's no different then an order paid with a credit card or paypal.

[ohmama]

I don't think it is likely that you would get a gift card purchase from anyone international. The card needs to be purchased by someone in the U.S. True it can be given to anyone as a gift, international or not, but chances are more that it will be to someone in the U.S.

I have solved the international shipping stress by purchasing insurance on my items through shipsurance.com

I can't imagine turning down a sale but you do have that right if it is what you want to do.

[JanetCrowley]

Hi Mary--love your hats! I use insurepost, which is basically the same thing. But you need to look at the fine print. There are places and items they don't cover. Your beautiful hats are prohibited items in Italy, as are my dog collars and almost everything else in the world. http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/il_008.htm#ep4713921. The insurance may or may not cover you if your package is lost. Most of my overseas sales go smoothly, but there are a few places (Italy, Russia, Brazil) where they just never arrive.
I really hadn't thought about the gift cards not being internationally available. That is a good point, and may limit that problem (at least for now).
We'll see what happens.

[ohmama]

Janet,
I know what you are saying about Italy. I specifically state in my shop policies that I will not ship to Italy because of that. A woman got really upset with me once when she wanted to make a purchase and I wouldn't add Italy to the listing. It's not like I didn't want to sell her a hat, her country just wouldn't allow me to, lol!

I also won't ship to a country that shipsurance doesn't cover. I figure there must be a good reason why they won't take the risk, so I don't either. Funny how that works.

[OriginalsbyLauren]

If I understand correctly, buyers purchase gift cards from etsy and "bank" them in their etsy account.
When they decide to buy something, etsy will credit,our,shop,payment account.

We are under no obligation to offer special items.

I like it so much better than when people asked me for a gift certificate and then I had to keep track of it

[Former_Member]

Like others are saying you aren't going to be required to do anything you weren't already doing. From my understanding the purchase from the sellers end is no different than if they used their credit card through DC. You can still cancel orders you can't fulfill for whatever reason(the money will go back to their account).

[ohmama]

Lauren Darby from OriginalsbyLauren says

If I understand correctly, buyers purchase gift cards from etsy and "bank" them in their etsy account.
______________________________________________
Lauren, not sure what you mean by this. We cannot purchase gift cards for ourselves, they have to be for someone else. The amount on the card stays in the recipients account to be spent at any shop taking them here. Is that what you are saying?

[OriginalsbyLauren]

Mary, when you receive a gift card, you enter the number on etsy and it holds the money for you. When you spend it, the money is paid to the seller

I don't know if you can buy them for yourself

[OriginalsbyLauren]

http://www.etsy.com/help/article/3292

These are the terms of service. It sounds like they are a prepaid debit card

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone,

This information has already come to light in this thread, but I wanted to confirm:

When a buyer uses an Etsy Gift Card in your shop, it works the exact same way as a credit card payment. Funds from the order will appear in your Shop Payment Account, and will deposit as normal.

You will not to worry about issuing, tracking, or managing an Etsy Gift Card -- we'll do the heavy lifting. As long as you're using DC (which you should be if you're in this team!) you're all set.

-Ev