Gift Certificates and how to use

[Former_Member]

Hi all... I want to add Gift Certificates to my shop, but haven't found any information on how they are redeemed. I can make a listing, and devise a certificate and send them out via a pdf (correct?). If the item was already purchased, how do the customers use them and bypass checkout?

Can anyone help me with the process? Thanks in advance...

[Former_Member]

Any guidance?

[HausofAriella]

They can select other at checkout and tell you the code, then you can send them an invoice for anything beyond the value of the gift card through Paypal. It's not the easiest way to go about it, but it seems like the best way to do it at the moment.

[Former_Member]

Thanks Ariella. So, the recipient adds their items to the cart, selects other and in the "notes" gives me the code that was on the coupon, right? then I process the order and ship it and just "mark" it paid?

How would the shipping be handled? Is it actually included when the recipient checks out? Another words, R adds to cart, Cart includes shipping, so it's actually $25.00 gift certificate but in reality, it's less because the GC is $25.00 and the R has to order less than 25 to cover the shipping fees added to the order? Make sense?

[HausofAriella]

I'm not quite following. The buyer checks out with other and tells you the gift certificate number. Both the cost of the items and the shipping are the total amount, so you just subtract the gift certificate value from the total and send them an invoice for the difference. So if someone had a $25 gift certificate and bought $23 of items with $5 shipping, you would just subtract $25 from the $28 total and send them an invoice for the remaining $3.

[Former_Member]

Well, believe it or not you answered my question :). Thank you again for coming in and responding <3

[HausofAriella]

No problem! Glad I could help, even if I didn't realize I was answering the question :)

[Former_Member]

It's me again! When you decide on a "code" for your coupon, What do you usually use to distinguish between your customers?

Do you find it easier to use part of the recipents name, or numeric? Any suggestions would be helpful to me.

Thanks! Also, is there a help thread on this subject somewhere?