Why was a customer still able to "mark as gift?"

[LookBackVintage]

I disabled mark as gift a few weeks back because of all the buyers who had themselves as the buyer and recipient which of course, doesn't make sense.  I just had an order and it is marked as a gift!  And of course, the buyer and recipient are the same.  How is that possible if I have it disabled?  I wish when a buyer marks as gift that some kind of pop up clarification would happen because now I will have to write a message to let the buyer know what marking as a gift means (again).  I disabled that feature to avoid having to do this numerous times.  Is there a glitch?

[NanaLetha]

You can't disable "mark as a gift". You can only disable "gift message".

[LookBackVintage]

Oh for goodness sake, you are right!  I re-read what it says and it does only disable the gift message, not the ability to mark as gift.  Well, that's totally useless.  Thanks for the heads up, I didn't realize that.

[bradgoodell]

@LookBackVintage "Mark as gift" simply means you leave out the receipt or print the receipt without prices.  Easy peasy, either way.  

[LookBackVintage]

But the buyer is marking as a gift for a reason, so if the buyer and the recipient are the same then what's the purpose?  It's confusing to me and the buyer.  I always send a message when they have themselves as the recipient and don't enclose anything.

[bradgoodell]

@LookBackVintage maybe the have a family member who opens packages when they arrive, and they don't want $$ amount visible.  Maybe the buyer doesn't want to be reminded of how much they spent.  Who knows?

It doesn't pay to dwell on your buyer's motives.  

[hopeandjoystudios]

Some mark as gift because they don't want it coming with evidence if how much it cost, Some do it because they think it will  then come with some sort of gift wrap. Some do it just to see what happens.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Some buyers think they should mark it as a gift, if they are buying it for someone else as a gift, even if it's shipped to themselves 

Etsy doesn't actually say what it means, so people tick the gift, if they are just gifting it themselves

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

You don't  have to tell buyers what marking as gift means.  When they select it a pop up lets them know that it simply means no invoice will be sent.

[bradgoodell]

THIS.  It should be clear, if the buyer can read.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@JJewellerySuppliesUK 

 it doesn't say that to me, it says

Mark order as a gift

and when I click it says....

View gifting options at checkout.

[JBPacrat]

Some international buyers think that "mark as gift" means that they can save money on duty when noted on the customs slip. Just had that happen last week. Had to explain that I cannot do that.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

marking as gift, unless it's specifically to Canada, doesn't make any difference now,

for EU/UK,NZ, Aus, etsy has to collect the import taxes on items under the gift amount, so the buyer pays it to etsy,
and then, if it's over, Etsy doesn't collect it, but it's over the limit for gifts, so they would have to pay it anyway on import, gift or not.

[BagmakerSupply]

We sell only supplies and we have several customers who always mark all of their orders as a gift.

[LovesVintage43]

You can unmark each individual order as a gift by clicking on the 3 dots

[EnergyPeace]

I don't know if that works but we aren't supposed to. They don't want an invoice with price included which is why they clicked "gift". 

[EnergyPeace]

Some people don't want the price to show and that is why they pick the "gift" option. Why does it matter to you? 

[LookBackVintage]

It matters to me because I am not sure what they want when they mark as a gift.  I don't feel comfortable just ignoring that in case they are expecting something.  I don't enclose any kind of packing slip so there isn't going to be anything with the price on it anyway, but it doesn't always have to do with receipts. Maybe I am overthinking this, but it bothers me to just ignore it. 

[irmaKdesigns]

@LookBackVintage "But the buyer is marking as a gift for a reason, so if the buyer and the recipient are the same then what's the purpose?" 

I had one customer marking her order as a gift and paying for giftwrap. No gift message was included, so I asked if the recipient will know who is sending it. She said, no worries, it's a gift for myself. I thought it was a great idea!

[OmasFabricStash]

Wow, I hadn’t thought of that, I could buy my own Christmas gifts, have them gift wrapped, send them to myself and by the time Christmas gets here I will have forgotten what it was. 
I’m tempted to try it. 

[TootieandTadpole]

My husband marks orders as gifts for me at Christmas and just hands me Amazon boxes. Haha!! That way I get a gift receipt (in case I need to return or exchange) but not the cost of each item.  
  He hates wrapping gifts, so when I get gifts going to the person who ordered, I assume they’re the same and just print the gift receipt! XD

[CoquetteBath]

I get these from time to time. I don't do anything 'different' as I have my shop set up a specific way. I print the packaging sheet only.

I don't offer gift wrap any longer. For years I've considered doing gift boxes, and I've tried a few different ways, but so far...haven't figured that out.

[TheSwedishMouse]

But for international orders I need to include a packing slip with prices for the customs anyway When it's marked as gift, I can't print the packing slip because that's useless without prices. Then I need to print the order with the prices instead and include that in the package. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

For international orders, you should create an invoice,

the packing slip doesn't have everything o it, that an invoice does

[LookBackVintage]

After reading all the posts on this subject, I guess I will just ignore the mark as gift designation and ship the package out and quit worrying about it.  I don't include packing lists or receipts so that shouldn't be a problem anyway.