Gift cards: are they worth it and how to sell them online

01Why gift cards are worth offering

A gift card is often bought by someone who has never been to you. They want to give something nice, and your treatment makes a good present. That brings you a new client whose visit is already paid for.

• Money comes in before the holidays, when people buy the most gifts.
• The person receiving it is often a new client who wouldn't have found you otherwise.
• Regular clients can give your work to a friend, their mum or a colleague.

02Why paper cards are a hassle

The classic paper gift card works, but it has its problems:

• The buyer has to come in person, or transfer money and wait for you to hand over the card.
• Codes and balances have to be kept in a notebook or spreadsheet, and they get mixed up.
• The card gets lost, and the recipient doesn't know how much is left on it.
• The evening before a holiday, when people look for gifts, you are no longer at work.

An online gift card solves all of that: it can be bought at any time, it arrives by email, and the system remembers the balance.

03Amounts, validity and terms

• Amounts. Offer a few ready amounts, such as €30, €50 and €75, plus the option to enter their own. Ready amounts make the choice easier.
• Validity. State it clearly in your terms, so neither the buyer nor the recipient gets a surprise.
• Partial use. If the treatment costs less than the card, the rest stays for next time. If it costs more, the client pays the difference.
• What it covers. All services or only some? All is simpler.

04What a gift card should look like

A gift card is a present, so it should look like one, not like a receipt. What matters most:

• Your name or business name, clearly visible.
• The amount and the code, easy to read and copy.
• How to use it: a booking link and the validity period.
• Room for a message from the giver.

Many people print a gift card and put it in an envelope, so it should look good on paper too, not only on a phone.

05How to keep track of sold cards

The money for a gift card comes in now, but the work comes later. So you need to know how many cards have been sold, how many have been used and how much is still outstanding.

• Record every card: code, amount, date sold and validity period.
• When a card is used, note how much was spent and how much is left.
• Before a card expires, you can remind the recipient that it is still waiting.

How to handle gift cards in your accounts is a question for your accountant. It depends on your type of business and your tax regime.

06When and how to tell people

People buy gifts before holidays: Christmas, Valentine's Day, International Women's Day, Mother's Day and birthdays. Mention gift cards a couple of weeks before, not on the last day.

07How it looks in RINDIQ

With RINDIQ, gift cards can be bought right on your booking page. The buyer picks an amount (or their own, from €15), can add a personal message, pays by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and the money goes to your Stripe account. The recipient gets the card with its code by email, and the buyer gets a receipt.

The card can be used when booking online or in person, and any balance stays for next time. A link that opens gift card buying straight away looks like this: rindiq.lv/your-name?gift=1. Put it on Instagram and in your stories. Selling gift cards needs a connected Stripe account. The Gift cards section shows every card sold and its balance, and at the counter you can accept a card by its code.

Where else to put the link so people find it: How to add your booking link to Google Maps and Instagram.