Gift cards and coupons with a QR code

Sell gift cards at your counter, or hand out coupons on flyers, and take from each one by scanning its QR code. It works from a phone or tablet, with no card reader and nothing for the customer to install. It's a good fit for a food truck, a market stand or a shop.

The Gift cards and coupons add-on is $2 a month, or it comes with the Business plan. It works on its own: you don't need Bookings. It uses the same Check-in screen as bookings and class packs. See Check people in with a QR code.

At the counter, you take payment the way you usually do (cash, your card reader, Venmo), and then issue the card here to record it. To sell gift cards on your website, see Sell gift cards on your site.

Issue a gift card

1. Open the editor and click Gift cards. Press Issue.
2. Choose Gift card. Give it a Name and the Amount.
3. If you add an email, we send them an email with the QR code in it, and a link to a page with their code. Without one, press Issue, then let them photograph the code on your screen, or Print it.
4. Under Good for, choose how long it lasts, or No end.

About expiry dates: some states treat gift cards like prepaid money and limit or forbid expiry dates. "No end" is the safe choice. Check your state's rules before you set one.

Issue coupons

Choose Coupon. Say what it's for ("Free coffee with any pastry") and how many times each can be used. Under How many to make, choose up to 50 at once, then press Print the codes for a sheet to cut out. Every coupon has its own code, so each can be used only as many times as you set.

Coupons are for a free item, or a set discount you give at the till. A coupon doesn't take money off a total by itself: you decide what it's worth when you scan it.

Take from one at the till

1. Press Scan a code on your dashboard's Business page, or press Scan a code under Check-in here. The camera starts in a pop-up.
2. A gift card says what's left, like "Dana Whitaker has $31.50 left on this gift card." Scanning can't know the purchase, so you say how much comes off: type the amount, or press $5, $10 or All, then press Take. It then says what's left on the card. It can't take more than what's on the card.
3. A coupon shows its uses left. Press Use coupon.
4. Press Scan next, or Done.

If something was taken in the last few minutes, you see a warning, in case the same code was scanned twice. No phone? Search for their name in the pop-up's No phone? Find them by name part.

Sell gift cards on your site

Add a Gift cards section to a page, like a Gift cards page, and visitors can buy a gift card from you online.

1. Open Pages, open the page, and press Add a section. Choose Gift cards.
2. Under Amounts to offer, type up to six amounts from $5 to $500 with commas between: 25, 50, 100. Turn on Let buyers type another amount if you like.
3. Publish. You need Stripe connected, the same as for paid bookings.

A buyer picks an amount, types their name and email, and can tick This is for someone else to add their name, email and a short message. They pay on Stripe's page, straight into your own Stripe account, and we never take a cut. Then the gift card is emailed to them, or to the person it's for, with the buyer's message, and you get an email too. The card shows up under Gift cards with a code to scan.

If you refund the whole payment in your Stripe dashboard, the gift card is canceled. To take back only part, use Add or take away on the card.

Pay for a booking with a gift card

If your site also takes bookings, a customer can pay for a booking that costs money with their gift card. Every gift card has a code like GX7K-2MQ4-RTBN, on its page and in the email we send. On the booking form, a Gift card code box appears for anything with a price. They type it in, and the card pays as much of the price as it holds. If the card doesn't cover all of it, they pay the rest on the payment page.

• The money comes off the card right away. If the booking is declined, canceled in time or the payment never goes through, it goes back on the card.
• A booking paid this way shows Paid with: Gift card in Bookings, and the confirmation email says what's left on the card.
• Too many wrong codes from one person in an hour, or from everyone in a day, stops more tries for a while. Coupons can't be used this way.

What customers see

The page from the email, or the code you printed, shows the card or coupon's name and what's left, with the QR code to hold up. The email has the QR code too. When it's used up, canceled or out of time, the page says so, with no code.

See and change them

Gift cards and coupons lists each one with what's left. Open one to see every amount taken, add to it or take from it with a note, Print its code, or Cancel it. A canceled card can't be used, and its history stays.

Related: Bookings, Check people in with a QR code, Class packs, Take payments.