Selling gift cards

Sell gift cards right on your website or at your studio. Your customer gets a beautiful card as a PDF. It is redeemed at checkout, and any remaining balance stays on the card.

Updated October 29, 20268 min read

At a glance

  • You sell gift cards with Pro or Studio. During the trial you can prepare everything.
  • Online with the gift card block on your website, or directly with you through Sell gift card in person.
  • The card arrives as a PDF attached to the email. It is redeemed in your shop, also in parts.
1

How it works

A gift card is an item in Shop / Gift cards under Products. From item to redemption:

  1. 1Create: choose amounts, validity and card design.
  2. 2Offer: place the gift card block on a page of your website.
  3. 3Sell: online through the cart, or directly with you through Sell gift card in person.
  4. 4Deliver: after payment, the card goes to the customer as a PDF by email.
  5. Redeem: at your shop's checkout. Any remaining balance stays on the card.

The money goes straight to you

Online, the customer pays with your payment methods and the money lands in your Stripe or PayPal account. Pixalo takes no commission.
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2

Which plan you need

Selling gift cards is included in the Pro and Studio plans. Without it, your customers see neither the block nor a gift card in the shop.

Your planWhat works
TrialYou create gift cards, design the card and test the PDF. You can't sell yet.
Pro, StudioEverything: sell online, sell in person, redeem.
Start, GrowthNo selling. The shop area shows a short note with a link to the plans.

Changed your plan?

Your gift card items stay saved. New sales pause. Gift cards you already sold stay redeemable, and you keep managing them under Sold gift cards.
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3

The Shop / Gift cards area

Under Products, next to your photo products, you'll find the Shop / Gift cards tab.

  1. 1Shop / Gift cards: everything about gift cards. Photo products stay in the first tab.
  2. 2Gift card items and Sold gift cards: your offers and the list of all cards sold.
  3. 3New gift card: creates a gift card item. Next to it, Categories sorts your items.
  4. 4Sell gift card in person: for customers who pay you directly, for example in cash at your studio.
  5. 5Item: image, amounts and validity at a glance. Edit it with the pencil.

Hidden items stay saved. If an item has already been sold, deleting it only hides it. Sold gift cards stay valid.

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4

Creating a gift card

New gift card opens the form. On the left you set what is sold. On the right you see the card live.

  1. 1Amounts: each amount becomes its own gift card. From 1 to 1,000, up to 12 amounts.
  2. 2Validity: no expiration date or whole years. Below it is the legal minimum for your sales country.
  3. 3Test PDF: creates the card as a PDF in A4 or A6 with a sample code. Nothing is sold or saved.
  4. 4Preview: try out amount, name and message. View it as a card, on a phone, as A4 or as an email.
Sales countryShortest allowed validity
Germany3 years, counted to the end of the year.
Netherlands, United Kingdom2 years.
Switzerland10 years.
Austria, Spain, USANo expiration date only.
Other countriesNo expiration date only.

It can't be shorter

Pixalo doesn't allow a validity below the legal minimum, in the form or at sale. The expiration date is always printed on the card, or “No expiration date” for unlimited cards. In the USA the form also shows a note about your state's unclaimed property rules.
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5

Card design

Under Card design you choose the look. Your customer sees the same card on the website, in the PDF and in the email.

  1. 1Design: 16 templates, from timeless and elegant to playful, school and preschool, plus four seasons.
  2. 2Color: from the palette or in your shop colors.
  3. 3Photo on the card: an image from your media library. It only appears in designs with a photo.
  • Front: amount, “for” with the recipient's name, your shop name and your website.
  • Back: message, code, validity, your address and a QR code to your shop.
  • Your customer writes name and message when buying. In the preview they are just an example.
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6

Selling on your website

In Shop design, the block library has the Gift card · sell online block under Shop. Place it on a page and choose the gift card item. This is what your customers see:

  1. 1Amount: the amounts of your item. The card next to it changes right away.
  2. 2Who is it for?: optional, up to 48 characters. Printed on the front.
  3. 3Message: optional, up to 140 characters. Printed on the back.
  4. 4Add to cart: then on to checkout as usual.
  5. 5Validity: always shown under the card, with the date for a purchase today.
  • The block only appears when your plan includes selling and the item is visible. Otherwise customers see nothing, and you see a short note in the editor.
  • Nobody needs an access code for gift cards. The first click on the cart runs an invisible security check. Customers don't notice it. Only if it fails do they see a request to reload the page.
  • Gift cards and photos fit in the same cart and are paid together. Up to 10 gift cards per order.
  • Cash payment isn't offered for gift cards. Discount codes, the sibling discount and the free shipping threshold don't count gift cards.
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7

Delivery as a PDF

Once payment is confirmed, the gift card becomes active. The customer gets an email with the card as a PDF attachment. With bank transfer this happens when the money arrives.

  • The thank-you page and the email tell the customer that the card comes as a PDF. Ready to print or forward.
  • Under Sold gift cards you download each card as PDF A4 or PDF A6.
  • If the customer lost the email, send it again with Resend. This works for active gift cards.
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8

Redeeming at checkout

When your shop has active gift cards, checkout shows Pay with gift card under the payment method. The customer enters the code and instantly sees what is left to pay.

  1. 1Pay with gift card: enter the code, spaces and lowercase don't matter. Up to 5 gift cards per order.
  2. 2Paid with gift card and Amount due: the total stays the same, below it are the gift card's share and the rest.
  • Partial use: if the gift card is worth more than the order, the rest stays on the card for next time.
  • Not enough on the card: the customer pays the rest with one of your payment methods. If the card covers everything, checkout asks for no payment method and the button reads Place order.
  • Currency: only gift cards in your shop's currency are accepted.
  • In the EU and the UK, single-purpose gift cards are only valid for delivery within your sales country. This is printed on the card. With a delivery address abroad, checkout declines the card with a clear note.
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9

Selling at your studio

Sell gift card in person creates a gift card for a customer who pays you directly, for example on picture day or at your studio. You take the payment yourself, Pixalo charges nothing. You'll find the button under Products, Shop / Gift cards. Purchases on your website run on their own.

  1. 1Gift card and amount: from your visible gift card items. Below: quantity, name and message.
  2. 2Customer email: optional. With an address, the card goes out as a PDF by email.
  3. 3Paid in person: the customer paid you in cash or by card.
  4. 4Paid, create gift card: the order is paid immediately and the gift card is active.

The window then shows the last four characters of the code, printing in A4 or A6 and a link to the order. The sale appears in your order list like any other order.

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10

Sold gift cards

Sold gift cards lists every card sold with value, balance, status, validity, sales channel and order. Only the customer sees the full code, you see the last four characters.

  1. 1Balance: what is still on the card. Here part of the value has already been redeemed.
  2. 2Blocked: the reason is shown below. A blocked gift card can't be redeemed, the balance stays.
  3. 3Actions: PDF A4 and A6, Resend and Block.
StatusMeaning
ActivePaid and redeemable.
Used upBalance 0.
BlockedBlocked by you, because of a refund or a chargeback.
ExpiredThe validity has ended.
ClosedRefunded. The code no longer works.
PendingPayment hasn't arrived yet, for example with bank transfer.

Only people with the right to refund can Unblock. After a chargeback you confirm that the dispute was decided in your favor. A refunded gift card stays blocked for good. The order shows how it was paid:

  1. 1Paid with gift card: each card's share with its last four characters. With a partial payment, the balance due is shown below.
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11

Refunds

You refund a sold gift card in the order it was bought with, using Refund. It is the same refund as for photo products.

  1. 1Partly redeemed: only the remaining balance is refunded. Amounts already redeemed are not.
  2. 2Gift card refund: the money goes back, a credit note is created and the gift card is closed. Its code no longer works.
  • Card and PayPal refunds run automatically. For cash or bank transfer, you pay back yourself and confirm it in the window.
  • If an order was paid with a gift card and you refund it, the money paid goes back first. The rest is credited back to the gift card.
  • More about documents in Credit notes.
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12

Currency and open gift cards

A gift card is valid in the currency it was paid in. While gift cards in another currency are still open, your shop currency can't be changed. The setting then shows the reason.

How to change it anyway

You don't have to wait for them to expire. Refund the open gift cards through their order, partly used ones with their remaining balance. Then the currency is free. A paid gift card can't be deleted or ended early, the balance belongs to your customer.
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13

United Kingdom: redemption receipt instead of invoice

If you sell from the United Kingdom and a customer pays an order in full with a single-purpose voucher, Pixalo creates a Redemption receipt instead of an invoice. VAT was already charged when the voucher was sold. The receipt uses your invoice settings, goes to the customer with the order confirmation and can be downloaded in the order. Your invoice settings show a preview.

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Frequently asked questions

Can a customer cash out a gift card?

No. The gift card is redeemed in the shop. To take it back, refund it through its order.

The customer lost the email. What now?

Under Sold gift cards, click Resend on the card. Or download the PDF and hand it over directly.

How is tax calculated?

Pixalo automatically tells single-purpose and multi-purpose vouchers apart. The type is printed on the card and the invoice. More in Taxes.

Is this the same as a discount code?

No. A gift card is prepaid credit. A discount code lowers the price without anyone paying first.

Does selling gift cards cost extra?

No. It is included in Pro and Studio. Pixalo takes no commission.

Go to discount codes

Discount codes

Percentages or fixed amounts, for one job or for all.