Selling gift vouchers

Sell gift vouchers 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 29 October 20268 min read

At a glance

  • You sell gift vouchers with Pro or Studio. During the trial you can prepare everything.
  • Online with the gift voucher block on your website, or directly with you through Sell gift voucher 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 voucher is an item in Shop / Gift vouchers under Products. From item to redemption:

  1. 1Create: choose amounts, validity and card design.
  2. 2Offer: place the gift voucher block on a page of your website.
  3. 3Sell: online through the basket, or directly with you through Sell gift voucher 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 vouchers is included in the Pro and Studio plans. Without it, your customers see neither the block nor a gift voucher in the shop.

Your planWhat works
TrialYou create gift vouchers, 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 voucher items stay saved. New sales pause. Gift vouchers you already sold stay redeemable, and you keep managing them under Sold gift vouchers.
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3

The Shop / Gift vouchers area

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

  1. 1Shop / Gift vouchers: everything about gift vouchers. Photo products stay in the first tab.
  2. 2Gift voucher items and Sold gift vouchers: your offers and the list of all cards sold.
  3. 3New gift voucher: creates a gift voucher item. Next to it, Categories sorts your items.
  4. 4Sell gift voucher 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 vouchers stay valid.

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4

Creating a gift voucher

New gift voucher 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 voucher. From 1 to 1,000, up to 12 amounts.
  2. 2Validity: no expiry 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 expiry date only.
Other countriesNo expiry date only.

It can't be shorter

Pixalo doesn't allow a validity below the legal minimum, in the form or at sale. The expiry date is always printed on the card, or “No expiry 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 nursery, plus four seasons.
  2. 2Colour: from the palette or in your shop colours.
  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 voucher · sell online block under Shop. Place it on a page and choose the gift voucher 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 basket: 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 vouchers. The first click on the basket runs an invisible security check. Customers don't notice it. Only if it fails do they see a request to reload the page.
  • Gift vouchers and photos fit in the same basket and are paid together. Up to 10 gift vouchers per order.
  • Cash payment isn't offered for gift vouchers. Discount codes, the sibling discount and the free shipping threshold don't count gift vouchers.
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7

Delivery as a PDF

Once payment is confirmed, the gift voucher 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 vouchers 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 vouchers.
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8

Redeeming at checkout

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

  1. 1Pay with gift voucher: enter the code, spaces and lowercase don't matter. Up to 5 gift vouchers per order.
  2. 2Paid with gift voucher and Amount to pay: the total stays the same, below it are the gift voucher's share and the rest.
  • Partial use: if the gift voucher 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 vouchers in your shop's currency are accepted.
  • Single-purpose gift vouchers are only valid for delivery within your sales country. This is printed on the card. With a delivery address abroad, checkout declines the voucher with a clear note.
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9

Selling at your studio

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

  1. 1Gift voucher and amount: from your visible gift voucher 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 voucher: the order is paid immediately and the gift voucher 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 vouchers

Sold gift vouchers 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 voucher 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 favour. A refunded gift voucher stays blocked for good. The order shows how it was paid:

  1. 1Paid with gift voucher: 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 voucher 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 voucher refund: the money goes back, a credit note is created and the gift voucher 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 voucher and you refund it, the money paid goes back first. The rest is credited back to the gift voucher.
  • More about documents in Credit notes.
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12

Currency and open gift vouchers

A gift voucher is valid in the currency it was paid in. While gift vouchers 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 vouchers through their order, partly used ones with their remaining balance. Then the currency is free. A paid gift voucher 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 voucher?

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

The customer lost the email. What now?

Under Sold gift vouchers, 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 voucher is prepaid credit. A discount code lowers the price without anyone paying first.

Does selling gift vouchers 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.