Gift Certificates

[SereniTea]

Hi, I'm wondering if there is a service used for purchasing gift certificates that link to your websites? Do you have any services, tools or tips for online gift certificate purchases? Thanks!

 

[Tom]

Best is telephone: run credit card, email PDF. Note that in US and most states, a "gift card" paid in cash cannot have an expiration date and eventually if unused the money has to go to the state.
On the whole, we have stopped doing them: not worth the hassle and when someone really wants to give a gift, we hat the recipient book and then charge the giver's card.
Bedandbreakfast.com has stopped selling gift cards.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

They are a pita.

 

[Generic]

Hate them. Have even tried to give people their money back to get them off the books. They keep their value FOREVER here and I have to keep them on the books FOREVER.
We also have some other weird laws, like if the amount left is under $5, I have to pay it in cash, even if it is a 3rd party certificate.
Mine have a special code, they are welcome to transfer it to anyone, even the ones that I give complementary. The person who enters the code has it on account.
If I give them away complementary, I can put an expiration date and conditions. And my usual condition is that they can't be used for fees, including cancellation fees.

 

[Morticia]

No service. If you want to do them, make up a nice, original gift cert that cannot be randomly printed up by guests. Get payment, send card. Many states have no expiration, so check that first.
We do them, but it's not a big biz like it used to be. Most reservation systems have something built in for purchase.

 

[notAgrandma]

My reservation system, reservation key, has a feature to sell gift certificates. It's very easy to use the feature, and I've put a link on my "packages & promos" page that puts guests right through to the form. Last year, I sold 5 between Nov 20 - Dec 20 without lifting a finger! I think some folks who are tech savvy like the ability to buy a GC online without having to ring up an innkeeper.
I also sell GC over the phone. I mark them as a reservation in my system so the income is already recorded. I keep a spreadsheet with the name and contact info. After 1 year, I call them and remind them to redeem it. After that, I kinda give up. I tried to figure out the expiration laws for my state and it appears to differ for GC for merchandise vs those for services. It looks like GC are a liability for 5 years & after that, a retailer can start charging an "inactivity fee". I can't find info on whether there's a limit to this fee.