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I am a little lost on how to create gift certificates and how they work in e-junkie.

Is it possible for the user to input the amount of the gift certificate or will i have to create a separate one for each dollar amount (ex: $25, $50, $100).

Also, what is the process of using the gift certificate? Can I mail a GC with the "special code" written on it? Does the receiver of the gift certificate get the email or the buyer?

How do I set it up? what is the "Discount Code"? Is there a unique code generated for each GC that is sold?

There is just not enough documentation on this process, i have followed every link in the forums and in the Help, but I am still lost.

thanks,

Adam

Most of the instructions are in the Discount config screens themselves, rather than in our help pages. It may help understanding to know that our discount settings were originally conceived as "virtual coupons" that could be sent via email; as such, the idea was that you simply make up a coupon codename like "WinterSpecial07" and configure that in your cart, so anyone who has that code (say, from a promotional postcard or email newsletter, or simple word-of-mouth) could type it into your cart screen to redeem the coupon. That expanded into single-use/full-price coupons, so someone could, say, buy a unique mp3 coupon code at a show and use that to discount to zero their online "purchase" of that mp3 download. Finally, we combined this with our "Send Stored Codes" product setting to create a sort of Gift Certificate.

For single-use discount codes, rather than setting a generic coupon code that anyone could redeem any number of times, you'd want to generate a bunch of unique "serial number" type of codes that are no good after they're used once (you could probably whip these up in Excel, or find a site that has a free code generator you can use). Then you would go into your Seller Admin > Cart Discounts & Gift Certificates to create each GC discount amount. First, give it a name (like say, GiftCert25 for a $25 cert.) then on the Discount Code line, paste-in your list of unique serial codes, separated by commas. The remaining settings should be self-evident, just remember to set Maximum Use Count to 1. to make each of your unique codes a one-shot deal.

Then you would go into your Seller Admin > Add New Product and create a product with the Send Stored Codes setting marked, and the same price as the discount amount you just created. When you get to the product config screen where you would paste-in your codes, paste the same list of unique serialized codes you provided when setting up the discount. After you're done adding this product, go back to your Cart Discount screen to start setting up the next "level" of GCs you're going to offer and repeat the process above with a fresh list of unique codes.

When someone purchases these GC products, it will email them as many codes as they ordered and remove those codes from the product list (our system notifies you when you're down to your last 5 codes for any product). The buyer can forward their codes to the gift recipient (even write them on paper or in a greeting card), who would then redeem them by typing the codes into your cart screen when they're shopping on your site.

wow, thank you so much for this lengthy explanation, this is exactly what I needed to know.

Hi. Agreed, great answer, thanks.

I'm intending to use the GCs as giveaways and have therefore set up 200 random codes for each level of GC that I want to use ($10, $20, $30).

I put in the Maximum Use Count as 1 each time but this is now showing as use-count=0 in the Existing GC section. Is that right? I want these GCs to be one time only and that implies they are not. Please clarify.

Thanks

Just another thought. If these are all wrong, is there any way to bulk delete them instead of 1 at a time (x 600!).

markmottsHi. Agreed, great answer, thanks.

I'm intending to use the GCs as giveaways and have therefore set up 200 random codes for each level of GC that I want to use ($10, $20, $30).

I put in the Maximum Use Count as 1 each time but this is now showing as use-count=0 in the Existing GC section. Is that right? I want these GCs to be one time only and that implies they are not. Please clarify.

Thanks

This implies that as of now they have been used 0 times.

markmottsJust another thought. If these are all wrong, is there any way to bulk delete them instead of 1 at a time (x 600!).

Not yet

hi everybody! i'm jhonnie, glad to be here :)
what happens if I want to sell the gift certificates online but the client have to redeem them in real life? (by example going to a bar and showing a page where he prints his personal and very own voucher). can he inputs his own government ID number during the payment process so I can email this information for all of us: the bar affiliated to the promo, the client and one copy for me? I like the government ID because this way I get a real and unique personal code which the client is already familiarized with and give me the security that no one else is going to redeem that single-use code. I'll wait for your kind answers.

We now have a help page explaining how to sell gift certificates; this section explains how to sell gift certificates online that would be redeemed offline, in-person:
http://www.e-junkie.com/ej/tips.gift-coupons.htm#offline

BTW, if you're asking because you want to set up a Groupon or similar daily-deal offer, we also have a help page specifically for that scenario:
http://www.e-junkie.com/ej/tips.discounts.groupon.htm