Gift Cards for Your Website: Issue, Print and Redeem Vouchers Safely

Gift vouchers are an easy way to bring people to a store: printed cards for a launch event, codes for a partner's customers, prizes for a competition, or a goodwill credit for a customer who had a bad experience. This guide covers the Gift Cards feature for PrizeX and BidKing: how vouchers are made, printed and redeemed, how guessing attacks are slowed down, and what the feature deliberately doesn't do.

What the Gift Cards feature is

• Who has it: it's included in PrizeX, BidKing Plus and BidKing Pro.
• Where it lives: its own Gift Cards section in the admin. Staff roles can be given or refused access to it.
• What a voucher is: a code with a 6-digit PIN, worth a set amount of your store's wallet currency (coins, credits or whatever you call them). Redeeming it adds that amount to the customer's wallet, where it can be spent like any other balance.
• Who issues vouchers: you do, from the admin. Customers can't buy or send gift cards on the storefront. You decide who gets a voucher and how: printed, emailed by you, handed over at an event, or sold through your own channels.

Making vouchers

One at a time

• Type a code or press Make one up. A code can be 8 to 50 letters, numbers and dashes.
• Set the 6-digit PIN, the amount, and a last day.
• Single vouchers can have no last day, which suits a one-off credit for a named customer.

In batches

• Make a batch creates up to 500 vouchers at once, all for the same amount.
• Each voucher gets its own random 12-character code, which leaves out look-alike characters such as 0 and O, and its own PIN.
• A batch needs a last day, so a lost sheet of vouchers stops working.
• A batch is saved all at once or not at all, and pressing the button twice doesn't make two batches.

Printing a batch

• Each batch downloads as a PDF sheet, three vouchers to an A4 page.
• By default the sheet has only vouchers that can still be redeemed. You can print the whole batch if you need to.
• Every download is logged and listed on the batch, so you know who printed what and when.
• The design follows your theme for Classic, Editorial, Bazaar, Casino and Halloween. Other themes use the Editorial design.

Redeeming a voucher

• Where: on the wallet page, through the redeem link under Add Money. The mobile app redeems through the same API.
• What happens: the voucher is claimed, the full amount goes into the wallet, and a "Gift Voucher Redeemed" entry appears in the customer's transactions.
• Clear messages tell the customer whether the code is wrong, already used or past its last day.
• A voucher is used once, for its whole amount. There's no partial balance to carry over.
• A voucher works up to the end of its last day.

Stopping people guessing codes

• Codes need a matching PIN. A code alone isn't enough.
• Wrong guesses are limited per account. After 10 wrong code-and-PIN tries in 15 minutes, the account is paused from redeeming. The limit is tied to the account, not the IP address, so switching IPs doesn't reset it. A successful redeem clears the count.
• A CAPTCHA can kick in sooner. With the reCAPTCHA add-on and its gift card option switched on, the website asks for a CAPTCHA after 3 wrong tries.
• PINs stay hidden in the admin. They're masked in the voucher list and can't be searched. Showing one is written to the admin log.

Managing vouchers

• Tabs for redeemable, redeemed and expired vouchers, and a Batches view showing how many in each batch have been redeemed.
• Search by code, batch, or the redeeming customer's name or email.
• Edit a voucher that hasn't been redeemed: its code, PIN, amount or last day. A new last day brings an expired voucher back.
• Stop it working ends a live voucher straight away, for example one that's been lost or shared publicly. This is logged.
• Redeemed vouchers are read-only. They show who redeemed them, when, and the wallet transaction.
• Each voucher records which admin made it.

Using vouchers well

• Give every batch a short last day unless there's a reason not to. Unused vouchers are a liability on your books.
• Treat a printed sheet like cash. Download only what you need, and stop a batch if a sheet goes missing.
• Say what a voucher can be used for. It becomes wallet balance, so state in your terms where that balance can be spent and that it can't be exchanged for cash, if that's your policy.
• Check the rules if you sell vouchers. Some countries regulate how long sold gift cards must stay valid, and how they're taxed. Check with an accountant or a local lawyer before you sell them.

Common questions

Can customers buy gift cards on my site?

No. Vouchers are created by you in the admin, one at a time or in batches of up to 500. You decide how to hand them out, including selling them through your own channels.

What does a gift voucher give the customer?

Its full amount, added to their wallet balance in one go when they redeem it on the wallet page. A voucher can only be used once.

How are gift card codes protected from guessing?

Each code needs its own 6-digit PIN. After 10 wrong tries in 15 minutes an account is paused from redeeming, and with the reCAPTCHA add-on a CAPTCHA can appear after 3 wrong tries.

Can I cancel a voucher that's been lost?

Yes. Stop it working ends a live voucher straight away. For a lost printed batch, stop each voucher on the sheet that hasn't been redeemed.