Appletax
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DELETE
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[SOLVED] DELETE
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River Valley Computer
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Looks good but you probably need your address and phone number unless it's on the back..
Mercenary Roadie
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Have you checked with the laws of your state on Gift Certificates? Here in California, they can never expire and you have to keep track of them so when you close up shop permanently you can send the funds that have not been redeemed to the state unclaimed fund.
nlinecomputers
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Why would a computer repair shop need a gift certificate? Do you buy gift certificates from your plumber, or auto mechanic?
nlinecomputers
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I'll also add that 1999 called and wants its old marketing back. No one does gift certificates anymore. They do gift CARDS. Especially coming from a business dealing in high tech. A hand-filled-out certificate just looks lame.
cypress
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I thought this was hilarious. Maybe because I read it out loud multiple times.
I tried gift cards for my business years back and just didn't see any interest in it at all. So I just ended up scrapping the idea altogether. On the plus side your logo looks pretty cool @Appletax
britechguy
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Well, I've had someone purchase several hours of private tutoring from me for someone else as a gift.
But even I don't see gift certificates/cards being something that most of us would get any benefit from. Our primary services are akin to plumber, mechanic, electrician and you don't want to see, or think of, any one of us when we're not needed. And you really hope that we're not needed to the maximum extent possible if you're the owner/user.
My clients love me to death, or many of them do, but all would be very, very happy indeed if I never needed to darken their doorsteps again!
But even I don't see gift certificates/cards being something that most of us would get any benefit from. Our primary services are akin to plumber, mechanic, electrician and you don't want to see, or think of, any one of us when we're not needed. And you really hope that we're not needed to the maximum extent possible if you're the owner/user.
My clients love me to death, or many of them do, but all would be very, very happy indeed if I never needed to darken their doorsteps again!
Your PCMD
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I do gift cards, and in saying that, I mean using Square's digital gift card service, for free! And yes, I've had several people purchase them but ironically, no one has cashed them in at my shop. Gift card sales money is held in a separate bank account so I can keep track of it easier.
nlinecomputers
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And in most states you will be forced to hold that money in escrow forever. You can earn interest on it but you can never touch the money except to cash out to the people that show up with the cards. Most of which have likely been tossed out. Chain stores have a larger volume so they can manage it better.
britechguy
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That is if you're doing this in the completely official way. And many don't, and I don't blame them.
When I was co-owner of a local art and fine craft gallery we did issue gift certificates (and not too many of those) and those were managed on the certificates themselves. As people came in and purchased things we'd subtract the cost of the things purchased from the face value, strike through it, then put the present value on the back with "the official initials" of who did the sale. Worked just fine, too.
We could never have justified setting up formal escrow accounts and going through all that nonsense. That really is something for "the big boys," as far as I'm concerned. Were I issuing gift certificates for my current business it would be in a similar "off book" method. I could never justify anything else. There are times, and this is one of them, where I had (and have) no problem "bending the rules" for practical reasons.
britechguy
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This is a hair splitting technicality, but one that applies here, those are not what would get classed as gift certificates as far as legal obligations for holding funds goes. They're really service vouchers where you're giving away your services at no cost. No one has to buy them and no money exchanges hands (at least up to the amount you've agreed to give away) at any point. It's a donation of services.
The recipient doesn't really care about this, mind you, but there is a difference between what you're doing and a true gift certificate.
nlinecomputers
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That is a coupon and legally different than a gift certificate as it has no cash value and you can set an expiration date on it. With a Gift Certificate, you are holding someone else's funds for future use. Which makes you a bank and requires you to do certain things to protect those funds. All I can say to britechguy is don't get caught not properly keeping tabs on it. States are cracking down on it and there have also been money laundering schemes that have even gotten federal attention. It is a variation of various old-school traveler's cheque schemes.
britechguy
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I don't have any concerns in this regard because I don't issue gift certificates for my business. You could argue that the one and only time I accepted advance payment from a third party for gift tutoring was the same thing, but that was years ago.
I can't see any point in gift certificates (as in actual ones) in our line of business. I certainly wouldn't be the appreciative recipient of same.
nlinecomputers
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britechguy
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Oddly enough, based on what I was willing to plow through regarding gift certificates in the Public Law, and looking at the synopsis for Virginia laws, I was likely in the clear when issuing them for the now defunct gallery.
We never imposed non-use fees and the person who had the certificate, even if it were partially used, always knew what the remaining balance was as it was updated on the back at each use.
If there's something in that law about escrow requirements, I didn't dig long enough to find it.
As I have gotten older I have come, more and more, to resent "legalese" as it's currently written. I understand that laws need to cover an incredibly wide range of circumstances, and to do so it requires clauses for each, but there should be a way to present "the gist of it all" in a way that anyone can read, and that directs them to the parts they actually need to focus on based on their own circumstances, in the opening part of the statute. These statutes are not, as far as what they require, impossible to understand when "boiled down" but it should not be the reader who has to try to do that boiling down, it should be part of the statute.
But, as I said on another topic: Wish in one hand, <salty term for defecate> in the other, and see which gets full first!
This is what we do here: we give away coupons for $50 or $100 off of their purchase with no change given. In my computer shop, we provide service but also sell refurbs and a handful of products. I would also allow someone to apply it to their network install or monthly labor bill should they be the recipient of the card.
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