Gift Certificate Interface Change

Posted on June 18, 2011 by

Gift Certificate Factory provides gift certificate templates that you can easily edit and print. Check out our gift certificate template gallery.

We’ve been busy trying to improve how you can create, download and print a gift certificate. Before, the way to edit a gift certificate was to point and click directly on the certificate. However, as we want to increase the gift certificate size in order to improve printing quality, we changed this. You can now edit the gift certificate on a regular form on the left of the gift certificate, and the gift certificate will be updated as soon as you stop typing.

We’ve also rethought how you can print and download certificates. We’re happy to announce that we are now partners with 123Print.com – http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-5309806-10868133 , which means we’re working on integrating our gift certificate templates with their printing facilities. That means, you’ll be able soon to select and edit one of our custom gift certificates, and have it printed and delivered to you by ordering your prints at 123Print.com! Right now, we don’t have any gift certificate compatible with 123Print, but we plan on making all gift certificates compatible in 1 month. We created an instruction page aboutgift certificate printing that you can already check out to have an idea about the process.

If you’ve tried to print our gift certificates before, you should make sure to check out our new certificates as they will be of much higher quality. So you’ll soon be able to impress your customers or loved ones with elegant gift certificates. You can subscribe to the Gift Certificate Factory blog here.

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How to Write Gift Certificate Disclaimer

Posted on June 5, 2011 by

Gift Certificate Factory provides gift certificate templates that you can easily edit and print. Check out our gift certificate template gallery.

Make sure to contact an attorney or check your local state website to know what the current laws on gift certificates are. You can also check our article on Gift Certificate Law for more resources.

What is a Gift Certificate Disclaimer?

A gift certificate disclaimer indicates the terms and conditions of use of a gift voucher. It would usually be written in small print on a gift certificate, either at the bottom or at the back of the certificate. If you’re a business owner and you offer gift certificates to your customers, you might be interested in writing such a disclaimer, as it would help protect your business against unintended usages of gift certificates.

What Should You Restrict?

  • no cash value: with this restriction, you make sure people will not go to your store with a gift certificate and ask to be reimbursed for their money. They can only use the certificate to purchase products at your store.
  • no transferability: in some cases, you might want the purchaser of the gift certificate to indicate to which person the certificate is for. In that case, the certificate can not be transferred to someone else to be redeemed.
  • expiry date: in order to avoid having gift certificates out in the open for a few years, you might want to set an expiry date on gift certificates (most likely one year from now). Be sure to check your local laws and regulations however, as expiry dates on gift certificates are not legal in several states/countries (as a way to ensure consumer rights).
  • no replacement: some customers might declare to have lost the certificate and try to get a new one from your shop. To protect yourself against such usage, you might write a mention “not replaced if lost or stolen” on the certificate.

A Few Examples Of Gift Certificate Disclaimers

  • Redeemable at Hupla Restaurant only for goods and services not exceeding the remaining credit balance on this certificate. Treat this certificate as cash- if it is lost, it will not be replaced. Valid for one year from the date of issue. For gift certificate balance, terms and expiration date, present the certificate at Hupla Restaurant. This certificate is property of the issuer.
  • Treat this certificate as cash. It will not be replaced if lost or stolen. This certificate is redeemable for merchandise only. Redeemable at any Hupla Restaurant location nationwide. Valid one year from the date of purchase.
  • Your use of the gift certificate constitutes acceptance of these terms: This gift certificate may be applied toward any purchase made at any Hupla Restaurant location. This gift certificate will not be exchangeable for cash or replaced if lost or stolen. After 18 months of non-use a $1.50 per month dormant account fee will be charged.
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How To Make a Custom Salon Gift Certificate

Posted on May 31, 2011 by

Gift Certificate Factory provides custom gift certificates that you can easily edit and print. Check out our salon gift certificate templates.


Salon gift certificates are a great gift idea for a person who has everything, or when you’re on a budget and want to give a personal present. Rather than simply writing the gift of a salon visit inside a card or telling the recipient, create a homemade gift certificate you can include in a card or wrap as a present. Follow the guidelines provided in this article to make a custom gift certificate.

  1. Use online templates. You can find beautiful ready-templates to make your custom gift voucher. You can find a selection of salon gift certificate templates on this website, but if that’s not enough for you, feel free to type “salon gift certificate templates” in Google: you’ll find a few more templates. In case you have some time and some design skills, you can do it all by yourself though. In any case, your gift certificate should at least have a few elements that one expects to find in a gift certificate.
  2. Personalize your gift certificate. After finding a good certificate template, you can personalize it by including a few common elements:
    • Your name or the name of your company
    • the recipient’s name
    • if appropriate, the certificate value or service provided.

    If you’re making a certificate for your salon business, you might consider adding a certificate serial number to your certificate: it helps to keep track of gift certificates and fight against fraud. That way you know that when a certificate is redeemed it’s a legit one and you can evaluate how many certificates have been redeemed so far in your gift certificate campaign. Of course, if you’re only making a certificate for a loved one, you don’t really need to track gift certificates!

  3. Print your gift certificate. If you have followed the steps until here, you should now have a printable salon gift certificate. Now you just have to print it! Consider a few pieces of advice:
    • Use a laser photo printer to ensure maximal color quality.
    • Use a photo paper to make sure this custom gift certificate looks real good.
    • Use a sharp paper cutter or alternatively, scissors to cut the paper nicely and give it a nice finish.
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Gift Certificate Factory Redesign

Posted on May 28, 2011 by

The website has been redesigned.

You now have the choice for 15 gift certificate templates in 9 different categories:

Creating a gift certificate should now be easier, and we added additional tips on each gift certificate editing page, such as which paper and printer to use, or how to use gift card envelopes to enhance the gift certificates. We’ve also linked a few helpful blog posts from the template editing page, that help with how to choose wording or how to create gift certificates.

We’ve also rolled out an experimental feature, in which you can visualize which gift certificates you’ve seen recently, in case you feel like editing another certificate.

We have set up facebook and twitter integration on the home page, in case you’ve missed it:

  • Gift Certificate Factory facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gift-Certificate-Factory/177198305663669
  • Gift Certificate Factory Twitter page – http://twitter.com/giftcertfactory
  • RSS feed, to receive all new blog posts in your browser.

In case you have a question or you have an idea that would make the website better, don’t hesitate to write to contact@giftcertificatefactory.com.

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Gift Certificate Software: You Don’t Need It

Posted on May 25, 2011 by

Gift Certificate Factory provides gift certificate templates that you can print and sell to your customers. Check out our gift certificate template gallery.

While researching how to make your own gift certificate, you might think you need some sort of gift certificate software or gift voucher software. Truth is, you just don’t need it: you can find gift certificate templates available on the web. Even better, you can find free templates on this very site! So you can say this website acts as an online gift certificate software: you don’t need to download or install a software. Just browse through our selection of templates, edit them and print them right away: no gift certificate software or gift certificate maker needed at all.

Why Should I Not Use Software?

By using instant gift certificates on the web, you will benefit in many aspects: it’s cheaper (or free), it’s available anytime, you don’t have to install or upgrade anything, and whenever it updates, you benefit from it instantly. The same way Gmail and Hotmail are now privileged over desktop software such as Outlook, considering using a website instead of a software program for gift certificates or gift vouchers is a no-brainer. Not to mention that gift certificates being quite a specialized niche, there are very few software programs out there to make gift certificates. When it comes to quality software, this number rapidly equals zero.

How To Get Started With Gift Certificate Templates

Maybe you want first to know why you should bother about gift certificate templates in the first place. In that case, make sure to read 6 Top Reasons To Use Gift Certificate Templates. You can review our guide titled Custom Gift Certificates in 3 Steps. You might also be interested in reading How To Make Your Own Printable Gift Certificate. If you don’t know which templates we offer, have a look at our 8 Sample Gift Certificates article. If you’re looking for alternative templates, check out 3 ways to find gift certificate templates. And finally, if you are looking for words on your templates, our popular guide to gift certificate wording might be of interest to you.

But I Really Want Software!

If you really really want a gift certificate software, then we cannot help you here. You can find a few resources if you google “gift certificate software” or “gift certificate maker” but we found the tools rather expensive and of poor quality. Of course, you can judge by yourself, but… you can’t say we hadn’t warned you!

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Gift Voucher Template: A Quick Example

Posted on May 22, 2011 by

Are you looking for a quick printable gift voucher you can give to a loved one or to your customers? You can use this gift voucher template, personalize it and print it for free.

How to edit this gift voucher template

This template has already been pre-filled with example text. You can edit it to use your own information:

  • “Name of your company”: if you’re a small business owner, you can use the name of your company there. If you’re using this gift voucher for personal purpose, you can just remove this text (click on the text area and remove the text)
  • “Sender’s Name”: that would be you.
  • “Recipient’s Name”: input the name of your person you want to give this gift voucher to.
  • “$50?: input the value of this gift voucher, or alternatively the kind of service provided (“free massage”).

The gift voucher is now ready to print!

How to print this gift voucher template

  • if you want to print it now: click on the “Print” button. You can just print from your browser by selecting File->Print on Google Chrome for example.
  • if you want to print it later: click on the “Download” button to save the file on your computer. When you want to print it, open the file in a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and print it.

You need more information?

Check out our beginner’s guide to create gift certificates to learn more about finding, creating, printing and selling gift certificates. If you want to learn more about gift certificates, you can:

  • subscribe to the newsletter to receive periodic news about new templates or highlighted blog posts.
  • subscribe to our RSS feed to receive automatically all the latest blog posts in your RSS reader.

Both options are available in the top right corner of this blog.


Gift Certificate Factory provides gift voucher templates that you can print and sell to your customers. Check out our gift voucher template gallery.

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How To Make a Custom Birthday Gift Certificate

Posted on May 20, 2011 by

Gift Certificate Factory provides custom gift certificates that you can easily edit and print. Check out our birthday gift certificate templates.


Do you want to make a printable gift certificate for a loved one’s birthday ? Or are you a business owner wanting to provide gift certificates for your customers’ birthdays? Then you can follow the guidelines provided in this article to make a custom gift certificate.

You have several ways to make a gift certificate:

  • You can use online templates. Gift Certificate Factory provides a selection of birthday gift certificate templates and if that’s not enough, you can also find other templates on the web by typing “birthday gift certificate template” in Google. You will find a few other certificates that way that you can customize yourself.
  • You can make the gift certificates yourself using design software like Photoshop for example. That’s the hard way though, but if you have good design skills, you can come up with a truly original and beautiful gift certificate.

In any case, your gift certificate should contain a few elements that convey the desirability of your gift certificate: a few common elements, a personal message, good design and, last but not least, good photography.

Personalize your gift certificate

After finding a good certificate template, you can personalize it by including a few common elements:

  • Your name or the name of your company
  • the recipient’s name
  • if appropriate, the certificate value or service provided.

Most business certificates also have a certificate serial number associated: it helps to keep track of gift certificates and fight against fraud. That way you know that when a certificate is redeemed it’s a legit one and you can evaluate how many certificates have been redeemed so far in your gift certificate campaign. Of course, if you’re only making a certificate for a loved one, you don’t really need to track gift certificates!

Print your gift certificate

There’s a built-in print functionality on the website, so that you can just click on the template, configure your print preferences and watch the printer work its way to provide you with a nice gift certificate! Just make sure you have enough paper and ink. You may want to use a sharp paper cutter or alternatively, scissors to cut the paper nicely and give it a nice finish.

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Gift Certificate Law

Posted on May 17, 2011 by

Gift Certificate Factory provides gift certificate templates that you can print and sell to your customers. Check out our gift certificate template gallery.

When it comes to gift certificate law, every country and every state has its own regulations. So it might be that in your state, you’re not allowed to have expiration dates printed on the gift certificate. Or that after a number of years, the gift certificate is considered as “abandoned” by its owner. It could also prohibit any kind of fee, such as dormancy fee, inactivity fee or maintenance fee. As you can see, gift certificate law is pretty reglemented. So, before you go and offer gift certificates for your business, check your local regulations. If you’re based in United States, you might want to check out Gift Cards and Gift Statuses and Recent Legislation – http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=12474 . Even though there is a warning stating that the page is for informational purpose only, it is maintained by the government and provides a good starting point. If you want to be really sure about the current gift certificate law in your state, you should contact the Office of the Attorney General in your state.

Another source of information for gift certificate or gift card law is Scriptsmart. They offer free downloadable gift card law information documents. – http://scripsmart.com/state_gift_card_laws The information on the website itself is also pretty useful, both for merchants and consumers, providing positive and negative points about the local gift certificate law.

Please note that there have been changes in 2011 regarding gift card rules as documented in this Consumer Finance Law Blog Article – http://www.consumerfinancelawblog.com/2010/08/articles/gift-cards/update-new-gift-card-rules-to-take-effect-on-august-22-2010-and-disclosure-requirements-will-now-take-effect-on-january-31-2011/ . This is part of the CARD act – http://www.consumerfinancelawblog.com/2010/02/articles/credit-cards/reminder-new-credit-card-regulations-take-effect-today-gift-and-debit-card-rules-to-follow/ and these new rules restrict fees and expiration dates on various types of gift certificates and cards, and require sellers and issuers to make specific disclosures.

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Homemade Gift Certificates

Posted on May 14, 2011 by

Certificate Factory provides custom gift certificates that you can print and sell to your customers.

Are you also tired of buying yet another product for a birthday? Are you looking into doing something truly original this time? Look no further. You can make a homemade gift certificate to give to your loved ones. Not only your gift will be unique and highly personal, but also it won’t end up in an attic somewhere. Isn’t that the true nature of gifting: to give something valuable that reflects our relationship?

A Few Homemade Gift Certificate Ideas

To get you started on creating your own gift certificate, we’ve laid out a few gift certificate ideas, organized in 3 areas:

  1. Give Some Help
  2. Share Your Knowledge
  3. Give Some Quality Time

Give Some Help

  • Car wash
  • Lawn mowing
  • Home cooked dinner
  • Baby sitting
  • Dog sitting
  • House painting
  • Room renovation

Share Your Knowledge

There are probably one things or two you could teach:

  • Computer knowledge (how to use Excel, how to organize pictures online…)
  • Art (painting, drawing, sculpting…)
  • Sports (tennis lessons, golf…)
  • Other activities (fishing, chess…)

Give Some Quality Time

It doesn’t have to be only to help or teach, but you can also volunteer your time to do fun things:

  • Going to the park with children
  • Showing your hometown to relatives
  • Going to a favourite restaurant, theater…
  • organizing a picnic at the park

How to print Homemade gift certificates

  1. First, you have to find some gift certificates. You can look into our own gallery, or alternatively you can look for templates online.
  2. Once you have found a good gift certificate template, you should edit it to add your own information. Look into how to make your own printable gift certificate and learn how to choose the right gift certificate wording.
  3. Then, you should be ready to print the gift certificate. Check out our guide on choosing gift certificate paper.
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Creating Gift Certificates: a Beginner’s Guide

Posted on May 10, 2011 by

You’re new to gift certificate templates and you don’t know where to start? This little guide will help you to get up to speed.

Making Custom Gift Certificates

Maybe you want first to know why you should bother about gift certificate templates in the first place. In that case, make sure to read 6 Top Reasons To Use Gift Certificate Templates. You can review our guide titled Custom Gift Certificates in 3 Steps. You might also be interested in reading How To Make Your Own Printable Gift Certificate. If you don’t know which templates we offer, have a look at our 8 Sample Gift Certificates article. If you’re looking for alternative templates, check out 3 ways to find gift certificate templates. And finally, if you are looking for words on your templates, our popular guide to gift certificate wording might be of interest to you.

Gift Certificates For Small Businesses

If you’re a small business owner, you should make sure to read 6 Reasons Your Small Business Should Sell Gift Certificates and How To Sell More Gift Certificates. Marketing your gift certificates in an efficient and lucrative manner should be one of your primary focus, so read also Marketing Gift Certificates For a Small Business. It’s important to know that fraud exists and how you can fight it by Tracking Gift Certificates For Your Small Business.

Keep Learning: Two Options

  • You can subscribe to the newsletter to receive periodic news about new templates or highlighted blog posts.
  • You can subscribe to our RSS feed to receive automatically all the latest blog posts in your RSS reader.

Both options are available in the top right corner of this blog.

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