Create Gift Certificates

Create gift certificates to sell at your craft home parties and you're almost certain to increase your sales.

Often guests will want to buy a gift for someone, but are worried about choosing the wrong item. This is especially true of wearable crafts like jewelry and clothing, because not only do they have to worry about whether what they buy is to the recipient's taste, but also whether it will fit!

You can solve their problem for them if you create gift certificates in various denominations. This way, everyone wins - the guest gives a gift that will please, the recipient gets to choose something she loves, and you make a sale!

You can get them printed up on notecards somewhere like VistaPrint, or create your own gift certificates in any shape or size. Here's what you should include:

• Space for recipient's name
• Space for expiry date (if you want one)
• Value of gift certificate
• Your contact details

Perhaps take a look a store gift certificate to get some ideas of wording and layout. It's also nice to include some pictures of your crafts, so the recipient can see what sort of things they're getting to choose from, and to whet their appetite. If you do custom orders, or personalisation, mention that too.

I'd also recommend adding a reference number/code to keep track of the gift certificates you've sold and which ones have been redeemed - and to prevent people trying to claim fraudulent certificates. You can either put unique codes on each certificate when printing them, or just handwrite them on as you sell the certificates.

Don't forget to keep a record of each gift certificate as you sell it. To keep things simple either preprint the reference number or the value of the gift certificate, not both - as you don't know in advance what denominations people will buy, and this way you can keep your records in order. As well as the reference number and amount, other information to keep a record of could include buyer's name, recipient's name, date bought and date redeemed.

Having pretty matching envelopes to put the gift certificate in makes them look extra special. Standard size envelopes are inexpensive and available in loads of colours, so if you create gift certificates to fit in one of these you'll keep costs down and save time hunting for obscure sizes.

You could also create a folded gift card if you need more room for the information - put your details and pictures on the front and the rest inside the card. And it will look more luxurious too.

Have fun creating them - and good luck selling plenty!

Already create gift certificates for your crafts? Send me your tips here.