Where Can I Buy Printable Gift Cards?
Two ways to make your own gift cards: Print-on-Demand vs. Print-at-Home.
When gift cards first came out, you could only buy them from the issuing store or restaurant. Then we got the gift card kiosk which allowed us to buy gift cards for other stores while shopping at our preferred stores. Then online gift cards came into the picture, then personalized gift cards became an option and so forth. As the popularity of gift cards continues to grow, so does the rolling snowball of ways in which we can buy them. Now people want to know if they can print their own gift cards. The answer is yes, and sort of.
There are two types of what you might call “printable” gift cards. The first is a print-on-demand gift card that is a unique, custom-made plastic gift card printed professionally and shipped to the buyer or mailed directly to the recipient. The second type of printable gift card is an electronic gift card (egift card) that can be printed at home onto paper either by the giver or the receiver. In this post, however, I believe the question being asked is specifically in regards to printable gift cards. The asker would like to know how to send a gift card to an aunt living in another state without having to buy the gift card and ship it himself. Assuming an egift card is not an option (maybe Aunt Agatha isn’t very cyber-savvy), the following printable gift cards can be sent with little effort:
Print-on-Demand Gift Cards
Personalized gift cards are plastic gift cards that are printed on demand. Unlike the gift cards at your favorite merchant (think of the little rack next to the checkout line with a stack of gift cards in it), these gift cards aren’t printed until a customer orders one. When the order is placed, we print the image on the card, code the financial information on the magnetic stripe and ready the card for delivery. With a print-on-demand gift card, you can select the image you want to use, add a custom-embossed message and choose the dollar amount as well. While there are an increasing number of personalized store brand gift cards available, printable Visa® gift cards and Mastercard® gift cards are the most popular.
Print-at-Home Gift Cards
Although egift cards are typically delivered via email, text or social media, some companies give customers the option to print egift cards at home. I like this option because it provides a way for last-minute shoppers to buy the gift cards they want but still deliver them in person, if desired.
In all honesty, every egift card can be printed at home–they just don’t all look like gifts. For example, you could order an egift card and have it delivered to yourself. From there, you would click the link inside the email or text to claim the gift code. You can print this code on your printer, but it will probably look more like a receipt than a present.
When I reviewed egift cards from top merchants, I found the following stores and restaurants will let you print gift cards at home:
The type of printable gift card you’re looking for really depends on your needs. If you want to print and ship a gift card directly to the recipient–without ever touching it yourself–then go for a customized, print-on-demand gift card. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a gift card you can print at home because you don’t have time to run to the store, then print an egift card instead. Either way, you’ll get the opportunity to personalize the card with a message, a dollar amount of choice and possibly even a photo.
What other gift card questions do you have? Ask me in the comments below or reach out to me at @GCGirlfriend on Twitter.
Happy Gift Carding!
~Shelley Hunter, Gift Card Girlfriend
