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Gift Cards

What it is​

Gift Cards are branded physical gift cards from leading brands, mailed in an envelope with a real postage stamp. The recipient's address is printed on the envelope in a handwriting font. The envelope color cannot be modified. Each card includes a QR code the recipient scans to redeem their gift.

Unlike every other thanks.io mailer type, Duplicate Prevention cannot be disabled for Gift Cards. Even if you turn off Duplicate Prevention in your account settings, Gift Cards always observe the 36-hour window.

When to use it​

  • Customer appreciation sends to high-value accounts or loyal buyers
  • Win-back campaigns for lapsed customers who haven't purchased recently
  • E-commerce post-purchase gifting to encourage repeat purchases or referrals
  • Sales prospecting - a physical gift card in the mail gets opened and remembered in a way that a discount code in an email does not

Tips & best practices​

  • Pair it with a short, personal message. A gift card that arrives with a note referencing the recipient by name has significantly higher perceived value.
  • Use for win-back campaigns with a clear CTA: "Here's $X toward your next order."
  • Use a dedicated mailing list for each Gift Card campaign to keep reporting clean.

Gift Card Settings & Gating​

Gift cards require a paid plan. You choose the card in the Choose the gift card section at the top of the message editor, both on the Message step of Send Mail and when you build a gift card creative (Creatives → New creative). You can set:

  • Gift card brand - click to open Choose a gift card and pick from the available brands
  • Amount - set the denomination. The amount is charged only when a recipient redeems the card. On Review & Confirm, Send Mail shows the most you would pay if every card is redeemed.

Every card in one send carries the same brand and amount.

What is gating?​

Gating redirects the recipient to complete an action before they can redeem their gift card. When the recipient scans the QR code, they are sent somewhere else first - and only after completing that action are they forwarded to their gift.

Gating is part of a gift card creative's message. When you build or edit a gift card creative, open Advanced options in the gift card section. Use one option or the other:

  • Watch a YouTube video before redemption - paste a direct link to a video (not a playlist). The recipient is automatically redirected to redeem their gift after watching it to the end. When your account requires contact info to redeem, this option reads Add a YouTube video to the claim page, and the video plays on the claim page instead.
  • Go to a website before redemption - paste a URL (such as a booking page, form, or landing page). This works correctly only if the third-party site can redirect the user after they complete the desired action. Configure that redirect with the Return link to redeem the gift card shown below the field: your page must send recipients back to it, or they can't redeem the card.

To send a gated gift card, send that creative (click Send it on its card, or pick it on the Completed Creatives tab in Send Mail).

Examples​

Common uses for website gating:

  • Calendly appointment - paste your Calendly booking page link. Note: Calendly requires a Professional plan to enable post-booking redirects.
  • Typeform - paste your Typeform link so recipients fill out a form before redeeming.
  • SurveyMonkey - gather feedback before the recipient claims their reward.
  • Custom landing page - direct recipients to a product demo, case study, or special promotion.
  • Zoom webinar registration - place your Zoom registration link so recipients sign up before claiming the gift.
  • Google Form - collect feedback, opt-ins, or lead information before unlocking the reward.

Important notes​

  • When a gift card QR code is scanned (or shown after gating), the gift is instantly redeemed - not at the register, but at the moment of scanning or when the gift is shown on the gating redirect page. If your account requires contact info to redeem, the recipient enters an email or phone first - see Requiring contact info to redeem.
  • Once a QR code is printed it cannot be changed. You can still control the gating destination, as long as the URL itself does not change.
  • You are notified when a gift card is redeemed.
  • Starbucks gifts cannot be merged into existing Starbucks accounts. The recipient can still redeem easily at the register.
  • Fraud protections are in place: there is a 30-day limit on gifts to a given address, and gift QR codes are not visible in your dashboard (only placeholders are shown).

Requiring contact info to redeem​

Your account can ask a gift card recipient for an email address or a phone number before they claim their card. Either one satisfies it, and the step is skipped automatically when you already have that recipient's email or phone on file for the piece that was mailed.

The claim page carries your own logo, company name, and accent color from Branding, and what the recipient enters is written back to the mailing list the card was mailed from, filling blanks only.

While the contact requirement is on, a second toggle, Ask recipients to confirm it's okay to contact them, adds a required checkbox to the claim page: the recipient confirms you may contact them before the gift card is revealed, and the time they did so is recorded against the order. It is off by default.

Check both toggles under Settings → Mail Preferences, in the Scans & Gift Cards card (Require contact info to redeem gift cards). Preview what recipients see shows the claim page with your branding (and the checkbox, when it is on) before you send. Full detail: Gift Card Redemption Contact Info.

Checking redemption status​

Each gift card order's Order Details page shows every card's status in the Order Items section: Not Redeemed, the date and time it was redeemed, or Invalidated.

Through the API, list an order's items with GET /api/v2/orders/{order}/items. Each gift card item carries a giftcard object with the card's brand, amount, redeemed_at, and invalidated_at. A null date means that hasn't happened. The redemption code itself is never returned. See docs.thanks.io for the full response.

Invalidating an unredeemed gift card​

If a gift card was sent by mistake or is no longer needed, you can invalidate it so it can't be redeemed. Only a card that hasn't been redeemed yet can be invalidated, and invalidating a card can't be undone.

From the dashboard:

  1. Open the order's Order Details page.
  2. In the Order Items section, find the recipient and click Invalidate. The button appears only on cards that are neither redeemed nor already invalidated.
  3. Confirm. The card's status changes to Invalidated.

Through the API: send PUT (or PATCH) to /api/v2/order-items/{orderItem}/invalidate-giftcard, where {orderItem} is the order item's id from the order items list. No request body is needed. A successful call returns the updated order item, with giftcard.invalidated_at set. The call is refused with:

  • 422 if the card has already been redeemed or already invalidated, or if the item isn't a gift card.
  • 401 if the order belongs to another account.

Limits & gotchas​

  • Gift Cards are the only mailer type where Duplicate Prevention cannot be disabled, regardless of your account setting.
  • Available brands and denominations vary - check Choose a gift card in Send Mail for current options.
  • Per-piece pricing is in addition to the gift card denomination value, which is charged as recipients redeem their cards. See thanks.io/pricing. To price a specific gift card order through the API before sending it, see Estimating an Order's Cost.
  • Gift Cards use a real stamp (First Class equivalent) for delivery.
  • Including additional inserts (such as business cards or other physical items) inside the envelope is not supported at this time.