How to sell physical gift cards on Shopify (with printed codes)

The short answer: order cards with a unique code of 8 to 20 letters and numbers on each, keep unsold cards at zero value, and load the balance only when a card is sold. In store, Shopify POS handles this natively: staff scan or type the card's code at checkout and the balance is loaded with the sale. Online is different: a Shopify gift card product produces a digital card, so to ship a pre-printed card with an online order you need an app that links a printed code to the order.

Below is the full workflow, from ordering the cards to reloads, and what Shopify does and doesn't cover on its own.

What does Shopify support natively for physical gift cards?

Shopify's help center describes physical gift cards as pre-made plastic cards with pre-assigned codes that you scan in Shopify POS at the time of purchase. What the docs say:

• Gift cards are available on all Shopify subscription plans.
• You can order customized physical cards from the Shopify Hardware Store in supported countries, or buy them from a third-party provider. Third-party cards need a unique printed code, 8 to 20 alphanumeric characters long.
• To sell cards with pre-existing codes, you first turn on the setting to issue physical gift cards in Shopify POS.
• At the register, you scan the card's QR code with the device camera or a supported 2D barcode scanner (a 1D scanner won't work), or enter the code manually.
• An online order for a gift card product produces a digital gift card on fulfillment, not a pre-printed physical card. Pre-printed physical cards are issued only through Shopify POS.

So if you only sell physical cards over the counter, native POS may be all you need. The gaps show up when you want to sell printed cards on your website and post them, or top up cards later.

How should you order printed gift cards?

Whether you use plastic or heavy paper, the details that matter are on the code, not the design:

• Code format. Shopify's gift card API accepts codes of 8 to 20 characters, letters and numbers only. Ask your printer for codes inside that range. Dashes or spaces printed for readability are fine for customers, but the underlying code must still fit the rule.
• Unique codes, supplied as a file. Every card needs its own code, and you need the full list digitally. Shopify's admin shows only the last four characters of a code after the card is created, so your printer's file is your master record.
• QR code vs barcode. Shopify POS scans QR codes with the camera or a 2D scanner. If your cards carry only a 1D barcode, plan on typing codes in, or check your scanner.
• No value printed on unsold stock. Denomination artwork is fine, but the card itself should carry no live balance until it is sold.
• Lead time. Order before your busy season. In Gift Card Hero stores, 43% of December eGift cards were bought December 18–24, and printed stock needs to be on the counter before that rush.

When should a physical card get its balance?

At the moment of sale, and not before. A card that already holds value is cash sitting in a display rack; a card with no balance is just plastic until it is rung up. A few basics:

• Load the balance as part of a paid transaction (the POS sale or the online order), not in advance.
• Keep the code list somewhere only managers can reach, since anyone with a code can spend the balance.
• Limit who can create gift cards without a payment. Any tool that issues value outside a sale should be restricted to trusted staff.
• If a card is lost, deactivate the old one. Shopify notes that deactivation is permanent and a deactivated card can't be used.

How do you sell physical gift cards online and ship them?

Because a Shopify gift card product always produces a digital card, the printed card has to be sold as a regular, shippable product and connected to a code after the order comes in. Here is how that works in Gift Card Hero:

1. 1In the app, open eGift/Physical cards, go to the Physical gift cards tab and click Enable physical gift card. The app creates a physical gift card product that copies the denominations and images of your eGift card product.
2. 2Under Gift codes, click Upload codes and paste the codes from your printer's file, separated by commas or new lines. Spaces and dashes are removed on upload, and duplicates are skipped. Uploaded codes have no value yet.
3. 3Turn on Auto assignment. When an order for a physical card comes in, the app takes the next unused code, creates a Shopify gift card with that code for the card's value, and writes the code to the order's additional details.
4. 4Pick the card whose code matches the order, pack it and fulfill the order like any other product.
5. 5If you'd rather choose cards by hand, leave auto assignment off. In the order page, the Gift Card Hero block lets you type the code or scan the card's QR code with your phone to register it to that order.

Optional settings on the same tab: a separate delivery address for the card, a greeting message, a custom amount with minimum and maximum, a fixed Additional charge (for example an envelope or delivery fee, applied in the cart always or only when the card is personalized), and an email with a digital copy of the card to the buyer.

Can you import printed codes with a balance already on them?

Yes, if you want pre-loaded cards. In Gift Card Hero, Bulk > Import from file takes a CSV with an initial_value column and an optional code column. Put your printer's codes (8 to 20 letters and numbers, the range Shopify accepts) in code, and the app creates an active Shopify gift card with that balance for every row. Rows without a code get a generated one.

That gives you two ways to run physical cards:

Can one product page sell both physical cards and eGift cards?

In Shopify, a gift card product and a shippable product are different things, so they are two products. Gift Card Hero shows them on the same gift card product page as two tabs, eGift and Physical, and you can make the physical tab the default. Physical cards can use their own product images as designs, so shoppers can tell them apart from eGift designs.

How do customers check a balance or reload a physical card?

On the Gift Card Hero side, the POS tools and storefront top-ups are part of the PRO plan.

How does Gift Card Hero handle physical gift cards?

It fills the online gap: printed cards sold on your website and shipped, with codes from your printer loaded only when an order comes in. In store it adds POS tools for registering, checking and reloading cards, and a setting to hide card registration from POS users so nobody creates value without a payment. Step-by-step setup is in the help center.

Pricing: Pay as you go is free to install and costs 2% of gift card sales, minimum $9.99 and maximum $49.99 a month. PRO is $19.99 a month flat, and Shopify Plus stores pay $39.99 a month. Every plan has a 7-day free trial and is billed through your Shopify invoice. The app is rated 4.9/5 on the Shopify App Store from 174 reviews.

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