Gift Cards

Gift card values and balances are set in the currency of your store, but your customers purchase them and redeem them in their local currency.

Gift card prices are converted by multiplying the gift card amount by the currency conversion rate. Because the fees have already been applied, no currency conversion fees are applied to purchases made with a gift card. Also, rounding rules aren't applied to gift cards.

Redeeming gift cards

If your customer's local currency is different from your store's currency, then a currency conversion takes place when the gift card is redeemed at the checkout. This conversion uses the exchange rate at the time that the gift card is redeemed, and not the exchange rate that was in place when the gift card was purchased.

Gift card balances

Balances on your gift cards are always in the currency of your store. So, when your customer checks their gift card balance, it is reported in the store currency.

Fixed pricing

If you’re setting specific product prices for different markets, then you shouldn't set specific prices for your gift cards. Gift card balances are always in the default currency of your store, and setting a specific gift card price might result in you losing money.

Examples

For example, your store currency is US dollars (USD) and you sell $100 gift cards in USD. A European customer, whose local currency is Euros, buys a gift card and pays for it in Euros. Later the same customer creates an order and pays for it using the gift card. At the checkout, the balance on the gift card is converted to Euros and this amount is used to pay for the order. The money that remains on the gift card after paying for the order is converted back to US dollars.

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