Printed gift cards | Owneli Help Centre

A printed gift card works like the ones on a supermarket rack: the card itself is worth nothing. Owneli makes a unique number for every card, a print shop puts that number on your design, and the card only takes its value when a client buys it at your till. A card that walks out of the rack unpaid has nothing on it.

The back of a card from the print file: the number in type, as a barcode for your scanner, and as a QR code for a camera.

How it works

Step	Where	What happens
1. Make a batch	Retail → Gift cards sold → Printed cards	Owneli makes a unique number for every card. The cards are blank: no value, not owed to anyone.
2. Print	Your card printer	You send the print file. The printer puts each number, barcode and QR code on its own card.
3. Sell	Point of sale	You scan or type the card's number and take payment. The card holds the value from that moment.
4. Spend	Point of sale	The holder pays with it like any gift card, and checks the balance online.

Everything after the sale is the same as for a gift card sold by email: redeeming, refunds, voiding and the liability report. See Gift cards.

Before you start

Who can do it: making a batch and downloading its print file need permission to manage revenue setup, and seeing the Stock tab needs permission to view it. Selling a card at the till needs point-of-sale permission. Voiding a lost card or a whole batch needs permission to void sales.
A scanner helps. Any USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner that types like a keyboard works. A 2D scanner reads both the barcode and the QR code. Typing the number works too.
Leave time for printing. Card printers usually need two to three weeks, so order well before the holidays.

Make a batch

Open Printed cards

Go to Retail → Gift cards sold and switch to Printed cards at the top.

Start a batch

Select New batch.

Name it and choose how many

Give the batch a Batch name you'll recognise, such as Holiday 2026. It's for you and isn't printed. Enter the Number of cards, up to 1,000 per batch. Printers spoil a few, so make the batch slightly bigger than your order.

Fixed value or any amount

Leave Printed value empty for cards the till loads with whatever the client chooses. Enter a value, such as 50, for cards printed with that amount: every card in the batch then sells for exactly that, and the value appears on the card.

Say where the box is going

Choose the Location holding the cards, add any Notes (the printer, the order number, where the box is kept), and select Create batch.

The New batch panel: Batch name Holiday 2026, Number of cards 200, Printed value $50, Location holding the cards Main, a note about the print shop and the back office, and Create batch at the bottom.

Fixed or open? Fixed-value cards are quickest at the till and easiest to display, with one price on each rack. Open-value cards let a client choose the amount. You can have both: make one batch of each.

Download the print file

As soon as the batch is created, Owneli offers its files. You'll find the same files later under Download on the batch.

The batch just created: Your 200 card numbers are ready, with four downloads: Card backs with numbers (PDF), Card front (PDF), Proof sheet, 8 per page (PDF), and Numbers for the printer (CSV).

File	What it is	Who it's for
Card backs with numbers (PDF)	One page per card, at card size with bleed: your name and brand colour, the number, a barcode and a QR code	Your card printer
Card front (PDF)	One branded front for every card	Your printer, if you don't have your own front design
Proof sheet, 8 per page (PDF)	Eight cards at actual size on a Letter page, with crop marks	You: print it in the office to check the look and scan a few numbers
Numbers for the printer (CSV)	Every number, dashed and plain, in order	A printer that lays the numbers onto its own design

The words on the card are printed in the language Owneli is set to when you download, so switch the language first if your clients read French or Spanish.

The card front Owneli makes from your brand. Use your own artwork instead if you have it.

The print file holds every number in the box. The numbers are worthless until a card is sold, but treat the file like the box itself: send it only to your printer. Every download is recorded in your audit log.

What to ask the print shop for

Send this list with the files. Any shop that prints plastic membership or gift cards can do it.

Ask for	Why
CR80 size, 85.6 × 54 mm (3.375 × 2.125 in)	The standard credit-card size, which fits wallets and card racks
1/8 in (3 mm) bleed	The file already includes it, so the colour runs to the edge after trimming
30 mil PVC plastic, or 16 pt or heavier card stock	Plastic feels like a bank card; heavy card stock is a cheaper paper option. A matte or laminated finish is fine.
Variable data printing	Every card gets its own number, barcode and QR code from the file. Also called numbered or personalised printing.
Barcode and QR code in pure black on white (100% K)	Scanners need the contrast. Keep foil, glitter, spot gloss and magnetic stripes off them.
A printed proof first	Scan two or three proof cards at your till before you approve the full run

The proof sheet: eight card backs at actual size on a Letter page, two across and four down, each with crop marks at its corners. — The proof sheet. Print it on card stock at the office, cut one out, and scan it at the till: it should show as ready to activate.

Store the blanks

Keep the box with the rest of your stock, and put out a handful at a time. A blank card has no value, so a card that goes missing from the rack costs only the printing. Even so, keep the box out of reach, because a stolen card that is later activated by mistake would carry real money.

See what each location has left

The Stock tab answers "how many cards does Westside have left?" at a glance.

Open Stock

Go to Retail → Gift cards sold → Printed cards, then choose Stock.

Pick the locations

Stock follows the location in the top bar. Choose one location to see its cards, or All locations to compare them side by side. Whoever sees every location also sees the boxes that no location holds.

Read the counts

The three tiles add up every batch you can see. By location gives each location's totals, and By batch lists every box underneath with its location and value.

The Stock tab for all locations: 296 cards on hand, 34 sold and 0 voided; by location, Main has 294 on hand and 6 sold out of 300 printed, and Westside has 2 on hand and 28 sold out of 30, marked Running low; by batch, Spring 2027 at Main for $25.00 each, Front desk rack at Westside for any amount, and Holiday 2026 at Main for $50.00 each, each with a Void button. — All locations at once: Westside's rack is nearly empty, so it's time to send a few cards over from Main.

Column	What it counts
On hand	Blank cards ready to sell. A card waiting in a sale that isn't paid yet still counts here, and the batch says how many are in a sale.
Sold	Cards activated at the till, whatever has happened to them since
Voided	Blanks voided before anyone bought them
Printed	Every card in the location's batches

On hand, sold and voided always add up to the cards printed. A location shows Running low when fewer than one in ten of its sold and unsold cards is still on hand, and None left when it has nothing to sell.

The Stock tab on a phone: the On hand, Sold and Voided tiles, then By location as cards, Main with 294 on hand and Westside with 2 on hand marked Running low.

Someone whose role is limited to one location sees only that location's stock and batches, even with All locations chosen.

Sell a printed card at the till

Open the gift card form

At checkout, under Add to cart, select Gift card, then switch to Printed card.

Scan the card

Scan the barcode or QR code on the back, or type the 12 characters into Card number. Dashes and capitals don't matter.

Check it's ready

A blank card shows Blank card from Holiday 2026, ready to activate. A card printed with a value shows that value, and the amount is set for you.

Set the amount

For a card without a printed value, enter the Amount to load.

Add it and take payment

Select Activate, for example Activate $50.00 card, then take payment as usual. The card becomes active, with its value, the moment the sale is paid.

The till's gift card form with Printed card selected: the card number 27PT-FMVV-2569, a green note saying Blank card from Holiday 2026, ready to activate, Printed with $50.00, and the Activate $50.00 card button.

The same form on a phone: Printed card selected, a blank card from the Open value cards batch ready to activate, Amount to load $75, and Activate $75.00 card. — On a phone or tablet till, the form is the same. Type the amount the client chose for an open-value card.

Nothing is emailed for a printed card: the client walks out holding it. The sale's receipt shows the last four characters of the card number, not the whole number.

When the till refuses a card

The till checks the card the moment it's scanned, before any money is taken, and says why it won't sell it.

The till says	What it means	What to do
That card is already active with $50.00 on it. It cannot be sold again.	Someone already bought this card	Hand it back to its owner, or take another card from the rack
That card is in another sale that has not finished.	Another till, or an earlier sale at yours, has this card in its cart	Finish or void that sale, or remove the card from it
That card was just sold in another sale.	Another till has just been paid for it	Take another card
That card was voided and cannot be sold.	It was reported lost or damaged	Take another card, and put the voided one aside
That card was already sold and used.	It has been spent down to nothing	Take another card
That is a digital gift card.	The number belongs to a card sent by email	To sell a printed card, scan one from the rack
No printed card has that number.	A typing slip, or a card from another business	Check the number and try again
This card is printed with $50.00 and sells for exactly that.	The amount was changed on a fixed-value card	Sell it at its printed value

The till refusing a card: the card number field outlined in red, and the message That card is already active with $50.00 on it. It cannot be sold again.

Redeem a card and check the balance

A sold printed card is spent at checkout like any gift card: choose Gift card as the payment method and scan or type the number. A card can pay part of a bill, and the rest goes on another payment method. See Redeem a gift card, package, or membership.

The holder checks what's left by entering the number on your booking site, or on the balance page printed on the card. It shows the balance and every time the card was used.

The gift card balance page on a phone for a sold printed card: ACTIVE, an available balance of $75.00 with $0.00 used, Book at Demo Clinic, redeemable at Demo Clinic, and the activity line Issued +$75.00.

An unsold card can't pay for anything, and the balance page answers its number exactly as it would a number that doesn't exist. So nobody can use the page to find out which numbers are real cards waiting on your rack.

Lost, stolen or damaged blanks

Void a blank that's lost, stolen or damaged, so it can never be sold. For one card:

Find the card

Go to Retail → Gift cards sold, stay on All cards, and set the status filter to Not sold yet. Search for its number.

Void it

Open the row's menu and choose Void, then confirm.

A blank that's sitting in an unfinished sale can't be voided until it's removed from that sale. A voided number is never reused, by you or any other business.

A whole box: void the batch

When a box goes missing, is stolen, or comes back misprinted, void every blank left in it at once:

Find the batch

On Stock, find the box under By batch.

Choose Void

The confirmation says how many blank cards will be voided and how many cards already sold keep working.

Type the batch name

Type the batch's name to confirm, then choose Void blank cards.

Void the blank cards in Holiday 2026? The confirmation says 194 blank cards will be voided and 6 cards already sold keep working, with the batch name typed into Type the batch name to confirm and the Void blank cards button.

After the void	What happens
Blank cards from the batch	Voided. The till refuses them and the balance page answers as if they don't exist.
Cards already sold from it	Keep working: they can be spent, checked online and refunded as before
A card in a sale that isn't paid yet	Left for that sale. If the sale is paid the card activates as normal. If it's cancelled, void the batch again to catch it.
What you owe	Unchanged. Blanks were never counted.

Voiding a batch is recorded in the audit log, with who did it and how many cards it voided. Voiding a lost card or a whole batch needs permission to void sales, and someone limited to one location can only void that location's batches.

The Gift cards sold list filtered to Not sold yet: printed cards with no purchaser or recipient, the status Not sold yet, no original value and a balance of $0.00.

Refunds

You refund	What happens to the card
The sale of the card	Refund it in full, and only while nothing has been spent from the card. The card is then voided, so the money can't be both refunded and spent, and it can't go back on the rack.
Something paid for with the card	The value goes back onto the card

Liability: blanks don't count

Money taken for a gift card is owed to the holder until it's spent. A printed card only starts counting the moment it's sold, so 500 blank cards in a box add nothing to what you owe, and nor does a card sitting in a sale that hasn't been paid.

The card is	Counted in Outstanding liability?
Blank, in the box or on the rack	No
In a sale that isn't paid yet	No
Sold	Yes, its remaining balance
Used up or voided	No

The liability belongs to the location that sold the card, wherever the box was sent. See Gift card liability and expiry.

Card statuses

Status	Meaning
Not sold yet	A blank card from a batch. No value. Shown only when you filter for it.
In a sale	Added to a sale that isn't paid yet. Another till can't sell it. Shown as Not sold yet in the list.
Active	Sold. Has a balance and can be spent.
Depleted	Spent down to zero
Voided	Lost, stolen or damaged before it was sold (on its own or with its whole batch), or its sale was refunded

Each batch on Printed cards shows how many of its cards are sold, how many are still blank, and how many were voided before anyone bought them. Stock adds them up per location.

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