Gift Certificates?

[Northernminx]

Hmmm anyone have any idea if Beth would do/has done gift certificates? I have some BPAL loving "sisters" whom I would love to get them for for birthday presents this year. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just tuck money in a card and put it in a pretty box for the imps as a suggestion, but figured I'd ask.

[kebechet]

At the moment our shopping cart isn't robust enough to handle gift certificates. =( Hopefully that will change soon -- still trying to get onto AuthorizeNet! I'm trying to come up with a solution in the interim. =/

[Northernminx]

Don't worry If an option's not available, I'll put a nice little card in the box - they'll get the hint. It's not like they need encouragement to come running here :grin:

[TygherRayn]

Oooh. Beth, if you manage this somehow, I'm so down with it. I know lots of people .. minxes included .. that I could very easily buy gift certificates for.

[Northernminx]

:grins: and here I was thinking Tygher's would be good too (and vixens, and dolphins, and evil st's..and... damn I know a lot of people who use this stuff!)

[Pookstrell]

Ah, this answers a question I had intended to ask!

 

I was hoping that I would be able to get some gift vouchers for me I am already planning what Bpal I would like for chrismas, and was going to request Bpal gift vouchers from my family, as they really don't like the impersonal aspect of simply giving money. Hope Kebechet's plan comes to fruition!

 

 

Edited due to spelling mistakes

Edited August 9, 2004 by Pookstrell

[malanna]

Argh. My reply got deleted. Bitch! Anyway, there was talk of this on the Suggestions forum. The thought was that there could be a gift set, six-pack of imps and a voucher for 5mL, so that the giftee could see which scent they most liked and get that in a larger size. However, it was eventually decided that the idea had to be put on hold while the Lab is still really busy.

[hypothermya]

Yeah...I remember seeing in one of the Shiny and New updates that they were working on this, with the possibility of a card to go with it. (the gift vouchers, not the gift baskets...that made sense, right?)

 

Anyhow, what I've been doing currently is sending my giftee a link to their site and a choice between a six pack of imps or a 5ml bottle, and letting them decide. Once they've decided, I take care of the ordering and then...it shows up on their doorstep one day. Seems to be working well enough, for now.

[Morrighana]

[merged with the original gc thread]

 

Edited to add: Patience is a virtue, violetblue! Also, if your PM box is overfull, you could always copy your saved messages into a Word document to free up space.

[Aiyahh]

I would love to see gift certificate with included shipping as an option as well =) I always feel slightly guilty when my friends get a gift but have to spend more just to use it

[Murasaki]

This is a little different (should I post this elsewhere?) but what about something similar to what they do at my local coffee bar i.e. buy 12 mochas/lattes/espressos get one free. The samples are great but some of us have or are planning on building a large collection. How about one free 5ml for very dozen 5ml you buy? I do love the gift cert. idea, too!

 

Murasaki

[ABrokenAngel]

I've also been considering BPAL as gifts. I've been bitten with teh bug and I'm contagious. I like giving my "flu" to everyone possible. I understand the Lab is busy but.....maybe there's a way? Register it as a normal item, then they have to say.....do a low tech way and fill out an "official" order card and send it off for their impies? Just a thought!

 

I'll most likely be making up pretty pretty cards with BPAL logos and such and writing down step by step instructions on how to BPAL it up. 1) go to Lab Site and Forum site, 2) Cross reference scents with reviews! 3) ORDER!!!!...and order more than just these 6 too! Either that or I'll waste the paper to print up the entire catalog and sit there with them on christmas day since we have an extensive day long christmas hubub with my family and fill out their orders.

 

Dunno but everyone in my family is getting BPAL for christmas......everyone needs to smell good regardless of age!

[blood*rose*flowers]

Have BPAL gift certificates ever become available??

[emzebel]

I don't think so.

 

The thing about gift certificates is even though it seems like they should be really super simple, legally, they can be a PITA in terms of record keeping and tracking, and every state and country has their own laws about how and when their citizens GCs expire, revert to the state and the like. So while it seems like it should be really easy to just print up some pretty papers and ship them along, as some small localized business will, for a small but international business like BPAL, CGs could be an absolute nightmare.

[eviltemptressdq]

I don't think so.

 

The thing about gift certificates is even though it seems like they should be really super simple, legally, they can be a PITA in terms of record keeping and tracking, and every state and country has their own laws about how and when their citizens GCs expire, revert to the state and the like. So while it seems like it should be really easy to just print up some pretty papers and ship them along, as some small localized business will, for a small but international business like BPAL, CGs could be an absolute nightmare.

 

 

awww... boohoo. I have a friend that would be perfect for such a gift... maybe PayPal or Ebay gift certificates would work? Just a suggestion to people not sure what to do, but want to give someone special BPAL fun! I'm not even sure PayPal has GCs... i'll have to double check on that... I know Ebay does, though!

 

d

 

*EDIT* Ok, I looked... and I guess PayPal doesn't do official gift certificates either (they should!). But, I plan on just sending my friend money via PayPal with a makeshift (aka: i'll make something in Photoshop) one from me to her, with instructions as to how to pick what she wants and use that money I sent her in her PayPal account! I like to make things difficult. hehe

Edited April 18, 2006 by eviltemptressdq

[ipb]

The Lab has never expressed the desire to have GCs to me while we have discussed various things that they wanted with the shopping cart. Scent recommendations, wish lists, search engine integration with impulse links, yes.... GCs, no.

[LadyKitsu]

Has anyone heard of such a thing?

 

Would anyone buy them for friends or family to help enable the masses? (that way you are not having to be the middle man for their orders - they can just order directly)

 

Do you think it's a good idea...or too much of a pain for the lab to keep track of?

 

 

 

Personally...I'd be the first in line...I am working on enabling my sister and niece and would love a sneaky way to get them to buy from the lab

[graycat]

i once bought one of those visa gift cards and wrote for bpal only on it.

[SultryWolf]

Heh. I was replying to this, apparently while the thread was being merged, and my computer went all "AAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" when I hit post

 

Anyway, I was saying:

I know my husband would get me BPAL gift certs, as sure as I am that he would never bother to go through my wishlist, pick scents, and order them.

 

But, as a biz owner, I also know what a hassle GCs can be: the risk of unathorized duplication, keeping records on GCs issued, redemption concerns including taxes ...

[NoirRosaleen]

Aw, bugger...I got Employee of the Month, enabling me to choose a $50 GC to the place of my choice, and I was hoping by now they'd have GCs here...*sighs* Oh well, I'll ask for a Visa GC instead

[Nidaba]

Heh. I was replying to this, apparently while the thread was being merged, and my computer went all "AAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" when I hit post

 

Anyway, I was saying:

I know my husband would get me BPAL gift certs, as sure as I am that he would never bother to go through my wishlist, pick scents, and order them.

But, as a biz owner, I also know what a hassle GCs can be: the risk of unathorized duplication, keeping records on GCs issued, redemption concerns including taxes ...

 

Can you make a wishlist on the BPAL site? I keep telling my husband what scents I'd like to receive, but he can never remember. I told him I wanted Vasakasajja and he came back the next day asking, "You wanted some Spanish scent right? Casa something?"

[SevenSins]

There are a number of generic wishlist sites you can use. I am considering doing so myself.

 

The Things I Want

MasterWish

Wishlistr

Wishood

Wishroll

WishCentral

 

And I am sure there are others.

[quikslvr]

There are a number of generic wishlist sites you can use. I am considering doing so myself.

 

I personally like:

 

Gifttagging

ThisNext

 

Both are semi-/pseudo-social as well.

Edited March 11, 2007 by quikslvr

[Brianne]

I'd be sad to see certificates never available. The only people I want to give certificates to are the people that wouldn't have wishlists. Whoever mentioned the prepaid Visa though, that's a good idea!

[Jenesis]

Can you get PayPal certificates? Or could you just send the giftee some money for their PayPal balance? I know that would only work if the enabler and the enablee had PayPal and used it to buy BPAL, but since I'm in the UK that's my only option for BPAL