A fixed amount, or let the buyer decide
By the end, you'll have decided whether your gift card is worth a fixed amount or an open one, and the minimum amount below which you never sell it.
By Yodai · Published on September 6, 2026 · Updated on October 12, 2026
Someone texts you on a Sunday afternoon: "I want to give my sister-in-law a gift card. How much can I put on it?" And that's when you realize you haven't decided. Is there a $30 button, another for $50, another for $100? Or do you let the buyer choose whatever amount they feel like giving?
It sounds like a small detail. It isn't. The gift card amount decides whether it gets redeemed without any back-and-forth the day someone brings it in, or whether you end up doing math in front of the customer to see if they're short or have money left over. That conversation gets avoided before you sell the gift card, not at the counter. And you decide it once, not every time someone asks.
A number you already know: the real price
If you sell a haircut for $22 and a color for $45, the gift card that makes the most sense isn't "$30" just because it sounds round. It's $22, or $45, or the sum of both if clients usually combine them. A fixed amount that matches a service's real price gets redeemed without adjusting anything: the person walks in, hands it over, and walks out with exactly what the card paid for. No change to give back, no extra $3 to charge separately.
This is also easier to understand. Instead of an abstract number, you write "Gift card for a full hair color service" with the price underneath. The buyer doesn't have to translate dollars into a service: they already know exactly what they're giving, which saves them from second-guessing.
If you also sell punch cards or packages, like ten classes or five sessions, each package is a natural fixed amount too: the price of the full package. You don't need to come up with a new figure for the gift card; you just use the one already on your price list.
When your catalog is too broad for a fixed number
This changes for a business with a wide catalog: a restaurant, a clothing store, a flower shop. There, nobody knows if $30 covers one dish or half the menu, and forcing people to pick between $25, $50, or $100 leaves out anyone who wants to give $35 or $70. That's where an open amount, where the buyer sets their own figure, fits what they actually want to spend.
The risk with a flexible amount is the opposite of a fixed one: someone puts in $6 because it seemed like a nice little gesture, and that $6 doesn't even cover the cheapest dish on your menu. The gift card ends up sitting in a drawer because it's embarrassing to use. That's why a flexible amount needs a floor: a minimum equal to the price of the cheapest thing you sell. If your least expensive product costs $12, the gift card shouldn't sell for less than $12.
- Gets redeemed without adjusting anything, because it matches the price of a real service
- Sells itself: "gift card for a 60-minute massage," no extra explanation needed
- Fits businesses with a handful of services and stable prices
- Adapts to wide catalogs, where nobody has a single price in mind
- Needs a minimum, or it'll sell for less than the cheapest thing in your business
Which one to choose: If your business boils down to three or four services with their own set prices, go with a fixed amount that matches those prices exactly. If you sell from a catalog with dozens of items and very different ticket sizes, go with an open amount with a minimum equal to the price of your cheapest item.
If your business sells both flat-rate services and standalone products, like a salon with a fixed price for haircuts and a cosmetics shop next to it, don't force both into the same mold. Use a fixed-amount gift card for the services and an open-amount gift card for the shop, each explained separately.
Fixed amount, tied to the service
Gift card for a 60-minute massage, $55
Gift card for a 90-minute massage, $75
Open amount, with the minimum clearly shown
Give any amount you want (minimum $15). Redeemable on any purchase in the store.
Where to keep track of each gift card
Whichever amount you choose, every gift card you sell goes into a record of your own: a spreadsheet or a notebook with the code, the amount, the sale date, and the expiration date. That record is what lets you redeem it without hesitation the day someone brings it in. With a fixed amount, the row already says which service it covers. With an open amount, the buyer tells you the figure when they buy it, at the counter or by text: you check it's not below the minimum, charge that amount, and write it down.
If you choose an open amount, don't leave the figure blank
A blank amount, with no reference figure at all, gives the buyer no clue about how much to put in, and it's easy for them to come up short. Let's say, with made-up numbers, a flower shop sold 40 open-amount gift cards in a month with no suggested figure:
Giving a couple of reference figures, for example "$30 or $50," doesn't turn the open amount into a fixed one. It just gives the buyer a starting point so they don't come up short, and gives you a gift card that actually covers something when it's redeemed.
- Decided whether the gift card has a fixed price or a flexible amount
- If it's fixed, each figure matches the real price of a service or package, not some made-up round number
- If it's open, set the minimum at the price of your cheapest item, and show at least one reference figure where the buyer can see it
- With the amount settled, the next decision in this course is how long that gift card stays valid
Test yourself
Answer before opening each one. If one gives you trouble, go back to the section that explains it.
1. A hair salon with three services (haircut $20, haircut and beard trim $28, color $45) wants to sell gift cards for the first time. Fixed or flexible amount, and what figures should it use?
Fixed amount, one per service: $20, $28, and $45, matching the real prices exactly. With only three services, an open amount would just add the work of settling the difference at the register on redemption day.
2. A home decor store with products ranging from $8 to $300 launches gift cards. The owner is torn between offering just one $50 button or leaving the amount flexible. What should they decide, and why?
Open amount, with a minimum of $8, the price of the cheapest product, and a couple of reference figures, like $30 and $60, for anyone who doesn't know how much to put in. A single $50 button leaves out both the person who wants to give $15 and the person who wants to give $150.
3. A yoga studio sells a flexible-amount gift card with no minimum. Someone buys one for $6, and when they redeem it, it doesn't even cover a drop-in class, which costs $14. What should change, and what shouldn't?
Change the minimum on the open amount to $14, the same as the price of a single class. There's no need to switch to a fixed amount, because the studio does have varied ticket sizes, like the single class, the package, or the monthly membership, that justify keeping it open.
You've already decided how much your gift card is worth. What you haven't decided is how long it's good for: without an expiration date built into the sale itself, that amount turns into an open-ended debt you carry for years.
NextSet an expiration date, and state it before you charge