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Morticia

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GC sales are never something we rely on. They're really hit or miss here.
That said, in the past ten days we've sold $2000 in gc's. That is beyond anything we've generally done in a full year.
Not sure what the big deal is this year but ok.
 
Great! Do you find that they are all used?.
I don't have too many outstanding right now. Probably one/year doesn't get used. A lot of oldies got used this year.
This has been the best year for GC sales ever. I had another one for $950 a couple of months ago. That's already been cashed in.
 
in the UK they are pushing experiences and not stuff as the way forward for christmas - don't know if its the same in the USA?
 
in the UK they are pushing experiences and not stuff as the way forward for christmas - don't know if its the same in the USA?.
Yes. Experiences. It's why I bought my daughter a GC to see a Broadway show rather than a sweater.
Glad I took another look at this as I went thru my outstanding gc's and realized I hadn't attached some of them to the reservations. Others were expired so I deleted those.
Removed about $2000 in outstanding balances that weren't.
 
in the UK they are pushing experiences and not stuff as the way forward for christmas - don't know if its the same in the USA?.
Yes. Experiences. It's why I bought my daughter a GC to see a Broadway show rather than a sweater.
Glad I took another look at this as I went thru my outstanding gc's and realized I hadn't attached some of them to the reservations. Others were expired so I deleted those.
Removed about $2000 in outstanding balances that weren't.
.
Glad I took another look at this as I went thru my outstanding gc's and realized I hadn't attached some of them to the reservations. Others were expired so I deleted those.
Removed about $2000 in outstanding balances that weren't.
thumbs_up.gif

 
in the UK they are pushing experiences and not stuff as the way forward for christmas - don't know if its the same in the USA?.
Yes. Experiences. It's why I bought my daughter a GC to see a Broadway show rather than a sweater.
Glad I took another look at this as I went thru my outstanding gc's and realized I hadn't attached some of them to the reservations. Others were expired so I deleted those.
Removed about $2000 in outstanding balances that weren't.
.
You imply that you have your GC expire on a set date even though were purchased with cash ...
 
in the UK they are pushing experiences and not stuff as the way forward for christmas - don't know if its the same in the USA?.
Yes. Experiences. It's why I bought my daughter a GC to see a Broadway show rather than a sweater.
Glad I took another look at this as I went thru my outstanding gc's and realized I hadn't attached some of them to the reservations. Others were expired so I deleted those.
Removed about $2000 in outstanding balances that weren't.
.
You imply that you have your GC expire on a set date even though were purchased with cash ...
.
Tom said:
You imply that you have your GC expire on a set date even though were purchased with cash ...
Those were donations I expired, not purchased GC. Sorry, should have been more specific.
Paid for GC don't expire. PO's used to put expiry dates on the ones they sold that we inherited. What a pain.
 
Our GC sales this year were up over last year. So far our Jan sales are looking horrible this year. I hope that turns around or this is going to be a Beans and Rice month for us!
I'm not sure how it is where you all are but GC by law can never expire. You can put one on, but if the customer calls in and tells you that. You have to honor it. If it is not used for 5 years, you are suppose to report it to the state. Ummmm....sure ok! :) So don't delete your old GC, you could be in for trouble later.
 
Our GC sales this year were up over last year. So far our Jan sales are looking horrible this year. I hope that turns around or this is going to be a Beans and Rice month for us!
I'm not sure how it is where you all are but GC by law can never expire. You can put one on, but if the customer calls in and tells you that. You have to honor it. If it is not used for 5 years, you are suppose to report it to the state. Ummmm....sure ok! :) So don't delete your old GC, you could be in for trouble later..
It definitely depends on which state you live in. My state allows expiration dates.
I had to chuckle a little bit. We got an online GC sale at 10:45pm on Christmas Eve. Now that's some last minute Christmas shopping!
 
We also had a stronger year of sales for GC's than in previous years. Part was due to an aggressive social media strategy. Even sold one Christmas Day to a husband trying to stay out of the doghouse with his wife.
 
Our GC sales this year were up over last year. So far our Jan sales are looking horrible this year. I hope that turns around or this is going to be a Beans and Rice month for us!
I'm not sure how it is where you all are but GC by law can never expire. You can put one on, but if the customer calls in and tells you that. You have to honor it. If it is not used for 5 years, you are suppose to report it to the state. Ummmm....sure ok! :) So don't delete your old GC, you could be in for trouble later..
I sold none this year. So far Jan has 2 nights (my annual accountant for a local company) and Feb has 1 (a 25th anniversary that if need be, "I can WALK to your place"). Pretty much the norm for me. I do need to go block the Municipal League Conf & Tourism Day dates (Feb) before someone books them (Murphy's Law).
 
We also had a stronger year of sales for GC's than in previous years. Part was due to an aggressive social media strategy. Even sold one Christmas Day to a husband trying to stay out of the doghouse with his wife..
PhineasSwann said:
We also had a stronger year of sales for GC's than in previous years. Part was due to an aggressive social media strategy.
Care to share? I could probably just find your fb page and go from there.
 
We also had a stronger year of sales for GC's than in previous years. Part was due to an aggressive social media strategy. Even sold one Christmas Day to a husband trying to stay out of the doghouse with his wife..
PhineasSwann said:
We also had a stronger year of sales for GC's than in previous years. Part was due to an aggressive social media strategy.
Care to share? I could probably just find your fb page and go from there.
.
We set a schedule for reminders about GC's this fall, using Facebook's new scheduling feature for posts, and using Hootsuite to schedule posts on other sites such as Twitter and Instagram.
We started with Thanksgiving, as that's when people started thinking about shopping. Didn't do anything on Friday since shoppers prefer to fight at malls and Walmarts that day. On CyberMonday, did a promotion for one day where those who buy a $400 or more GC get a $100 GC for themselves. I figure since I give OTA's 25%, I'm not losing much. Plus I get two guests instead of one I can sell add-ons to and make more money.
We did reminders during December, and that last week before Christmas hit it hard, reminding people "there was still time to get a gift." On Christmas Eve, we did two reminders, one in AM and one in PM, "Too late to ship that gift? It's never too late! We can have you gift in their inbox in less than 60 seconds!" Since our GC system through our reservation system is automated, it took care of itself.
 
We also had a stronger year of sales for GC's than in previous years. Part was due to an aggressive social media strategy. Even sold one Christmas Day to a husband trying to stay out of the doghouse with his wife..
PhineasSwann said:
We also had a stronger year of sales for GC's than in previous years. Part was due to an aggressive social media strategy.
Care to share? I could probably just find your fb page and go from there.
.
We set a schedule for reminders about GC's this fall, using Facebook's new scheduling feature for posts, and using Hootsuite to schedule posts on other sites such as Twitter and Instagram.
We started with Thanksgiving, as that's when people started thinking about shopping. Didn't do anything on Friday since shoppers prefer to fight at malls and Walmarts that day. On CyberMonday, did a promotion for one day where those who buy a $400 or more GC get a $100 GC for themselves. I figure since I give OTA's 25%, I'm not losing much. Plus I get two guests instead of one I can sell add-ons to and make more money.
We did reminders during December, and that last week before Christmas hit it hard, reminding people "there was still time to get a gift." On Christmas Eve, we did two reminders, one in AM and one in PM, "Too late to ship that gift? It's never too late! We can have you gift in their inbox in less than 60 seconds!" Since our GC system through our reservation system is automated, it took care of itself.
.
Thanks!
 
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