CasperVend 2/Gift Cards

About the Gift Card Expansion

The Gift Card expansion pack for CasperVend allows you to give (or sell) gift certificates for use in your store. They work just like a store card in real life - you can sell them or give them out however you wish, and the recipients can use them to buy things at your store.

VERY IMPORTANT

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THE PERMISSIONS ON THE CARDS ARE SET CORRECTLY BEFORE HANDING THEM OUT. YOU MUST SET "NO COPY" PERMISSIONS ON THE SCRIPT INSIDE THE CARD AS WELL AS THE ACTUAL PRIM.

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, ATTACH A GIFT CARD TO A GROUP NOTICE!

If you hand out a "copy" gift card, it could give that person unlimited access to your store products! We have safeguards in place to help prevent this, but at the end of the day, we accept no responsibility for damage caused by gift cards being handed out as copy.

There is a security process in place which will disable your gift card if it's given out with the wrong permissions. This is for your protection, but don't rely on it. Check your permissions anyway.

If you need any help with setting the permissions correctly, please contact Casper Warden.

If you do make a mistake and hand out a gift card with copy permissions, CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY. We can block gift cards, but we will not compensate for damages.

Compatibility

Current Version: 2.12 (As of last check in 2014 January)

Disabled versions: 2.08 and earlier If you have gift cards from these older versions, you WILL need to update to get functional gift cards.

Other CasperTech products - CasperLet rental units, etc. - do NOT work with gift cards! Only vendors!

If you are having trouble getting ANY current version to work, upgrade to the latest version.

Setup by Merchant

Step 1 - Rez the gift card on the ground

WAIT! It's REALLY important that the card really is rezzed on the ground and not simply attached or worn. This is important because renaming and permission changes have to be done inworld (on the ground) in order for them to stick when the item gets sold or passed on to the next user.

Step 2 - Optional

If you have a texture to brand it for your shop, apply it to the front of the main prim at this time. Make sure YOU have at least copy/transfer permissions on the texture you are using.

Step 3 - Rename the Gift Card

(A) Right-click, then "Edit"

(B) On the "General" tab, click to put the cursor in the "name" box

(C) Give it a new name (something like "[Your Shop] Gift Card")

(D) STAY IN EDIT MODE

Step 4 - Setting the gift card permissions

(A) At the bottom of the edit window (still in the "General" tab), under the "next owner" section, UNCHECK the box for "copy".

(B) Wait a few seconds for SL to update that status

(C) Go to "contents" tab

(D) Right-click on the script, select "Properties". A separate properties window will pop up.

(E) On the bottom of the properties window, under the "next owner" section, UNCHECK the box for "copy".

(F) Wait about 10 seconds for SL to update that status

(G) Close the properties window, then the edit window.

WAIT! It's very important that you follow these steps in the correct order - set the permission on the card itself BEFORE you set the permissions on the script. This is to allow our security process to update itself. If you didn't, then please tick the "Copy" permission on the script, wait a few seconds, then untick it again.

The script is no-mod, and will not open. This is normal. You are working with the "next owner" properties, which does not require opening the script. The permissions absolutely need to be set this way ON THE SCRIPT, otherwise you risk customers finding a way to copy the gift card, and reuse it multiple times!

Step 5 - Set Balance

Issue the "set balance [x]" command, where "[x]" is the amount of LINDENS. No commas, quotes or dollar signs are necessary. (Alternately, you can set it to a specific product - see below.)

Step 6 - Gift Card Hover Text

By default, the hover text shows either "Please click on a CasperVend Vendor to use" or "Please click on a CasperVend Vendor to get the option to use your remaining balance of ___". If you want to change the "CasperVend Vendor" portion in that hovertext to something else, use this command:

set text [your store vendor]

where [your store vendor] is the replacement text of your choosing.

Set To a Product

If you prefer, you can set your gift card to dispense a specific product, rather than giving the customer a balance. This means they won't have to visit your store to get the product delivered.

You CANNOT use the "set product" feature with texture vendors. This is because they don't use networked delivery.

Step 1

Rez the gift card on the ground. (As long as it's a gift card for YOUR store, this automatically puts it in merchant mode.)

Step 2

Type "set product"

If you change your mind before selecting the product, just type "cancel" to go back to merchant mode.

Step 3

Click a product on one of your vendors, and the product image will appear on the card.

Step 4

As soon as you select the product, the gift card will automatically go back to merchant mode.

If you've ALREADY set a product onto your card and want to cancel it, just click "Buy Now" and ignore/discard the delivery, and then begin again at Step 2.

Step 5

The card is all set, and you may now pick it up again.

When the product is delivered, the card will be "depleted" and will default back to balance mode. Defaulting back to balance mode SHOULD leave the card with a L$0 balance. If you have a top-up terminal, the user can top up the card for future use.

About "Merchant Mode"

The gift card will ALWAYS be in "merchant mode" when you (the merchant) have the card. It only goes into "customer mode" when it's passed on to someone else.

You can see what the customer sees by using the "test" mode detailed below.

Test Mode

Step 1

Complete the card setup first.

Step 2

Issue the command: set test

The gift card hover text will change to show what the customer will see. The gift card is now in test mode.

Step 3

If you have one of your vendors nearby, click it, and the gift card image will change to show a picture of the vendor's item, with a "buy" button.

Step 4

Click "buy now"

Step 5 - Exiting test mode

(A) If you have the card rezzed on the ground, right-click, then "take" the card

(B) If you are wearing the card, right-click, then "detach" the card

(C) If you want to issue an exit command, type: exit test

Debit Permissions

There is one occasion where the gift card will ask the customer for debit permissions: When the amount on the card doesn't cover the cost of the product the customer is purchasing.

The customer will get a popup box telling the user WHY it'll request the perms, before the debit window comes up.

This information popup must be acknowledged by the customer before the debit permissions window will come up. If the customer complains to you about the debit perms window, they likely haven't read the information popup before clicking through it.

The gift card will ask for debit permissions EACH time the card is used, whenever the purchase price exceeds the balance on the card.

Additional Notes On Debit Perms

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1. Fees, discounts, commissions and profit shares are ONLY paid if the customer pays an "extra amount" beyond what is available on their card (otherwise known as "part payments").
2. Fees, discounts, commissions and profit shares are ONLY paid based on the extra amount paid by the customer, not the full purchase price of the product.
3. .. this means that if the customer has a balance on their card which fully covers the purchase price of the product, no payments, discounts, fees, commissions, or profit shares are made.
4. In the case of affiliate vendors, payments are made FROM YOUR account, not from the affiliate's account. This is because the "excess" gift card payments are made DIRECTLY TO YOU, and don't go via the affiliate.
5. This means that if you have affiliate vendors and you also have gift cards, you MUST HAVE AT LEAST ONE VENDOR REZZED YOURSELF, or transactions will get stuck on payments and DELIVERIES WILL FAIL!
6. NONE OF THIS INFORMATION APPLIES TO TEXTURE VENDORS. No profit shares, discounts, fees or commissions will be paid on texture vendor transactions. This information only applies to transactions with regular vendors.

Selling Gift Cards

Selling your new gift cards is easy! Here are some of the ways merchants have mentioned selling theirs in the past:

1. Set up the gift card like a standard CasperVend product, and sell them through the vendors.
2. Put the gift card in a box and vend it from a simple "buy" box.
3. Sell / give away the empty (no balance on them) gift cards and set out a top-up terminal that people can use to put a balance on the cards.

Common 'Cards Won't Work' Error Points

• Cards are too old
• Scripts are not allowed/on for the avatar testing the card
• Adding the quotation (") marks when you shouldn't
• Trying to test it while it's still in Merchant mode

Additional Notes

Pick up the card when you're all done and it's ready to go - it does NOT matter what mode the card was last in when you hand it out; anyone who is not you does NOT see the merchant mode when they rezz or wear the card.

Do NOT copy/paste the card within your inventory, or the new copy in inventory will default to a balance of L$0!

Optionally, you can also rez the CasperVend Gift Card Topup Terminal to allow your customers to "refill" their gift card. Topups will appear on your CasperVend sales history like any other sale.

FAQ / Troubleshooting

Q. If a transaction fails, will the money be refunded back to the card?

A1. If the transaction fails due to a problem with the card, yes

A2. If the transaction starts processing, THEN fails, no it does not - The website cannot communicate with the gift card, the card only SENDS information. It is critical to make sure that you do your best to ensure there are no failed transactions - the customer will need to contact you, the merchant, for a fix / replacement if their card purchase fails during the transaction process.

Q. I'm getting this message when I rez out the gift card box:

CasperVend2 Gift Card Expansion Pack v___ *REZ + TOUCH*: Please wait, registering this plugin with CasperTech..

CasperVend2 Gift Card Expansion Pack v___ *REZ + TOUCH*: There was a problem registering this plugin! It might not work until it's registered. Please contact CasperTech support!

A1. First, make sure the gift card pack is 2.11 or newer.

A2. If so, then send an IM to Casper Warden - not a notecard - and fill out the webform at the link you get back a couple minutes later.

Q. Is it possible to configure gift cards to give a certain discount on a certain product?

A. No. But you can configure a gift card to give a product, then sell the gift card for the discounted price.

Q. Can someone use more than one gift card to purchase a single product?

A. Not at this time.

Q. Can you use the gift card to send a gift to another person?

A. No, gift cards cannot be used to send gifts. Gift cards are intended to BE gifted, so that the giftEE can use them.

Q1. My gift cards won't communicate with the vendors! Help!

Q2. I can't seem to set up the gift card, I keep getting "lost its configuration" messages.

A1. You have a gift card that is too old. Currently working versions are 2.08 and up.

A2. Check and make sure scripts are on in the parcel

A3. If you have a version more recent than 2.08 and still have an issue, get a redelivery to get the most up to date version.

Q. Will gift cards for my shop work on affiliate vendors, where the vendors are affiliate vendors for my shop?

A. Casper Warden writes: "Gift cards should work on affiliates, yes"

Q. Is it possible to configure gift cards to give a certain discount on a certain product?

A. Casper Warden writes: "No. But you can configure a gift card to give a product, then sell the gift card for the discounted price."

Q. Can you use the gift card to send a gift to another person?

A. No, gift cards cannot be used to send gifts. Gift cards are intended to BE the gift so that the giftEE can use them.

Q. My business partner and I run a business, and we both use CasperVend. We want to offer giftcards as prizes to boost sales, exposure and such. Is there a way to have a giftcard work in both mine AND my partner's vendors?

A. Casper Warden writes: "No, sorry, that isn't supported for security reasons."

Q. I set a vendor to give my group members discounts, but when they used a gift card, it took the full (non-discounted) price??

A1. Currently gift cards only "see" the group discount when actual lindens are exchanged, but if the gift card is over the amount of the item, then the discount isn't "seen".

Workaround:

Set a vendor up specifically for the group discount, and have your group members use THAT vendor with their gift cards. That will let them pay only the group price with the gift card instead of the full price. Yes, this means the vendor will need to be rezzed under the group tag of the group that gets the discount.

A2. When you first wear a gift card, SL automatically sets the gift card's group to the tag currently being worn. However, when you change the group tag, the gift card keeps the old tag! The user has to change group tags, then detach and REATTACH the gift card to "force it" to the correct group.

Casper Warden writes: "This is overly complex and NOT something that can easily be communicated to the customer on a reliable basis."