The short answer
What a Christmas gift card programme costs and when to order it
Figures from our 2026 price list for a standard PVC gift card (85.6 × 54 mm, 0.76 mm, full colour both sides, gloss laminated) and a printed sleeve (65 × 90 mm, 250 g card, printed one side). Indicative, excluding VAT and shipping.
| Minimum order | 50 cards and 50 sleeves or boxes. Most restaurants and independent shops start with 100 to 250. |
|---|---|
| Cards only | 50 cards around 111 €; 100 cards around 126 €; 250 cards around 158 €; 500 cards around 263 €. |
| Unique codes | Sequential numbers, barcodes or QR codes printed on each card: around 168 € for 50 cards, 183 € for 100, 329 € for 500. Scratch-off panel to hide the code: on request. |
| Printed sleeve | 50 sleeves around 97 €; 100 around 126 €; 250 around 204 €; 500 around 344 €. Matt or soft-touch lamination: a few euros more per hundred. |
| Presentation box | Rigid or folding box with insert, from 50 units: quoted per project (size, finish, assembled or flat). |
| Lead time | Cards: 8 to 10 working days after proof approval. Packaging: 5 to 7 working days. Produced in parallel, shipped together. |
| Christmas deadline | Artwork approved by mid-November for a comfortable delivery before 10 December in Europe and the UK. Later dates: express production in 2 to 4 working days on request, subject to availability. |
| Proof | Free digital proof of the card and of the packaging, with a sample of the codes. |
Indicative prices, 2026 price list, excluding VAT and shipping. A quotation with a confirmed delivery date is sent within one working day.
How many gift cards to order for December
A simple rule for a first programme: count the number of covers or customers you serve in a normal week in December, and order between 10 % and 20 % of that number in cards, with a minimum of 100. A restaurant serving 600 covers a week orders 100 cards; a hotel with 80 rooms and a spa orders 150 to 250; a shop with a Christmas window orders 250. Cards that are not sold in December sell in January (birthdays, Valentine’s Day) and have no expiry on the plastic itself.
Order the packaging in the same quantity as the cards. A gift card is bought to be handed over: the sleeve or box is what the buyer sees, and it is the cheapest part of the programme.
Which gift card format for a restaurant, a hotel or a shop
- Restaurants and cafés: a PVC card with a fixed value printed (50 €, 100 €) or a blank value field written at the till, in a printed sleeve. The sleeve carries the practical information: address, booking phone, validity.
- Hotels, spas and wellness: a PVC card with a matt or soft-touch finish and a presentation box; the card represents a night, a treatment or an amount. A unique code lets reception track redemption.
- Shops and e-commerce with a physical store: a PVC card with a barcode or QR code that your till software reads, a scratch-off panel if the code is also valid online, and a sleeve that matches the brand.
- Very small runs or one-month promotions: paper gift cards on 350 g card, from 50 units, when the plastic card is not justified.
Codes, values and how redemption works
Three ways to manage the value. The simplest is a printed value and a manual register: the card is a voucher, you tick it off when it comes back. The second is a sequential number printed on each card, matched with a spreadsheet or your booking system. The third is a barcode or QR code generated by your gift card or till software (Lightspeed, Zelty, Shopify POS, Square and others): you send us the list of codes, we print them, and the card is activated at the sale. We can also print a QR code that opens an online balance page.
Whatever the option, we print a sample of the real codes on the digital proof so you can scan it before production.
The Christmas calendar, week by week
- By 10 November: brief sent (quantity, packaging, codes), quotation received, artwork started.
- By 15 to 20 November: digital proof approved. Production starts the same day.
- Late November to early December: cards and packaging produced in parallel (8 to 10 working days), shipped together by tracked parcel.
- By 10 December: cards on the counter, staff briefed, display or sleeve visible near the till.
Later start? Tell us your date in the quote request: express production in 2 to 4 working days is possible on request, subject to availability when the order is launched, and the quotation states what is feasible.