Prepaid Party and Tracking Usage

[CoolCrestSA]

We sell party packages that include a round of golf, food and sometimes alcohol beverages. We usually give out tickets to party host that are redeemed for each item by guest. We have been just opening a ticket to track the party’s usage but we find it double accounts for gross sales when comp/void ticket since it was prepaid already. Is there a better way?

[TheRealChipA · Accepted solution]

Hey there @CoolCrestSA.  How about this, instead.  Use electronic (or physical) gift cards.  You can preload those (there IS a load fee, so keep that in mind).  Then customers can pay with those, instead.  In most states, you don’t have to claim gift cards sales until a few years have elapsed, so there’s no hit to your bottom line initially.  Then, when they are redeemed, you are actually selling items and services that are “paid” by the gift card funds.  Would that work for you?

Another option would be to discount the items “purchased” with the tickets.  The discounted amount is deducted from your gross sales to get to net sales less the discounts.  That would have the same net effect as the first option.

[TheRealChipA · Accepted solution]

Hey there @CoolCrestSA.  How about this, instead.  Use electronic (or physical) gift cards.  You can preload those (there IS a load fee, so keep that in mind).  Then customers can pay with those, instead.  In most states, you don’t have to claim gift cards sales until a few years have elapsed, so there’s no hit to your bottom line initially.  Then, when they are redeemed, you are actually selling items and services that are “paid” by the gift card funds.  Would that work for you?

Another option would be to discount the items “purchased” with the tickets.  The discounted amount is deducted from your gross sales to get to net sales less the discounts.  That would have the same net effect as the first option.

[BofBArtStudio · Accepted solution]

@CoolCrestSA ,

The way that it was described, by @TheRealChipA , using gift cards for the initial party package sale is exactly how we do it.

When somebody purchases a party package, we put it on to a gift card for the pre-purchase amount. Then we add all of their party options to a Saved Cart during the party.

Once the party is over, We apply that gift card to their cart total and then any difference above that is taken care of in another form of payment.

[CoolCrestSA]

Thanks Cheryl! I definitely will start hashing out this process described. I appreciate the validation.

[BofBArtStudio]

Another part of this that may help you is that we have clear plastic pouches that we put the party reservation form in as well as the deposit/party gift card.

We create those when they make the reservation. We keep those pouches in a bin in order by date. Then the day of their party they come in and have their party and we ring up their party package and any extras that they order.  We save this as a saved cart and add to it as they go.

Then at checkout time, we have the pouch with their information and their preloaded gift card, pull the card out and apply it to the order and then collect any difference. 

It is a nice streamlined process that has worked well for us for many years.

[TheRealChipA]

Thanks for all of that follow-up information @BofBArtStudio.  It sounds like you have a great system going there.  I want to add one more option, which both of you might find works great, too.  Square has something called “House Accounts.”  Instead of a gift card (and the gift card load fee you would incur), you could instead set up a House Account for parties.  Then, you could charge transactions against that house account.  If they bought more than the initial house account was set up for, you can create and pay an invoice then and there.  Here’s a link to the help documentation on this.

[Summer2024]

Thank you both for the great insight here @TheRealChipA and @BofBArtStudio 🤗