ArtistryHost uses Square's gift card primitives. The same gift cards your retail POS already issues. One balance, one ledger, redeemable wherever the guest transacts with you.
Selling gift cards
You sell gift cards through Square POS or your Square Online store, exactly the way you do today. Nothing to configure in ArtistryHost.
If you want a gift-card-only purchase page (e.g., for holiday promotion), use Square's hosted gift-card checkout. Share the link from Square Dashboard → Gift Cards → Sell.
How a guest redeems at booking checkout
When a guest books an experience online and has a gift card:
- At checkout, they click Apply gift card.
- They enter the gift card code (or scan the QR if they're on mobile).
- We check the balance with Square in real time.
- The gift card balance is applied to the order.
Split tender
If the gift card doesn't cover the full booking, the remaining balance is automatically charged to a card the guest provides.
Example: $90 booking. Guest has a $50 gift card.
- Gift card applied: $50.00
- Charged to card: $40.00
- Guest sees: "Paid with gift card ($50) + card (•••• 4242, $40)"
No staff intervention. No manual math.
Redeeming in-person at the host stand or counter
A guest can also redeem a gift card for in-person purchases. A balance owed at the end of a class, a retail candle, a tasting flight. From the run sheet or POS:
- Open the guest's booking (or start a new in-person sale).
- At payment, select Gift card as the payment method.
- Enter or scan the code.
- Apply.
Because we're using Square's gift card system natively, the balance updates immediately and is reflected anywhere else the card is used.
Checking a balance
Either:
- Guest-facing: they can check their balance at
gift.yourvenue.com/balance(a Square-hosted page). - Internal: staff can look up any card from the host stand by entering the code.
What's special about this
Most other booking platforms either don't support gift cards online at all, or treat them as a separate system from the in-store POS. Bookeo, FareHarbor, Peek, and Tock all have gift cards at the platform level, but the balance lives inside their booking system, not unified with your in-person POS.
That means the recipient can redeem online for a future booking, but for an in-person redemption the host has to enter it manually, or the recipient is told the card "only works online." ArtistryHost avoids both gaps because the gift card is the Square gift card.
Expiration and the law
US state law generally requires gift cards to remain valid for at least 5 years. Square enforces this by default. Don't try to expire gift cards earlier. It's likely illegal in your state and creates customer-experience problems.
For any specific question about your state's rules, ask your accountant.