Gift cards for your food truck, sold online and at the window
Gift cards are money in the bank before the food goes out, and a good reason for someone new to come find your truck. With Find The Eats, your truck can sell gift certificates the same two ways it sells food: from your online page and from the window.
Sell them two ways
- Online, from your page. Customers buy a gift certificate at findtheeats.com/your-truck and pay by card. The money goes to your own Stripe balance, like an online order.
- At the window. Sell one in person for cash, by card via QR on the customer's phone, or on your own terminal. It's recorded in the same sales list as your food.
Redeem them two ways
A gift certificate works on an online order or at the window, whichever way it was bought. Online, the customer applies it at checkout; at the window, you apply it to the order.
Balances tracked for you
Every certificate keeps a running balance. Spend $8 of a $25 certificate today and $17 is left for next time, with no paper punch cards and no spreadsheet. You can look up any certificate's balance and history from your dashboard.
What it costs
Gift certificates follow the same fee rules as food:
- Sold online: 25¢ to Find The Eats plus Stripe's card fee. On a $30 certificate that's $0.25 + $1.17, so you keep $28.58.
- Sold at the window: no Find The Eats fee. Cash is free; a QR card payment carries only Stripe's card fee.
Stripe's standard U.S. card rate is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction, set by Stripe and subject to change. Gift card rules, including how long a card must stay valid, vary by state. Check yours before you set terms.
Rewards points for your regulars
Turn on rewards and customers earn points for every dollar they spend with you. It gives regulars a reason to pick your truck over the one parked next to you, and it goes with your gift certificates: one brings new people in, the other brings them back.
Ideas that sell gift cards for trucks
- Put a "Gift cards available" line on your window sign next to your QR code.
- Post them in November and December; share the link straight from your dashboard.
- Offer them to the office managers and event planners you meet through the Food Truck Request Portal as staff thank-yous.
Quick answers
- Can a gift certificate bought online be used at the window?
- Yes. Certificates can be redeemed online or at the window no matter how they were bought, and the remaining balance is tracked automatically.
- Is there a fee to sell gift cards?
- Online sales carry the 25¢ Find The Eats fee plus Stripe's card fee. Window sales carry no Find The Eats fee.
