Copy-proof gift certificates?

January 16, 2007 7:12 PM

I'd like to create a limited number of fixed-value gift certificates. I'm concerned about counterfeiting, and I'm hoping some folks here can share some ideas.

These gift certificates will be going to a fairly savvy crowd, many will have laptops, scanners, and printers, and anything that's easy to copy will be copied.

It's for a weekend-long event, and the certificates are only good for the duration of the event, which means we don't need it to be copy proof, just something that can't be easily copied on two days' notice. We'd also like the techniques we use to be visible, to discourage people from even trying.

To that end, here's some of the things we've considered so far:

1. Specialty paper. Ideally, we'd like something with a foil/holographic strip embedded in the paper, but we don't know where to get such a thing, or how much it might cost.
   
2. UV stamps. A unique rubber stamp combined with UV-reactive ink would be tough to duplicate on short notice.
   
3. Serializing. We're not sure how useful this would be, as we'd not have a good way of tracking which serial numbers have been redeemed yet.
   

Any other ideas, or advice on our current ones, that could work well? We don't want to go too extravagant, as we're only producing a limited number of them (maybe 20 or 30) and would like to keep the production cost per certificate as low as possible.

posted by CrayDrygu to grab bag (20 comments total)

This might be astoundingly stupid, but: Does it *have* to be paper? Um, could you give out... "gift-certificate" t-shirts or inscribed blocks of wood, or... coffee mugs? Or dog tags? Anything tangible that's impossible or pointlessly hard to replicate?

(I said it might be stupid.)
posted by thehmsbeagle at 7:18 PM on January 16, 2007

Serializing is the easiest way. You just need someone on the other end of a cellphone holding a list. If certificate number 1234 has been crossed off already then the retailer is advised not to redeem the certificate. It's not very cheap if you consider the staffing of that "hotline" to be a cost, but otherwise it's simple and easily managed.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 7:21 PM on January 16, 2007

thehmsbeagle: I actually like that idea, and it's something I wouldn't have considered. Thank you!

AmbroseChapel: We'd rather not burden the vendors we're hosting with that if we don't have to. Not to mention, we're running this event on a relatively minimal staff as it is. It is something we'll keep considering, though.
posted by CrayDrygu at 7:26 PM on January 16, 2007

For 30$ you can get 30 reasonably time consuming to reproduce George Washington prints from your local bank. Write down the serial numbers. Paper foreign currency is also available in smaller denominations if 30$ is too much.
posted by enfa at 7:26 PM on January 16, 2007

I like the dog tag idea, that might work and be novel. If it is only 20 or 30 a simple signature of one of your employees signed in ink might also work. Unfortunately, I don't think that you will find anyone that will produce such a limited qty as it isn't cost effective for the printer.
Thinking about it more, if you are only turning out twenty or thirty you could have the recipient sign off on the gift certificate, when it is redeemed you could simply stratch their name off the list as "redeemed" and thus avoid any duplication.
posted by bkeene12 at 7:29 PM on January 16, 2007

I like the George Washington Prints idea. They are only $1 each. You can rubber-stamp the event name on them.
posted by The Deej at 7:36 PM on January 16, 2007

bkeene12: We're not looking for someone else to produce them entirely. I'm perfectly OK with laser-printing them, and then sitting there with a stamp and a UV stamp pad, for example. Or buying a quantity of specialty paper to print them on, if it wouldn't be something easily obtained on short notice.

The signature idea is a good one. We're trying to avoid keeping lists, as there will be many people handing them out at various times (contest prizes and such), and many different vendors they'll be redeeming them to.
posted by CrayDrygu at 7:36 PM on January 16, 2007

enfa's idea is awesome. Get two-dollar bills from the bank, or mark up a bunch of $1s with marker or something so your guests don't accidentally spend their gift certificate on a coffee. At the end, take the redeemed bills back to the bank. Total cost to you: $0.

Note that you don't have to cross off the serial numbers as they're redeemed; once the copying problem is solved (and currency, especially well-used currency, solves the copying problem), all that matters is that a bill matches, not that it matches and has never been seen before.
posted by mendel at 7:43 PM on January 16, 2007

I work at a print shop, and occasionally our customers want to print gift certificates or raffle tickets or the like. Most people don't bother with any type of security, but a few times I've noticed people bringing in custom paper, similar to the paper that checks are printed on, so that any copies or scans have the words VOID VOID VOID VOID in the background.

A quick google search yielded this result.

It also appears that the above vendor sells a little doohickey that goes with the paper, which can be held over the paper to verify that it is an original and not a copy or a print from a scan.
posted by ZeroDivides at 7:59 PM on January 16, 2007

Micro Format sells security paper specifically intended for gift certificates. It has several copy-detection/anti-modfication technologies, including: photocopies show a hidden message, micro printing, difficult to erase blue background, watermarks, UV ink, rubbing a coin over the back of the sheet exposes a message, etc. They also sell anti-tamper holograms that can be affixed to your gift certificates. They don't provide very long lasting protection, since anyone can order the paper, reverse-engineer your gift certificate graphics, print a certificate, and affix the hologram. However, it is likely that this couldn't be done over a weekend, which is adequate for your purposes.

Printing a unique non-sequential serial number on each one will further frustrate forgery. Like mendel mentioned, it isn't necessary for vendors to keep track of the serial numbers of redeemed gift certificates, only that the number matches an approved list.
posted by RichardP at 8:04 PM on January 16, 2007

RichardP: That looks like an excellent answer as well, with all the features built into that paper. Plus it leaves plenty of room for customizing the front, and to top it off, they'll sell 50 sheets for $15. Very promising indeed.

And I may just get one of their UV pens for myself...
posted by CrayDrygu at 8:15 PM on January 16, 2007

I've also seen some local shops/restaurants use an embossed seal on the gift certificate. That's not easy to copy, is visible, and is relatively cheap. Do a search for 'embossed seal' and you should be able to find some desk seals.
posted by lunarboy at 8:26 PM on January 16, 2007

Do you have a checkbook? You probably have lots of extra checks you don't need? Cut off the bottom with the routing numbers and the top with your personal info.

You have some fraud-resistant paper to mark with a stamp or print on or whatnot....
posted by JMOZ at 8:59 PM on January 16, 2007

A classic rubber stamp technique is heat embossing - a powder sticks to the ink, and you melt it to create a raised surface. Ideally you use a proper heat tool (no, not a hair dryer), but you can make do with a stove/toaster oven.

Any decent craft store should have it.
posted by O9scar at 9:37 PM on January 16, 2007

This is kind of going in a different direction, but you could use the same amount of energy to prettify your gift certificates in a way that also discourages reproduction. What about something like a wax seal holding down a ribbon, printed on vellum or something. If your certificate contains four distinct elements (color of wax, stamp insignia, ribbon, special paper) there's no way it will get reproduced in the span of a weekend. And you could definitely do all that for less than $1 a certificate (depending on the type of paper and whether you already own a wax stamping kit and some ribbon, you could do it for ~$0.25 apiece)

But maybe I'm the only one who has managed to accumulate and NEVER use multiple wax sealing kits over the years...
posted by folara at 12:36 AM on January 17, 2007

could you take a polaroid of each certificate winner, and then give them the polaroid photo to use as their ticket? photograph each winner standing with a staff member, or holding an official magic teddybear or something, to create an image that's tough to fake. it's cute and not forgeable, and maybe you can even use the redeemed photos as some sort of promo exhibit later?
you can probably borrow a few polaroid cameras, and the film isn't that expensive for the amount you're considering doing.
posted by twistofrhyme at 1:15 AM on January 17, 2007

I think the dollar bill (or $2 bill) idea is wonderful. You might have to visit a couple of banks, but it isn't too hard to get crisp uncirculated bills in sequential order as another layer of security. It would be easy for the security people to check that the first digits were right, and you could keep track of the last ones to know exactly which certificates had been redeemed.

As someone who stamps on bills every day, I recommend stamp-connection if you need a custom stamp. They're fast, smart, reasonably priced, and, as fellow Where's George people, they know all about what inks work the best on dollar bills.

(I am not affiliated with them except as a very happy repeat customer.)
posted by bink at 7:49 AM on January 17, 2007

I like the embosser idea. Along the same lines:
- Distinctive rubber stamp. This could be just about anything, as long as it would be difficult to make a similar stamp in time. The difference between a stamp on a paper and a printout of a stamp is pretty obvious in good light. And of course you could double-up and get a serializing rubber stamp.

- Distinctive hole punch. Google for "custom hole punch." These are what thousands of coffee shops use for their frequent-flyer cards. Again, hard to duplicate in time, and probably not worth it.

- Taking a different tack, if you know the names of everyone who will be coming, print customized certificates for each person and have them present ID. To prevent fakes, include some kind of "serial number" that is actually based on the person's name (like, say, number of letters in name and alphabet positions of initials), and is easy enough to work out in your head (or print out a cheat-sheet), so that ticket-takers can check them.
posted by adamrice at 8:19 AM on January 17, 2007

Get a stack of wood veneer business cards, and use a custom designed stamp on them. Then, sign them with a pen, and serial numbers too.

Good luck faking that!
posted by Chuckles at 10:38 AM on January 17, 2007

Damn, forgot the link again - wood veneer business cards.
posted by Chuckles at 10:39 AM on January 17, 2007