Key takeaways
- Gift card codes, licence keys and files deliver on the same automatic path as game keys.
- Check each marketplace's rules for the category before you list; they differ by marketplace and site.
- Bundles combine up to five inventories in one product; eBay and Shopify also support bonus codes.
- One stock pool keeps gift card and licence stock in sync across every channel.
Yes, you can sell gift cards and software licences on marketplaces that allow them, and you can deliver them automatically. To Keysender, a gift card code, a licence key and a file are the same kind of product as a game key: something the buyer receives the moment they pay. Keysender delivers it, marks the order shipped and keeps stock in sync across your channels.
What changes is not the delivery. It is the rules of each marketplace and what the buyer needs to know. This guide covers both.
Can you sell gift cards and software licences on marketplaces?
Often, yes, but each marketplace decides for itself. Rules differ by marketplace, by country site and by category. Before you list a new product type, read that marketplace's policy for digital goods and for the category.
eBay is a useful example. On eBay.com, only sellers eBay approves can list electronically delivered items, you must have the right to sell what you list, and the listing must say clearly what the buyer receives. Other eBay sites set their own rules. Our eBay integration page sums up how this works with Keysender.
Your own store is the simplest case. On Shopify or WooCommerce, you set the rules, subject to your payment provider's terms. Many sellers start a new product type there, learn what buyers ask, and only then list it on a marketplace.
Whatever the channel, keep proof of where every batch came from. A marketplace can ask for it, and a seller who cannot show clean supply puts the whole account at risk.
How is a gift card or licence delivered automatically?
The same way as a game key. You put the codes into an inventory in Keysender. You link your listing to that inventory. When an order is paid, Keysender takes the next code, delivers it and marks the order shipped on the channel it came from.
| Product | What you upload | What the buyer gets |
|---|---|---|
| Gift card | The card code, one per row | The code, delivered on payment |
| Software licence | The licence key, one per row | The key, delivered on payment |
| File-based product | A PDF or image | The file, delivered on payment |
On Pro, delivery is instant. On the free Starter plan it happens within 5.5 hours. Every dispatch is logged with a timestamp, and a resend or reissue is one click. The full delivery path is in our pillar on delivering marketplace orders with no one in the loop.
What about products with more than one code?
Some products are more than one code. A software suite with two licences. A gift card sold with a bonus card. Keysender handles these in two ways.
- Bundles: one product backed by up to five inventories. When it sells, the buyer gets a code from each one in a single message. Bundles work on Shopify, eBay, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Ecwid, Mercado Libre and the API.
- Bonus codes: on eBay and Shopify, a listing can add extra codes from a second inventory, as a double, triple or custom amount.
An example: you sell an office suite that comes as two keys, one for the main software and one for an add-on. Put each key type in its own inventory, then create a bundle with both as components. The buyer pays once and receives both keys in one message. On eBay or Shopify, you could instead sell a gift card with a free second card as a bonus code, drawn from a second inventory.
You upload codes to the bundle's components, not to the bundle itself. Each component keeps its own stock, so a bundle shows as short when any one part runs low.
How do you keep gift card and licence stock in sync?
Use one inventory per product and link every listing for that product to it. If you sell the same gift card on eBay and on your Shopify or WooCommerce store, both listings draw from one count. A sale on one updates availability on the other, which helps prevent overselling.
Gift cards often come in denominations. Treat each denomination as its own product with its own inventory. A 25 card and a 50 card are not interchangeable to the buyer, so they should not share stock. The same goes for licence editions and regions. Our pillar on one stock pool across your marketplaces covers the setup.
Restock gift cards and licences the same way as keys: into the inventory the listings already link to, before it runs out. The bulk import takes a CSV or XLSX file with columns for the code, unit cost, currency and supplier, so a new batch goes in at once and every channel sees it.
Regions, currencies and editions
Gift cards and licences are often tied to a region or a currency. A card for one country's store may not work in another. A licence for a home edition is not a licence for a business edition. These details decide whether the buyer can use what they bought, so they belong in three places: the inventory, the listing and the delivery message.
Name each inventory so the region, currency or edition is obvious at a glance. When you import a new batch, check it goes into the matching inventory. One batch in the wrong inventory means every buyer of that listing gets a code they cannot use, and every one of those orders becomes a refund or a dispute.
Licence keys and activation
Software licences carry their own questions. How many devices the key covers. Whether it is a one-off licence or a term. Whether the buyer needs an account with the software maker to activate it. Take these from the supplier's terms, not from memory, and put them in the listing before anyone pays. A buyer who knew the terms before buying rarely disputes the sale.
What do buyers of gift cards and licences need from the delivery?
A buyer of a game key usually knows what to do with it. A buyer of a gift card or a licence often does not. Good delivery answers their next question before they ask it.
- Say where to redeem. The store or site the card or licence works on.
- Say what it covers. The value, the edition, the number of devices or the term, as the supplier states it.
- Say what to do if it fails. Who to contact and what to send.
A short delivery message for a gift card can be four lines: the card name and value, the code, where to redeem it, and how to reach you if it does not work. For a licence, add the edition and how to activate. Keep it plain. The buyer is reading it to use the product, not to learn about your shop.
Put this in your listing and in the delivery message. With custom SMTP, delivery emails come from your own domain, and the access page can live on your own URL, so a gift card buyer sees your brand, not a tool they have never heard of. Both are included on every plan.
What should you check before you list a new product type?
- The marketplace allows the category on your country site.
- You can show where the batch came from.
- Each denomination, edition or region has its own inventory.
- Your listing says what the buyer receives and where to redeem it.
- Your delivery message carries the same instructions.
- You know your floor price for the product on each channel.
Gift cards are a common target for payment fraud, because they turn into money quickly. On Pro you can turn on fraud screening, opt-in at 1 credit per check, with thresholds per listing on eBay and Shopify. Our chargeback and fraud playbook covers the review workflow, and our earlier piece on selling gift cards online covers the business side.
What does it cost?
The same as any other delivery. Keysender charges per dispatch with credits: one credit for one delivery. Every account starts with 20 free credits. Pro starts as low as 6 cents per dispatch, with instant delivery, no subscription and credits that do not expire. See pricing for the plans.