Etsy is the place to go for homemade goods. Great homemade goods, most of the time. You can even find truly locally made goods on Etsy. Now, gift cards are available through Etsy. More than a few months ago, the execs over at Etsy announced the possibility of gift cards. Today, that possibility has turned into a reality. This is great news for anyone who shops or sells on Etsy. Just in time for the holiday season, you will now be able to purchase an Etsy gift card. There are just a few things that you need to know before you do, though.

How to Tell If A Shop Accepts Gift Cards

As with any brick and mortar or e-shop, some Etsy shops won’t accept gift cards. Before you purchase a gift card, make sure that the shop you have in mind will take this form of payment. Etsy has made finding shops that accept gift cards relatively easy. Etsy has developed a search filter that allows you to search for shops that take gift cards. You will also see a small gift card icon next to any shop that accepts cards. It’s hard to miss the small green gift card icon next to a shop. Filtering is easy to do to.

While conducting an Etsy search, click the “accepts gift cards” box at the top of the search page. From there, you will see a list of stores that will take gift cards. As far as purchasing a gift card goes, Etsy has made that process simple too. To purchase a gift card, you will have to visit the Etsy home page. At the top of the page is a “gift cards” link. Since this is Etsy, you will have a choice of four different crafty gift card designs. You can then customize your card by adding a name, note, and other details.

Paying For a Gift Card

Gift cards are available in denominations of $25, $50, $100, or $250. You can pay with a credit card (Discover, Visa, MasterCard, American Express) at checkout. Interestingly, Etsy hasn’t included a PayPal payment option. After the card has been paid for, it will be sent to your recipient of choice. The whole process takes only a few minutes to complete and is quite simple. If you are an Etsy seller, you can accept gift card payments if you currently accept direct checkout payments. Unfortunately, direct checkout payments are only available in the United States at the time being. So, that means that you’ll have to keep your gift card buying for those stores that are located in the U.S.

After spending some time with Etsy’s new gift card payment, it’s clear tha the company has put a lot of thought into the new payment option. I also discovered that a number of Etsy stores do accept gift cards. If you have someone on your holiday list who appreciates handmade goods or wants to buy something that’s local, the Etsy gift card option is a great idea. Currently, Etsy’s new gift card service is up and running and works from both Canada and the United States.