Gift Links

Gift Links let you share ContactID credits with someone else via a shareable link. Recipients click the link, sign in or create an account, and the credits land in their account. Here is what gift links are and when to use them.

1. The Concept

A gift link is a URL that redeems into ContactID credits when clicked and accepted by a valid account. Think of it as a coupon code embedded in a shareable link:

https://gift.contactid.app/abc123xyz

Anyone with the URL can redeem, once, into their account.

2. Two Gift Link Types

• Website credit gift. Grants a specified amount of website credits.
• AI wallet gift. Grants a specified amount of AI wallet dollars.

Both work the same way; only what gets deposited differs.

3. Common Uses

• Referring a friend. Send them a gift link so they get bonus credits when they sign up.
• Team distribution. Buy a large credit package and distribute to team members.
• Promotional giveaways. Marketing campaigns where you give credits away.
• Client onboarding. Include a gift link in your client onboarding to get them started on ContactID.

4. Where Gift Links Live

• In your account. Under Billing > Gift Links, you see the ones you’ve created and their status.
• In the recipient’s account. They can see the gift they received.
• On the redemption page. The URL itself.

5. Gift Links Do Not Cost More

Buying a gift link costs the same as buying the credits normally. You pay the standard rate for the amount you’re gifting; the gift link is a distribution mechanism, not a premium product.

6. Who Can Send Gift Links

Any active ContactID account (paid or free) can send gift links, provided they have credits to gift. Free tier accounts can gift only what they have (up to 30 credits).

Paid accounts can gift from included quota, extras, or purchased AI wallet balance.

7. Who Can Receive Gift Links

Any account, including:

• Existing ContactID accounts.
• New accounts (recipient signs up first, then redeems).
• Free tier accounts (they gain paid credits without needing to subscribe).

8. Expiration

Gift links expire after 30 days if not redeemed. Unredeemed gifts return the credits to your account.

Creating a gift link takes about a minute. Here is the flow, plus tips on picking the right amount.

1. Where To Create

• Sign in to your dashboard.
• Go to Billing, then Gift Links.
• Click New Gift Link.

2. Pick What To Gift

Choose:

• Type: Website credits or AI wallet dollars.
• Amount: How many credits or dollars to gift.

For website credits: minimum 5, maximum 5,000 per link. For AI wallet: minimum $1, maximum $500 per link.

3. Add A Personal Note (Optional)

• Enter a short message that appears on the redemption page.
• Recipients see this before accepting the gift.
• Character limit: 200.

Example: “Welcome to ContactID! Here’s 100 credits to try it out. Let me know how the batch goes! – Sarah”

4. Set Expiration

Default: 30 days from creation. You can shorten to a specific expiration date if you want.

Expired links refund to your account.

5. Restrict To A Specific Email (Optional)

• Toggle Restrict to specific email.
• Enter the recipient’s email.
• Only that account can redeem.

Without restriction, anyone with the URL can redeem. Restriction is safer for higher-value gifts.

6. Confirm And Generate

• Click Create Gift Link.
• Confirm the credit deduction from your account.
• The URL appears on the next screen.

Copy the URL and share via email, DM, or however you normally reach the recipient.

7. The URL Format

Gift links look like:

https://gift.contactid.app/[unique-code]

Codes are 8 characters, alphanumeric, case-sensitive.

8. Credit Reservation

When you create a gift link:

• The gifted credits are immediately deducted from your account.
• They are held in “reserved” state on the gift link.
• On redemption, they move to the recipient.
• On expiration or cancellation, they return to your account.

You cannot double-spend gifted credits.

Once you’ve created a gift link, distribute it however works best. Here are the common patterns.

1. Direct Message Or Chat

Copy the link and paste it into:

• Slack.
• Discord.
• WhatsApp.
• SMS.
• Any messenger.

The recipient clicks and lands on the redemption page.

2. Email

ContactID has a built-in email sender:

• On the gift link detail page, click Send Via Email.
• Enter the recipient’s email.
• Add a personal message (or use ContactID’s default).
• Click Send.

The recipient gets an email from ContactID with the link.

3. LinkedIn Or Social

Paste the link into a LinkedIn DM, Twitter DM, or wherever the recipient is active.

4. Public Sharing

If your gift link is restricted to a specific email, you can share publicly (Twitter, blog, newsletter) without worry; only the target email can redeem.

If it’s NOT restricted, sharing publicly means the first person to click and redeem gets the credits. Consider restriction for higher-value gifts.

5. QR Code

The gift link detail page has a Generate QR Code button:

• Click to generate a QR code image.
• Download the QR image.
• Use in printed materials, business cards, or event materials.

Recipients scan with their phone to redeem.

6. Bulk Distribution

For distributing to a team:

• Create one gift link per recipient (each restricted to their email).
• Export the list from Gift Links page.
• Send in bulk via mail merge or CSV.

Or use the Team Gift Distribution feature (Scale plan):

• Upload a CSV of email + credit amount pairs.
• ContactID creates and sends one email per recipient.

7. Tracking Delivery

Once shared:

• The gift link status page shows: created → sent → viewed → redeemed.
• You know when the recipient clicked and when they redeemed.

8. Following Up

If a gift link hasn’t been redeemed after a few days:

• Send a friendly nudge to the recipient.
• Or extend the expiration if it’s approaching.

When someone sends you a ContactID gift link, redeeming is a two-click process. Here is exactly what to do.

1. Click The Link

Open the URL you received. It looks like:

https://gift.contactid.app/abc123xyz

You land on the redemption page, which shows:

• The gift amount.
• A personal note from the sender (if included).
• Sender’s name (visible only if they had a public profile; otherwise anonymous).

2. Sign In Or Sign Up

If you have a ContactID account:

• Click Sign In.
• Sign in normally.
• Continue to step 3.

If you’re new:

• Click Sign Up.
• Create a ContactID account (30 free credits included).
• Verify email.
• Complete onboarding.
• Return to the gift redemption page automatically.

3. Accept The Gift

• Click Redeem Gift.
• The credits appear in your account within seconds.
• A confirmation shows the new balance.

4. Where The Credits Land

• Website credit gifts go into your website credit balance, added to any existing balance.
• AI wallet gifts go into your AI wallet, added to any existing balance.

Gifts do not have a special “gift credit” pool; they merge with your regular balance.

5. Only One Redemption

Each gift link can only be redeemed once. After redemption:

• The link shows “Redeemed” on subsequent clicks.
• Cannot be used again.
• The sender sees “Redeemed” in their Gift Links list.

6. Restricted Links

If the sender restricted the link to a specific email:

• You must sign in with that email.
• Other emails see “This gift is for a different account” and cannot redeem.

7. Expired Gifts

If the gift has expired:

• The redemption page shows “This gift has expired”.
• The credits have returned to the sender’s account.
• Contact the sender if you’d like a fresh link.

8. Redemption From The Extension

Gift links can be redeemed from within the extension:

• Copy the gift URL.
• Open the extension side panel.
• Click Settings > Redeem Gift.
• Paste the URL.

Same result as the web flow.

Gift links have an expiration date to prevent stale gifts from cluttering the system. Here is when expiry happens, how to prevent it, and what happens to the credits.

1. Default Expiration

30 days from creation.

The clock starts when you click “Create Gift Link”, not when the recipient receives it. So a link sent on day 25 gives the recipient 5 days to redeem.

2. Custom Expiration

When creating a gift link, you can set a shorter expiration:

• Minimum: 1 day.
• Maximum: 30 days.

Cannot exceed 30 days; that is a hard cap.

3. What Happens On Expiry

• Link becomes non-redeemable.
• Recipient (if they try to redeem) sees an “Expired” message.
• Credits return to the sender’s account automatically.
• Gift is marked EXPIRED in the sender’s Gift Links list.

4. Extending Before Expiry

If a gift is close to expiry and the recipient hasn’t redeemed:

• Go to Gift Links.
• Find the gift.
• Click Extend (available up to 24 hours before expiry).
• New expiration up to 30 days from original creation.

Only one extension per gift; you can’t extend indefinitely.

5. Cannot Extend After Expiry

Once expired, a gift cannot be extended. You would need to create a new gift link.

6. Cancelling An Unredeemed Gift

To cancel before expiry:

• Go to Gift Links.
• Find the gift.
• Click Cancel Gift.
• Confirm.

Credits return immediately. Recipient (if they try later) sees a “Cancelled” message.

7. Restricted Gifts And Expiry

Restricted gifts (limited to a specific email) follow the same expiry rules. If the target account has been created but hasn’t redeemed by expiry, the credits return.

8. Notification At Expiry

• Sender gets an email notification when a gift expires.
• Credits are visible in the account balance immediately.

9. Expiry And Refund

Gift link expiry is not a refund; it’s a return of the credits. The credits were never charged to your card at gift creation time (they were reserved from your existing balance). Return puts them back where they came from.

10. Retention Of Expired Gifts

Expired gift records are kept in your history for 12 months for auditing, then automatically deleted.