⚙️How to Sell Gift Cards Through WooCommerce, Shopify, or a Custom Shop

Choosing Your Platform

There are three common approaches for resellers looking to sell digital gift cards:

Platform	Time to Launch	Custom Control	Scalability
WooCommerce (WordPress)	1–2 days	Medium	Medium
Shopify	1–2 days	Medium	High
Custom backend	1–2 weeks	Full	Unlimited

The right choice depends on your technical resources and long-term goals. This guide covers all three, with FoxReload API integration at the core.

---

Option A — WooCommerce

Prerequisites

• WordPress + WooCommerce installed
• PHP 8.0+
• Your FoxReload API key

Step 1 — Create Virtual Products

In WooCommerce, gift cards should be set up as "Virtual" and "Downloadable" products (no physical shipping). Create one product per denomination.

Step 2 — Fulfill Orders via a Custom Hook

Add fulfillment logic to functions.php or a custom plugin:

<?php
add_action('woocommerce_order_status_completed', 'foxreload_fulfill_order');

function foxreload_fulfill_order($order_id) {
    $order = wc_get_order($order_id);
    
    foreach ($order->get_items() as $item) {
        $product = $item->get_product();
        $foxreload_id = $product->get_meta('foxreload_product_id');
        
        if (!$foxreload_id) continue;
        
        // Call FoxReload API
        $response = wp_remote_post('https://api.foxreload.com/api/v1/orders', [
            'headers' => [
                'Authorization' => 'Bearer ' . get_option('foxreload_api_key'),
                'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
                'Idempotency-Key' => 'wc-order-' . $order_id
            ],
            'body' => json_encode([
                'product_id' => $foxreload_id,
                'quantity' => $item->get_quantity(),
                'external_order_id' => 'wc-' . $order_id
            ])
        ]);
        
        $body = json_decode(wp_remote_retrieve_body($response), true);
        
        if (!empty($body['codes'])) {
            $code = $body['codes'][0]['code'];
            
            // Save code as order meta
            $order->update_meta_data('gift_card_code_' . $foxreload_id, $code);
            $order->save();
            
            // Add to order note (visible to customer in My Account)
            $order->add_order_note(
                "Gift card code delivered: {$code}",
                true  // customer_note = true
            );
        }
    }
}

Step 3 — Display Code in Order Confirmation Email

add_action('woocommerce_email_order_details', 'add_gift_code_to_email', 10, 4);

function add_gift_code_to_email($order, $sent_to_admin, $plain_text, $email) {
    if ($email->id !== 'customer_completed_order') return;
    
    foreach ($order->get_items() as $item) {
        $product = $item->get_product();
        $code = $order->get_meta('gift_card_code_' . $product->get_meta('foxreload_product_id'));
        if ($code) {
            echo "<p><strong>Your gift card code:</strong> <code>{$code}</code></p>";
        }
    }
}

Step 4 — Schedule Price Sync

// Register cron event on plugin activation
register_activation_hook(__FILE__, function() {
    wp_schedule_event(time(), 'hourly', 'foxreload_sync_prices');
});

add_action('foxreload_sync_prices', 'sync_foxreload_prices');

function sync_foxreload_prices() {
    $response = wp_remote_get('https://api.foxreload.com/api/v1/catalog?category=google-play', [
        'headers' => ['Authorization' => 'Bearer ' . get_option('foxreload_api_key')]
    ]);
    $products = json_decode(wp_remote_retrieve_body($response), true)['products'];
    
    foreach ($products as $p) {
        $wc_products = wc_get_products(['meta_key' => 'foxreload_product_id', 'meta_value' => $p['id']]);
        foreach ($wc_products as $wc_product) {
            $retail = round($p['wholesale_price'] * 1.15, 2);
            $wc_product->set_price($retail);
            $wc_product->set_regular_price($retail);
            $wc_product->save();
        }
    }
}

---

Option B — Shopify

Shopify does not allow downloading custom server-side code, so fulfillment runs through a custom app or a serverless function.

Step 1 — Create Products in Shopify Admin

Create gift card products in Shopify as digital products (disable shipping). Add a custom metafield foxreload_product_id to each variant.

Step 2 — Shopify Webhook → Your Fulfillment Service

Register a webhook in Shopify for orders/paid:

// Your fulfillment service (Node.js / Vercel function)
const { verifyShopifyWebhook } = require("./utils");

export default async function handler(req, res) {
  // Verify Shopify webhook signature
  const isValid = verifyShopifyWebhook(req.body, req.headers["x-shopify-hmac-sha256"]);
  if (!isValid) return res.status(401).end();

  const order = JSON.parse(req.body);
  res.status(200).end(); // Acknowledge immediately

  for (const item of order.line_items) {
    const foxreloadId = item.properties.find(p => p.name === "foxreload_id")?.value;
    if (!foxreloadId) continue;

    const foxOrder = await placeFoxReloadOrder(foxreloadId, `shopify-${order.id}`);
    const code = foxOrder.codes[0].code;

    // Send fulfillment to Shopify with code as tracking info
    await shopifyFulfill(order.id, item.id, code);

    // Email customer via your transactional email service
    await sendCodeEmail(order.email, code, item.title);
  }
}

Step 3 — Price Sync via Shopify Admin API

const Shopify = require("shopify-api-node");
const shopify = new Shopify({ shopName: "your-shop", apiKey, password });

async function syncPricesToShopify() {
  const catalog = await fetchFoxReloadCatalog("google-play");
  
  for (const product of catalog) {
    const retailPrice = (product.wholesale_price * 1.15).toFixed(2);
    const shopifyVariant = await findVariantByMetafield(product.id);
    
    if (shopifyVariant) {
      await shopify.productVariant.update(shopifyVariant.id, {
        price: retailPrice
      });
    }
  }
}

---

Option C — Custom Backend

For full control, build your own backend. The integration is straightforward:

# FastAPI example
from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
from pydantic import BaseModel

app = FastAPI()

class CheckoutRequest(BaseModel):
    product_id: str
    payment_method_id: str  # Stripe payment method

@app.post("/checkout")
async def checkout(req: CheckoutRequest, user=Depends(get_current_user)):
    product = await db.get_product(req.product_id)
    
    # Charge customer
    charge = await stripe_charge(
        amount=product.retail_price_cents,
        payment_method=req.payment_method_id,
        description=product.name
    )
    
    # Place wholesale order
    fox_order = await foxreload_place_order(
        product_id=req.product_id,
        external_order_id=charge.id
    )
    
    code = fox_order["codes"][0]["code"]
    
    # Save and return
    await db.save_order(user.id, req.product_id, code, charge.id)
    return {"code": code, "order_id": charge.id}

Platform Comparison for Gift Card Resale

Feature	WooCommerce	Shopify	Custom
Code display on-screen	Plugin required	Custom app	Built-in
Price auto-sync	Via cron hook	Via scheduled job	Native
Webhook support	Via plugin	Native	Native
Multi-currency	WooCommerce multilingual	Native	Custom
Scaling cost	Hosting	Monthly fee	Infrastructure

Launch Checklist (All Platforms)

• FoxReload API key stored securely (not in source code)
• Test orders placed in sandbox before going live
• Price sync running on a schedule
• Code delivery tested end-to-end
• Customer email with code set up and tested
• Refund process defined for failed fulfillments
• Terms of service and region restrictions disclosed

---

See Also

• How to build a digital goods storefront for gift card resale
• How to auto-update Google Play Gift Card prices
• How to implement instant delivery for Google Play Gift Cards

---

Launch on any platform. FoxReload's REST API integrates with WooCommerce, Shopify, and custom backends — pick your stack and start selling.