Free gift insert cards: how to do it the right way
"Free gift inside" is one of the strongest reasons for a buyer to scan your card. Done right, it builds your email list and your brand. Done wrong (tied to a review), it can cost you your account.
The one rule: the gift is for registering, never for a review
Amazon and the FTC both prohibit rewarding reviews. A gift for registering a product is a different thing: the buyer gets it whether or not they ever write a review, and whatever they think of the product.
✅ Good
"Register your product in 30 seconds and choose your free gift."
❌ Never
"Leave a review, send us a screenshot and get a free gift."
Make sure the whole flow agrees with the card: same offer for every buyer, gift given before any review question, and no "review" wording near the gift.
Physical or digital?
| Physical gift | Digital gift | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | A strap, a cleaning cloth, a sample of another product | Ebook, video course, recipe pack, extended-warranty page |
| Cost per claim | Product + shipping | Close to $0 |
| Wow factor | High | Medium |
| Delivery | Ship by hand, through Shopify, or with discounted labels | Instantly on screen, no address needed |
A smart trick: offer one of your other products as the gift. It introduces buyers to the rest of your line (cross-promotion).
Stop duplicate claims
- One gift per order number, email and shipping address.
- Check the order number format (Amazon: 111-1234567-1234567), or better, check it against your real orders.
- Set a stock limit so a gift stops automatically when you run out.
Know what it costs per customer
Track gift cost plus shipping per registration. A $4 gift that doubles registrations can be cheaper per customer than no gift at all. Kartzo's Experiments let you test "free gift" against "free warranty" or "free ebook" and show the cost per registration for each.
Design tips for the card
- Say what the gift is ("Free resistance band"), not just "free gift".
- Make the QR code big and put an arrow next to it.
- One clear action: "Scan to claim your gift".
- Your logo and colours, so it looks like part of the product, not an ad.
General information, not legal advice.