Gift registries: a gift list friends and family buy from

A registry is a list one person picks, and other people buy from it as gifts. For an embroidery shop that means a baby's name on a blanket for a shower, a couple's monogram on towels for a wedding, or matching pieces for a new nursery or a team.

The person the registry is for picks the pieces from your shop, with the size, color and personalization filled in, and says how many of each they want. They share one link. Friends and family open it, pick a gift, add a note, and pay you through your normal checkout. Each gift comes to you as an ordinary order, marked as a registry gift, so you make it, message about it and get paid for it like any other order.

Registries are on every plan, including Free. The Maker plan and every plan above it have the full registry, which adds a cover photo and greeting, a countdown, Most wanted tags, an order-by date, a link for gifts bought somewhere else, a way to add a piece before the name is decided, a thank-you list, a QR code, printable cards, a switch that keeps gifts a surprise, a way for guests to find a registry by name, a readable link, and a discount after the event. Each of those has its own section below, and each section says it is part of Maker and up. On the Free plan the registry works the way the rest of this guide describes, without those parts.

Turn on the button for your shop page

1. 1
   Click Registries in the menu on the left.
2. 2
   Turn on the switch called "Let customers start registries from my shop page".
3. 3
   Your shop page now shows a "Start a registry" button under your products.

What your customer does

1. 1
   They click "Start a registry" on your shop page, type the registry name (for example, Baby Ava's shower), their name, and their email address. Three more boxes are optional: a second name for a registry two people share, what the registry is for (a baby, a wedding, a graduation, a birthday, a new home, or something else), and the event date.
2. 2
   They choose how the gifts get to them: picked up from you, or shipped to an address they type. Gift buyers never see that address.
3. 3
   They click "Create my registry". That opens their private registry page, and Broidry emails them two links: the private page, and the link to share.
4. 4
   On the private page they click "Add to registry" under a piece. Your normal order form opens, so they pick the size, color, and personalization exactly the way a buyer would, set "How many of these would you like?", and click "Add to registry".
5. 5
   They click "Copy link" and send that link to friends and family.

Making one for a customer yourself

The most common way this starts is a message: "Can you do a registry for my baby shower?" You do not need the shop page button turned on for this.

1. 1
   Open Registries and fill in "Make a registry for a customer" with the registry name, who it is for, their email address, and pickup or shipping. The second name, what the registry is for, and the date are optional.
2. 2
   Leave "Email them both links now" checked if you want Broidry to send them the links, then click "Make the registry".
3. 3
   In the registry's card under Your registries, click "Open private page" to add pieces yourself, or let the customer add them from the link in their email.

Fixing a registry after it is made

Every plan. A typo in the name or a changed date does not mean starting over. You click "Edit details" on the registry's card under Your registries. Your customer clicks "Edit details" next to the registry name on their private page. Both open the same form.

The form changes the registry name, who it is for, the second name, the email address, what the registry is for, the event date, pickup or shipping, and the shipping address. Click "Save details" to keep the changes.

A changed address or a switch between pickup and shipping applies to gifts bought from then on. A gift someone already bought keeps the address or pickup choice that is on its own order.

What a gift buyer sees

The shared link shows the registry name and date, and every piece with its photo, price, personalization, how many are wanted, and how many are still needed. If your shop's prices cannot price a piece right now, that piece says "Not available right now" and has no button until the price works again.

On Maker and up the same link opens the full registry page instead: the cover photo across the top, the names in large type, the date with a countdown, the greeting, and then the pieces as large square photos. Each photo is the stitched preview of that piece with the registry person's own words on it, or your product photo when there is no preview. Guests can narrow the list by price, or click "Still needed only". A piece that is fully given fades, says "Given", and moves to the end of the list. Your shop's accent color is the only color on the page.

The buyer clicks "Give this gift", types their name, their email address and an optional gift note, and clicks "Buy this gift". On the full registry page this form opens on top of the page. From there it is your normal checkout: if your shop takes the card when someone orders, they go straight to the card form, and otherwise they get a "Pay for your gift" button that opens your usual payment page.

The moment a gift is bought, the still-needed number drops, so two people cannot buy the same last piece. The buyer's name goes on the gift note, and the gift goes to the registry person, not the buyer.

The cover photo and greeting (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry, on Maker and every plan above it. The "Edit details" form has two more boxes: "Greeting for guests", up to 600 characters in the registry person's own words, and "Cover photo". Either of you can fill them in.

Click "Upload a photo" and choose a JPEG, PNG, or WebP file, or a photo straight from an iPhone. A wide photo works best. It saves as soon as it uploads and fills the top of the registry page. "Replace photo" swaps it and "Remove photo" takes it off. A registry with no photo shows a panel in your shop's accent color instead.

The registry page also shows a countdown next to the date, counted in your shop's time zone: the number of days to go, then "Tomorrow", then "Today". After the date it shows nothing.

Most wanted and a note on a piece (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry. On their private page, under each piece, your customer can check "Most wanted" and type a short note guests see on that piece, up to 200 characters. For example: We'd love two of these for the twins. The check mark saves right away, and the note saves when they click out of the box.

Pieces marked Most wanted show a small "Most wanted" tag on the registry page and come first in the list.

The order-by date (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry. When the registry has an event date and your shop has a turnaround, each piece on the registry page shows a line like "Order by Saturday, October 3 to have it ready for the shower". The date is the event date minus your turnaround in days. A product with its own turnaround uses that number, and every other product uses the Standard turnaround on your Pricing & settings page.

Once that date has passed, the line changes to "May not be ready by" and the event date, so a late guest knows before they buy. Broidry adds no time for shipping, because your settings hold no shipping time. If your shop has no turnaround set, or the registry has no date, the line does not show.

"I bought this somewhere else" (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry. Sometimes a guest buys the same kind of gift from another store. Under each piece still needed, the registry page has a link called "I bought this somewhere else". The guest types their name and how many they bought, and clicks "Mark as bought". Nothing is ordered or charged, and you get no order for it.

The still-needed number drops right away, the same as for a gift bought from you, so nobody else buys the same piece. The gift shows on your customer's thank-you list and on the registry's card in your dashboard as "Bought somewhere else, no order". If a guest clicked it by mistake, your customer clicks "This was a mistake, undo it" next to that gift on their private page, and the piece goes back to still needed.

When the name isn't decided yet (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry, on Maker and every plan above it. An expecting parent often does not know the baby's name yet, and a couple may not have settled on a new last name. Your customer can still put the piece on their registry. On your order form, under the box for the words, they check "The name isn't decided yet". They still pick the font, the thread color, the size, and the garment color, and then click "Add to registry".

On the registry page that piece says "Name to be announced" where the words would be, with this sentence under it: "Sara adds the name later. Your shop stitches it once they do." It shows your product photo. Guests buy it and pay for it the same way as any other gift.

The order you get is paid for, and it is held so you do not stitch it early. The order page says "Waiting on the name. Sara hasn't entered it yet. Don't stitch this until they do." and your new-order alert says the same. The order shows a "Waiting on the name" tag on your Orders board and comes up under the Missing info filter. It stays off your Production list and your run sheet, and it is listed on the Production page under "Not ready to stitch yet". Its ship date is not set yet, because your turnaround starts the day the name arrives.

When the name is decided, your customer opens their private registry page, clicks "Add the name" on that piece, types it, checks "I double-checked the spelling", and clicks "Save the name". Broidry puts the name on every gift order already bought from that piece, moves those orders onto your Production list, sets their ship date from that day, and sends you an alert like "Sara entered the name for order #1042: Ava". A gift bought after that is an ordinary order with the name already on it.

Customers often text the name to the shop. You can enter it for them in two places: click "Add the name" on the piece in the registry's card on your Registries page, or on the order's own page in the box that says it is waiting on the name. It asks you for the same spelling check. If you click "Edit order details" on the order and type the name there, Broidry does the same thing: the piece on the registry gets the name, and every other gift order waiting on that piece gets it too.

The email your customer gets when the gift is bought tells them your shop is waiting for the name and how to add it. If the registry has an event date and your shop has a turnaround, that email gives the date the name is needed by, and Broidry emails them one reminder a week before that date if the name is still missing.

The thank-you list (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry. On Maker and up, your customer's private page shows the gifts as a thank-you list: who gave it, which piece, how many, their note, and the date. Each gift has a "Thank-you sent" box they check once the card is written, and the check mark is saved.

"Download as a spreadsheet" saves the whole list as a file that opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets, with the giver's name and email address, the piece, how many, the note, the date, and whether the thank-you is sent. No price appears anywhere on the list or in the file.

On the Free plan the private page shows the same gifts as a plain list called "Gifts bought so far".

The QR code and printable cards (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry. On Maker and up, the "Share your registry" box on your customer's private page shows a QR code of the link to share, next to the "Copy link" button every plan has. The same QR code is on the registry's card in your dashboard. A guest who points a phone camera at it opens the registry. "Save the QR code" downloads it as an image to put on an invitation.

"Print cards for invitations" opens a page with four cards on one sheet of letter paper. Each card has the names, the words "We're registered at" and your shop name (or "Registered at" when the registry has one name), the QR code, and the link in words, in black on white. Click "Print the cards", print at 100% size, and cut along the dashed lines.

Keep gifts a surprise (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry, on Maker and every plan above it. Your customer's private page has a switch called "Keep gifts a surprise". While it is on, their page and the email they get for each gift say who bought a gift, for example "Sara bought you a gift", and leave out which piece it is and the giver's note. The numbers bought for each piece are replaced by one line for the whole list, such as "3 gifts bought so far". Guests still see what is left on the list, so nobody buys the same piece twice.

Next to each gift is a link called "Show me what it is". Clicking it shows that one gift, and it stays shown. "Show everything" shows every gift bought so far and turns the switch off. The thank-you list and its spreadsheet hide the same things until a gift is shown. The giver's name and the date are always there, so a thank-you note can be written without spoiling the gift.

A guest can also keep one gift a surprise. On the full registry page, the buy form has a box called "Keep my gift a surprise". That one gift stays hidden from your customer until they click "Show me what it is", even when their own switch is off.

You always see everything: the registry's card on your Registries page and the order itself show the piece, the buyer and the note as usual.

Find a registry by name (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry. A registry starts out private: only people who have the link can open it. Your customer can change that in "Edit details" on their private page by checking "Let people find my registry by name on" your shop's page. You can check the same box for them in "Edit details" on the registry's card.

Once at least one open registry has that box checked, your shop page shows a "Find a registry" box on its Shop tab, right under the "Gift registries" box with the "Start a registry" button when you have that button turned on. A guest types at least 2 letters of a name, or of the registry's name, and clicks "Find". They see up to 10 matches, each with the names, what the registry is for, and the month and year of the event, plus a button called "Open this registry".

The results never show an email address, a shipping address, or the day of the event. Closed registries and registries without the box checked never come up, and the search can't list every registry, because it needs part of a real name. If no registry has the box checked, your shop page looks the same as before.

A readable link (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry. Every registry has a long link made of random letters, and that link works forever. On Maker and up a registry also gets a readable address made from the names, like broidry.com/gifts/your-shop/sara-and-ryan. When two registries at your shop would get the same address, the second one gets a number on the end, like sara-and-ryan-2.

The readable link does not open anything until your customer turns it on, because anyone who guesses the address can see the list. It turns on in "Edit details" in one of two ways: checking "Let people find my registry by name", or checking "Use a readable link". With both boxes unchecked the readable address shows the normal "page not found" page, the same as an address that does not exist.

While it is on, the "Share your registry" box, the QR code and the printable cards all use the readable link. While it is off they use the long link. Your customer can change the address in "Edit details", using letters, numbers and hyphens, 3 to 60 characters. The address it had before keeps opening the registry, so cards that are already printed keep working.

A discount after the event (Maker and up)

Part of the full registry, and off until you turn it on. After a shower or a wedding there are usually pieces nobody bought. This lets the person the registry is for buy those pieces for themselves at a percent off that you choose.

1. 1
   Open Registries and find the card called "Discount after the event".
2. 2
   Type the percent off, a whole number from 5 to 50, and the number of days it lasts after the event date, a whole number from 7 to 180. Both boxes start empty, and Broidry does not suggest a number.
3. 3
   Turn the switch on. It can't be turned on until both numbers are filled in. To change the numbers later, type the new ones and click "Save the numbers".

What your customer sees after their event (Maker and up)

The day after the event date, Broidry emails your customer once. The email says your shop is giving them your percent off anything still on their list, gives the last day it applies, and links to their private page. The email goes out only if at least one piece is still needed. It never mentions what guests paid.

While the discount applies, their private page shows the same sentence at the top and a "Buy this for myself" button on each piece still needed. They click it, choose how many if more than one is still needed (the number is not shown while gifts are being kept a surprise, so they buy one at a time), check "I understand" under any note you made them check on one of that piece's answers, check "I understand the final product will look slightly different" if the product's photos are a mockup, accept your order terms if you have them, and click the button that says "Order it" with your percent. From there it is your normal checkout, with the percent taken off.

The order comes to you as a normal order, not a gift, going to the registry's address or pickup. Its page says "Bought by the registry person with the after-event discount" with the percent, and the price breakdown shows the discount as its own line. The piece counts as bought on the list, and it does not show on their thank-you list.

The order you get

Each gift is its own order on your board, with your usual new-order alert. The order page says "Registry gift" with the registry's name, who bought it, and who it goes to. The gift box on the order holds the buyer's note and the link to print the gift slip, which has no prices on it.

If the registry ships, the address on the order is the registry person's, and shipping is added to the buyer's total the same way it is on any order. If it is pickup, the registry person picks it up from you.

The registry person gets an email each time a gift is bought from you, with the buyer's name and note and never the price. Their private page lists every gift bought so far. When a gift is being kept a surprise, the email and the page name the buyer and leave out the piece and the note.

Closing a registry

When the event is over and you are done taking orders from it, open Registries and click "Close registry" on its card. If you give a discount after the event, wait until it has ended, because closing a registry ends the discount. The shared link then says the registry is closed, and nobody can buy from it. Click "Reopen registry" to open it again. A registry nobody has bought from yet can be deleted with its Delete button. Each registry's card also shows how far along it is, for example "3 of 8 pieces given", with a small picture of each piece.