Personalized gifts are a big part of December for jewellers and makers. About 1,300 people a month in Canada search for personalized gifts. Many of them want a name, a date, or initials on something small, and they want to order it without a phone call. The hard part is getting the details right. If the engraving text arrives in an email, a DM, and a sticky note, mistakes happen. A personalization field on the product page puts the text on the order itself, so you engrave exactly what the buyer typed. ## What does a buyer need to order an engraved gift online? Most engraving orders need the same few things: - The product, in the right size and metal - The exact text to engrave, spelled the way they want it - A choice of font or style, if you offer more than one - The price, including any engraving fee, before they pay - A date they can count on If your product page asks for all of that, you don't have to chase anyone for details. ## How does personalization work on OneShopFront? Each product has a Personalization tab where you add the fields a buyer fills in. Here's what you can set up: - **Field types.** Short text for a name or initials, Long text for a longer message, Single choice for a font or style, and a date field for a wedding or birth date. - **Required fields.** Make a field required, so a buyer can't add the item to the cart without filling it in. - **An extra fee.** Add an optional fee per item for a field, like +$5.00 for engraving. The product page shows the fee next to the field. - **The order note.** On by default, it holds up to 500 characters for anything else, like "Please engrave on the inside of the band." What the buyer types shows on the order, so you can check it before you start. Product choices like ring size and metal work best as variants. Each variant has its own price and stock, so a size 7 in silver can sell out without taking the gold version with it. ## A shop example: Cobalt Lane Jewellers Cobalt Lane Jewellers is a made-up jewellery maker in Calgary. She makes stacking rings and name necklaces, and she offers pickup from her studio or ships them in Canada. For the holidays, she sets up her stacking ring like this: First, she adds variants for ring size and metal, each with its own price. Second, on the Personalization tab, she adds a required Short text field called "Engraving (up to 12 letters)" with an extra fee of +$5.00. She puts the letter limit in the field name, so buyers know before they type. Third, she adds a Single choice field called "Font" with two options, Script and Block. Fourth, she sets a lead time on the ring, so the product page shows "Needs 3 days notice." Engraving takes time, and buyers see that before they order. A buyer picks a size 7 in silver, types "AVA 2026", chooses Script, and pays. Cobalt Lane sees the size, metal, text, and font on the order, and engraves it the next morning. ## How do you avoid engraving mistakes? A few habits save a lot of re-dos: - **Put the limit in the field name.** "Engraving (up to 12 letters)" tells buyers what fits. - **Show an example.** Add a photo of a real engraving in your product description, in each font you offer. - **Say what you can and can't engrave.** Letters, numbers, a heart or a star. Tell buyers in the description. - **Check spelling with the buyer if something looks off.** A name typed in all caps or with a stray number is worth a quick email. - **Explain your return policy.** Engraved items often can't be returned. Say so on the product page. ## Can you sell gift sets? Yes. A fixed bundle lets you sell 2 to 20 products together as one item, like a stacking ring with matching earrings. If buyers want their order wrapped, you can turn on gift wrap and a gift message for the order. Our post on [gift wrap and gift messages](https://oneshopfront.com/blog/holiday-gift-wrap-gift-message-checkout) covers how that works. ## When should you stop taking engraving orders? Engraving adds time, and shipping adds more in December. Pick a last day for engraved orders, and show it on your shop. Our guide to [holiday order cutoff dates](https://oneshopfront.com/blog/holiday-order-cutoff-dates-pickup-delivery-shipping) covers how to set and show your dates for pickup and shipping. If you offer studio pickup, buyers who order late can still collect in person. See how [pickup](https://oneshopfront.com/pickup) works. ## What else comes with a OneShopFront shop? - Your own shop with your products, photos, and prices - Variants with their own price and stock - Card payments with Stripe or Helcim, and Interac e-Transfer for shops in Canada - Order emails for you and your buyer If your shop is in the US, you can set up the same fields the same way. See everything on the [features page](https://oneshopfront.com/features). Plans are on the [pricing page](https://oneshopfront.com/pricing). Starter is $20 CAD a month or $200 a year, and Growth is $50 CAD a month or $500 a year. A platform fee, currently 1% per sale, applies to the merchandise subtotal after discounts, plus your payment processor's fee. Signing up is free with no card. When you pick a plan, you add a card to start a 7-day free trial, and you aren't charged until it ends. ## Set up one product first Add personalization to your best-selling piece, place a test order, and check what you see on the order. Then add it to the rest before the rush. To set up your shop, [register at oneshopfront.com/register](https://oneshopfront.com/register). No card needed to sign up.