Shopify Packing Slips Without Prices for Gift Orders

A buyer sends a present straight to a friend, and the friend opens the box to find a slip listing the price of every item. It happens most in December, when gift orders peak and packing tables run fast. If you are looking for a Shopify packing slip without prices for gift orders, the good news is that the built-in slip is closer than you think. The gaps are elsewhere: the gift message, the invoice and the other documents that end up in the box.

What Shopify’s built-in packing slip can print

You edit Shopify’s packing slip under Settings > Shipping and delivery, in the Documents section, and print it from the Orders page (Shopify help). The template is Liquid, and the packing slip variable reference lists what it can show:

• For each item: image, title, variant title, vendor, SKU, quantity, the quantity in this shipment, and line item properties.
• For the order: order number, name, creation date and the order note.
• Addresses and contact: shipping and billing address and the customer’s name and email.

Two things stand out for gift orders:

1. There is no price variable for items. The built-in slip is a document without item prices.
2. There is no variable for cart attributes. If your gift message is saved as a cart attribute, such as Gift message under Additional details, the built-in slip cannot print it. A message saved as the order note or as a line item property can print.

Where prices still sneak into the parcel

If the built-in slip has no item prices, why do recipients still see them? Usually because of one of these:

• An invoice or receipt in the box. Some shops print the invoice with every order out of habit. For gift orders, leave it out and email it to the buyer instead.
• A custom packing slip template. Shopify Order Printer and other printing apps use templates you or your developer edit, often based on the invoice. Check whether yours prints prices, and remove them or hide them on gift orders.
• A fulfilment partner’s own slip. A 3PL or print-on-demand partner may print its own document. Ask what it shows and whether it can tell gift orders apart.
• The billing address. The template can print the buyer’s billing address and email. For a gift, the recipient only needs the shipping address and, at most, the sender’s name.

Mark gift orders so packers know

Packers cannot leave the invoice out if they do not know the order is a gift. Make it visible:

• Save a clear Gift flag on the order, next to the wrap and message, so it shows under Additional details.
• Let the buyer say whether prices should be hidden; some buyers send to themselves and want the receipt.
• Print gift orders in their own batch, so the slips, cards and wraps for them sit together.

A gift slip still helps the recipient

A slip without prices is also a gift receipt. It shows the order number and what is in the box, so the recipient can exchange a size without seeing the amount. Make sure your returns process accepts the order number as proof, and say so on the slip.

A quick check before the holiday rush

Print one test gift order the way your packers will:

1. Is any price visible on any paper in the box?
2. Is the gift message printed, on the slip or on a card?
3. Does the slip show only what the recipient needs, with no billing address or buyer email?
4. Does the wrap appear as an item, so the packer knows to wrap?
5. Is the invoice kept out and sent to the buyer by email instead?

Our guide on offering gift wrapping before Christmas covers the rest of the gift setup, and adding a gift message to Shopify orders covers where the message is stored.

Where Knotly: Gift Wrap & Messages fits

Knotly: Gift Wrap & Messages prints the gift documents from your orders.

• Packing slips without prices that list the items with their SKUs, the gift wrap and the message, for one order or many as one PDF or a ZIP.
• Gift cards in the occasion’s design (Christmas, birthday, wedding and more), with your heading and colours, as A6, postcard, or 4 per A4 or Letter sheet.
• The buyer decides: the Gift options block on the product page, cart page or cart drawer has “Hide prices on the packing slip”. The order shows that choice, so your packers leave the invoice out.
• Print from where you work: select gift orders in the app, or select orders in Shopify’s Orders list and choose Print gift cards under More actions.

Gift details are saved on the order as cart attributes, and cards and slips are made in your browser. It does not print shipping labels. See Knotly: Gift Wrap & Messages for the details.

FAQ

Does Shopify’s packing slip show prices? Shopify’s packing slip variable reference has no price variable for items, so the built-in slip does not print item prices. Custom templates in printing apps may, so check yours.

Why is the gift message missing from my packing slip? If the message is saved as a cart attribute, the built-in packing slip cannot print it. Use a printing tool that reads order attributes, or store the message as the order note or a line item property.

Should I put the invoice in a gift parcel? Not when it shows prices the recipient should not see. Email it to the buyer and keep it out of the box.

Can a packing slip work as a gift receipt? Yes, if it shows the order number and items without prices and your returns process accepts it.