vistaprint

I was recently handed a business card from someone that had info on the back of it stating that it was printed for free by a company called Vista Print. It was nothing fancy, but it looked decent, and how can you beat the price? At first, I thought it would only be "free" because you printed it yourself, but not so.

I stopped by the VistaPrint website, and you get to pick from a number of stock designs and layouts, and you can create your card right there online. They try and throw all kinds of "upgrades" at you while you are configuring your design and placing your order, but when it comes down to it, their barebones minimum *free* business cards will only cost you $5.95 (for shipping). Not bad at all, and I did read a positive review or two on the net about them. I paid $12 for my last 1,000 business card order from a local print shop, but they were black and white and very basic.

The real question is do you want to be handing out business cards with an ad for VistaPrint on the back of them? Will potential clients look down at you for being cheap with your business cards? I would hope not, but let's face it - the super fancy business cards printed on vellum or with silver foil on them sure do like nice and I can't help but take that person a little more seriously for spending the extra dough on making a slicker first impression.

So, I coughed up some extra cash, designed my own, and ended up paying close to $30 (incl. shipping and glossy coating) for 500 custom cards from Vista print, hopefully without the "free" advertisement on the back. I'll post on their quality when they arrive - their site states that it can take up to 21 days!