Where to go, what to buy and oh so many choices! And if you are like me, I even wait until the last minute!
Even though I am a photographer and probably should create my own card templates and sell the cards, I don’t. It is way too much time for me with a full time job and three little kids running around at Christmas time, it is really the last thing I want to do. So today as I was creating my own card, a thought came to mind… why not send my clients to great affordable sites that can show off their family to the world!
I popped a question on my facebook page and here are some res ponces I got as well as some of the pros and cons I found while looking around.
1) Peartree.com came recommended to me by one of my best friends. She is super trendy and finds all these great and amazing deals, and the cards she always sends are phenomenal!
Pros to the site: really cute templates, 48 FREE address labels (use promo code FREELABLES at checkout), easy to upload photos
Cons to the site: hard to navigate from one template to another, come in increments of 8, and no free shipping
2) Etsy.com was recommended to me by a couple different people. If you are wanting something that no one else has, this might be the place to look.
Pros to the site: TONS to choose from, decent prices for the template, supporting small businesses, you can buy different templates to use in the future.
Cons to the site: As much as I love etsy, I needed something quick today and when given 186 choices, it was overwhelming. Plus you just pay for the template, printing is extra. I wanted something that I knew would be delivered fast and it would be taken care of.
3) Vistaprint.com. I always thought of this site as a place to purchase business cards of any other sort of generic stock, but I was pleasantly surprised to find they actually had some creative templates.
Pros to the site: lots of discounts right now, I found a promo for 50% off as well as free shipping to new clients, more generic templates, but there are some good ones. Printing on both sides of the card free of charge, lots of promo codes everywhere.
Cons to the site: More generic templates, Shipping is free on orders over $50 but was 21!! days!, priority shipping was around $20 for about a week. They try to sell you lots of other things that you do not need. I think I was offered a mouse pad, stamps, sticky notes, a mug, and a side door car magnet all with my family’s photo on them, as well as an offer to advertise in the Yellow Pages. If you can get past all that, then you are golden.
4) Tinyprints.com was a site that a client referred me to. It was the first site I went to it and I loved it. I found 7 different styles of templates that I adored. (if you look to the bottom of the page you can see which were my favs)
Pros to the site: lots of unique ideas. I especially loved their accordion style cards, magnets, and ornament style cards. Way to get more use out of the card! Fun and artsy templates and easy to upload and navigate through and free shipping!
Cons to the site: 941 choices, need I say more? Time was my issue today.
5) Shutterfly.com is probably the most popular site used.
Pros to the site: super easy to navigate, loads of savings ( I feel like I get a promo from them at least once a week), free shipping on orders over $50!.
Cons to the site: Personally I hate printing glossy photos, so that was a turn off. The other con is that I feel like so many people print with them and that (God forbid!) I may end up printing the SAME ONE! (Of course no one would care or know except for me.)
So these are just some PERSONAL preferences that I found while navigating the sites… and which one did I choose???
I ended up going with VistaPrint, mainly because of cost. I was able to print 100 cards both sides and personalize each side with however many characters I wanted to use. And because I was a first time buyer, I got the FREE 21 day shipping, which, as the only downside, I upgraded to priority to get my cards out on time. I have to say I am pretty floored, mainly because it is another item checked off my to do list!
Happy Wednesday!
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