Ask YC: Who do you use to print your business cards?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=163191

by dangoldin • 18 years ago

32 56 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm at the stage where I need to start getting business cards printed and am wondering whether it's better to go with a small online shop (which one) or a bigger company like Staples.

Anyone have any opinions?

Thanks!

pius• 18 years ago

We went with Dallas Cardworks and used a design similar to this:

http://www.dallascardworks.com/assets/images/products/busine...

Another shop whose work I like is Eddens Letterpress (http://eddens.com/). They do very high quality work.

dcurtis• 18 years ago

48hourprint.com has some pretty great stuff, and great customer service, too.

goofygrin• 18 years ago

I used gotprint.net. They came out really nicely and were cheaper than overnightprints but more expensive than vistaprints (but better quality than vistaprints).

fuelfive• 18 years ago

http://www.overnightprints.com

Used them for years. Fantastic quality, inexpensive.

spencerfry• 18 years ago

The quality is really amazing for the price. They also ship overnight, etc.

modoc• 18 years ago

I second this. Great options, great coating, I also opted for rounded corners. Way better color representation than the last place I ordered from. Can't go wrong here.

trentono• 18 years ago

I agree too. And the rounded corners are a nice touch.

jmorin0072• 18 years ago

If you do a quick search, you can usually find some pretty decent coupon codes on the net.

boucher• 18 years ago

This is true of a lot of sites now that offer online discount codes. A quick google search will often save you 10-20% on purchases. I think I got 25% off our business card purchases and free shipping at overnightprints.

GavinB• 18 years ago

You can get them for about $10, with free shipping. Codes at retailmenot.com

pchristensen2• 18 years ago

Overnightprints did great for me. I wrote up the experience here:

http://geekstack.com/blog/quick-and-easy-do-it-yourself-busi...

mattmaroon2• 18 years ago

Vistaprint is the total nuts. They used to give you some free cheapo ones too.

simianstyle• 18 years ago

My roommate works at VistaPrint, I wouldn't recommend them to ANYBODY. They employ shady tactics such as trimming a few millimeters off of each side of the card so they could fit an extra two or three in their printing presses (this also makes your card smaller than the general business card size).

Their quality is actually really shoddy as well, and the free cards all say "print at VistaPrint" on the back of them. Not to mention the fact that they go to all lengths with retention emails after you place a single order (without having the option to opt-out) to keep people ordering more. They also charge a ton of hidden fees.

In short: If you want your business card to be a serious reflection of your business, DON'T use VistaPrint.

mattmaroon2• 18 years ago

I've used them 3 times in 3 different years, all business cards came out great, especially the foil ones. Much higher quality than ones I've had done at Kinkos and Staples. If they're not standard size, I definitely can't tell when comparing them to others.

Free cards do say that on the back, but they're free. What would you expect? They aren't meant for serious business use, for that you should pay like you would anywhere else (but less).

I haven't had any trouble with spam from them ever. And even if I did, it would be 2 clicks to just block their emails in the future.

Perhaps your roommate doesn't like his job and is not the best person to ask?

bigtoga3• 18 years ago

I've used them once and once was enough. The cards that I ordered were their premium variety but, when I received them, the card stock was poor and the cards were sloppily cut (meaning the bleeds looked poor). I would definitely pay more to use a more professional company.

plusbryan• 18 years ago

You can really tell the difference between a vistaprint premium card and an overnightprints card. On the latter, the dots are tighter, the cardstock better, and the colors more accurate. For maybe a few bucks more you get less hassle and a better card.

dhimes2• 18 years ago

I'm still printing my own.

dkokelley• 18 years ago

Vistaprint.com for me. I got some free basic ones with my contact info, plus some fancy glossy ones to hand out to potential users. Very inexpensive, amazing quality.

rantfoil• 18 years ago

I highly recommend Moo cards -- they do small runs for relatively cheap, and let you customize the backs with photos or any design you want!

http://www.moo.com/

tptacek3• 18 years ago

Everyone I talk to loves the first "minicard" someone gives them, and hates every subsequent card. You want your cards to be the standard bcard form factor.

richesh• 18 years ago

I use Moo Mini Cards, and people seem to love it. It has a good finish and you get to customize it in different colors. I had 4 different colors and people loved it. But not being a standard business card form does tend to be a pain for people who have standard spot for it in their wallets or desk.

jonah• 18 years ago

I second Moo.

However, I always have my professional designer create the cards and http://sbprintthis.com/ handles the printing.

Unless you're a crack graphic designer yourself, there's not substitute for having them professionally done. Think back to cards you've received. Which ones stand out? I'll suspect that it's either the ones with a schtick - Matt Mullenweg's plain white "Type Matt into Google and click I'm Feeling Lucky" cards - or the beautifully designed ones printed on heavyweight stock.

It makes a difference.

staunch• 18 years ago

http://alphagraphics.com/

thomasswift• 18 years ago

I used alphagraphics too, but had to give them a quark file (eww) and they screwed up one of my fonts the first time. It was about 4 years ago. They turned out great, once the font was fixed. They have a nice paper selection, which people tend to commend me on.

tptacek3• 18 years ago

http://www.psprint.com

Not thrilled, but easy enough to do. The bar for bcards is low by the way: you want them not to look laser printed, but that's about it.

dhimes2• 18 years ago

I think it might depend on what you are using them for and/or your business. If you sell face-to-face, good cards might be important for your marketing efforts. It seems it would matter less if it's contact info for people who are trying to sell to you. If you are printing a few to get the attention of VC? They will probably say, "This is how the company's going to spend my money if I give it to them. Is it sensible?"

tptacek3• 18 years ago

I do a lot of face to face selling, and get a lot of cards. Your card is going to get lost in the noise; there are people out there with metal cards, die cut cards, probably glow in the dark neon cards. I wouldn't lose a minute's sleep over yours, as long as it's printed on heavy stock.

Here's mine; the back of the card has actually gotten us business. =)

http://www.matasano.com/bcfront.png http://www.matasano.com/bcback.png

dangrover2• 18 years ago

If you know where to look, you can easily find some absurd discounts on VistaPrint. I highly recommend them.

pchristensen2• 18 years ago

Where do you look?

dangrover2• 18 years ago

RetailMeNot.com works well, but they also send you coupons in email and physically when you order stuff. I've gotten as much as 90% off before. It's one of those sites, like GoDaddy, that you never want to order from without checking for an applicable coupon somewhere.

hendler• 18 years ago

Using preflight, online, good customer service, and a Boston company:

http://www.48hourprint.com/

nilobject• 18 years ago

I used illbuzz.com. They are great, fast, and have high quality paper. I opted for the rounded corners, making it 1000 cards for $45. Excellent service.

pk• 18 years ago

I second illbuzz.com. Quality prints, and the cheapest game in town for rounded corners. :-)

juzmcmuz• 18 years ago

Moo minicards are a great conversation-starter, and give you the chance to express a little individuality. But yes, the smaller size is slightly annoying...

zemote• 18 years ago

I print my own using Avery Micro-Perforated business cards.

jamiequint• 18 years ago

http://4by6.com for really quality stuff

trifecta• 18 years ago

http://www.trifectaagencies.com

At Trifecta Agencies we have a great product for a wonderful price. I started the company 7 years ago and it has been running strong ever since.

Email me.

-Chris

spydez• 18 years ago

I can vouch for the quality of his work.

He also can do logos and stickers and such if you need those.

bigtoga3• 18 years ago

I love to help out fellow entrepreneurs but, if I can't order it on the web w/o talking to a human, I'm just less likely to buy (especially when I can do that at so many other places). Perhaps I can buy from you on the web but your Products page does not seem to show me that I can (http://www.trifectaagencies.com/products.php). I'm not criticizing your site in any way; I'm just telling you why I am not buying from you. As an entrepreneur myself, I always appreciate that sort of feedback and try to give it in return.

mixmax2• 18 years ago

Not to ponder this particular post, but seriously: who do you use to print business cards? This is a $50 investment and a google search will tell you who can do it.

I think that a lot of these ask YC have gone a bit too far and don't add much value.

mkull2• 18 years ago

I dont think this is a bad post at all, and was glad to see it here. We have been having this very discussion internally this week

Our last quote for a business card run was $1100. Far cry from '$50 and a google search'.

Peoples responses here about who to with (and who NOT to go with) have been very helpful.

mixmax2• 18 years ago

Valid points - maybe it's just me then.

Out of curiosity, what did you get for $1100? I normally order a batch of 300 cards in full color for around $50.

dangoldin• 18 years ago

Yea. I know this isn't a typical post but I felt that it might be able to help some others out.

Doing a google search for that gives you too many garbage results so I'd prefer to hear the opinions of people I respect.

Given the number of responses I don't think it was too terrible of a post.

jmorin0072• 18 years ago

Great blog post on business cards:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/08/business-car...

menloparkbum• 18 years ago

moo & 4by6.com

lucaf• 18 years ago

I've used iPrint several times. Once they completely screwed up the order (I received somebody else's cards) and once the quality was so-so, but in both cases they were very good at making it right. Overall I'd use them again.

bootload• 18 years ago

Moo. I like them because you can still get the right information across and make use of real images I've taken ~ http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/tags/moo/page2/ The only comment I've had back is the 1/2 size is non-standard and easier to loose. Then again my competitive advantage is not in my business cards.

silencio• 18 years ago

I was going to print my own but the cost would have been the same as Vistaprint if not more expensive (cost of perforated business card paper + ink is not insignificant) and not as professional-looking, so I was going to go with Vistaprint for the cheap prices. But I spent a good few hours browsing flickr "businesscard" tag looking for card designs I liked and where the people got them printed (if it was mentioned). I found that Print100.com was named a few times by some of the people with really beautiful cards..not only the design but the whole thing. I went with them...they're based in China and the last time I used their site it was pretty awful and slow, but they throw in free shipping.

I got http://www.flickr.com/photos/chix0r/1409350187/ at around $30 for 300 - not the cheapest around, but I love the results (double sided 4 color plus spot uv varnish) and it arrived via fedex in something like one week since I ordered them. I got a bunch of the cards braille embossed by someone else (I deal with a lot of visually disabled folks) and the paper was decently thick for that. Maybe I'm more partial to them because I was really disappointed with the quality of the cards I got printed the first couple of times around (local shops in LA)...hmm, dunno.

I will note that moocards are adorable and awesome for casual uses..like my personal email and number, as opposed to my business contact info. Got a whole bunch for free before and the size is tiny but everyone loves them :]

logjam• 18 years ago

You don't need "business" cards.

willphipps• 18 years ago

moo.com! by far the coolest - everyone can be different and you can upload a library of a hundred snaps in one zip file.

gruseom• 18 years ago

Am I the only person here who couldn't care less about business cards? Who groans at the very thought of them? I didn't think I was a dirty fucking hippie but y'all are making me wonder.

Do I still get to be startup guy?

bigtoga3• 18 years ago

Are you also happy that you're in a lower tax bracket because that means you'll pay less taxes? lol - I actually had someone say that to me last night. He probably doesn't like the idea of business cards either. Sorry - it's tax time here in the US and I have taxes on the brain...

simonb• 18 years ago

To somewhat counterbalance the conformism of having a business card: http://gapingvoid.streetcards.com

marcusd• 18 years ago

http://www.alocalprinter.com are great for those of you in the UK

JFred• 18 years ago

I don't live near Staples but there happened to be several printshops all near each other in the local business district. I found one that gave me a hefty discount if I would just email them a PDF of the card (according to their specifications).

I made a PNG of what I wanted in Paint.NET and converted it to a PDF using ImageMagick, both free programs, and emailed it to them.

It required two visits, one to decide on the shop and get the email address, and the second to pick up the cards.

Color is more expensive than black and white.

There's a really cheap shop on the internet called Vistaprint that will do it, too. If you web search for 'vistaprint fraud' you find a lot of complaints that they charge your credit card once a month forever. I have no way of verifying if these accusations are true or false.

So I avoided giving my credit card out over the web and trekked to the local shop; They were very nice and friendly, much more human than a web site.

Ask YC: Who do you use to print your business cards?

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