My website is done! I’ll post about it tomorrow with some screenshots, the website was on the checklist of things to do to get the business cards done too, as I did not want to print them without a website address on them. I also did the logo a few weeks ago and refined this until I really liked it as I would not want to print them and decide on a small change to the logo. While business cards are part of the press packs, they would also be really useful for my little hair accessories that I sell as they would just look like a more professional package than my little handmade labels.
I have some sample packs of things ordered too so I can get the right feel of them, some of them have some interesting finishes on them and choosing this could be a step up in the quality depending on the prices of it.
VISAPRINT
I started on Visaprint and found that there were so many options for the business cards such as premium papers and shapes, I thought maybe start at the basic and see what else looks nice, maybe a figure of 100 will be good to look at throughout as it should keep a good guide on price then.
Using the most basic settings here with standard corners puts the price of 100 at £21.59, adding premium paper puts the price up another ten pound ish, and rounded corners by another 7-8 pound again.
Looking again at the range here shows some of the starting prices for the different business cards. This shows the various prices for 100 by paper quality and shape:
- Standard: 21.59
- Premium: 32.39
- Spot UV: 37.59
- Rounded Corner: 32.39
- Square: 32.39
- Folded 250: 38.38
- Slim: 34.54
Then looking again the quality and finishes here there is a number of different effects. I assume too that these starting prices are just for these, so if a couple were to be combined it would go up again.
- Metallic: 39.73
- Ultra Thick: 75.57
- Pearl: 58.30
- Linen: 37.78
- Textured Uncoated: 32.39
- Natural Uncoated: 32.39
- Kraft: 48.58
- Recycled Matte: 37.78
- Glossy: 32.39
- Matte: 21.59
So I would probably just go for a standard one on Visaprint to keep the costs down for the first lot of them, maybe changing papers or something then when I have time to actually see them in person.
MIXAM
So I found these samples that I ordered which do display prices on the side, although they do seem to be very high numbers for the prices. The prices do seem very good for these but I think I will go on the website and see what 100 are, as the larger numbers can be a little misleading and the word from means there are a range of options to chose from, that price being the cheapest.
So I designed a business card here, made from 400gsm silk paper, with a matt finish on both sides and round corners, which came up as £17 for the 100 which I think is quite good and a little cheaper than Visaprint and even adding the extra features onto it. It is important to see though that the price sometimes does not change for the quanitites, for example I found that 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 cards all cost the same prices so it is important to see what you can get for your money.
Printed.com
I found the sample packet for the Printed.com options, which had a handy list of all these things that they can print, which is useful for creating an actual presspack when I come to it as I would also need postcards and A5 flyers with my CV on it as well.
The business cards were shown like this with their details on them, just without pricing which I think is something useful to know when you are choosing a favourite in that moment.
Shown here there are a number of options for the cards, standard ones, foiled ones, white ink and spot UV, all of which give an extra bit of interest but it does immediately put the price up a bit.
Again I chose my options here that would be realistic but not pure simple cards, I chose a 400gsm silk paper with printing on both sides in colour and a matte laminate on one side with rounded corners. For the 100 cards it comes out at 16.30 which again is not a bad price for the added features.
MOO
Finally I also had a sample pack for Moo, I also went on their website to look for the prices. Shown here again there are a few different options immediately, original, cotton, super and luxe, all going up in price a little.
The pack included a couple of different shapes on the business cards, I do like the soft touch cards especially but they do usually cost a little more. Looking on the website there was around a 28 pound price tag for the set of 100, without any added features, although there was only really rounded corners which added a few pound onto the price right here.
Banner Buzz
Again not a lot of customisation that was easy to see with Banner Buzz, and 16.74 for the 100 went up quite quickly for double sided printing for example.
Instant Print
I tried a website called Instant Print where I found 100 basic cards were 17 pound which I think is good, but it went up to 24 with the rounded edges which I am starting to really like. I ave also ordered a sample pack of these to have a look at them before I decide.
Banana Print
I tried a 100 pack here that is double sided on 400gsm silk paper, with rounded edges and velvet laminated, which I think would be quite extreme but they would feel very nice. I will check if this can be ordered as a sample pack first I think but for 20.95 with those added features I do not think this is bad.
Bizay
I tried a quote with this site and it very quickly started adding up the price with thinner paper than everywhere else too it actually became the most expensive.
Zazzle
Again the price went up very quickly here with small extras, so probably not an option for me personally.
I will reach out to some local printers and see what their prices are as well, so I think this will give me an idea of prices in my local area. I think my best options to look into are probably Banana Print, Printed.com or Mixam would be better options for me to look into more.
Tahlia Paige 