TovarWeakley135
Advantages
Business cards for that cost of postage; good selection of designs; easy registration
Disadvantages In-your-face advertising
When you give out a business card, you wouldn't want a lot of it to come off inside your potential client's hand. Free business card offers abound, however the quality could be variable as you would expect. So when a relative demonstrated a company card that they had got FREE from Vistaprint.com, I made a decision to check it personally.
Because it turned out, there is also a UK version, however when I looked at the accessible designs, the one I needed was just on the US site, so that's where I went.
Registration When you get towards the site, the free business card link is on the top left. Hitting this takes you to some page where you can browse the designs. However, before you start the entire process of getting something for practically nothing, you need to register.
Registration is straightforward: you provide an current email address, surname and name, and set your password. You can also complete a company name and provide a password hint in the event you forget your password later. I chose to not give a hint, then needed to rely on my faulty memory on my small second visit to the website.
You then have to tick a box to say whether the card for business or personal use (how come this matter, I'm wondering) and then have to untick a box to opt from the company's special offers and stop them from passing your name onto others. Finally, you have to specify whether emails ought to be sent in HTML or plain text, press register and you're off.
You'll then have an automatic registration confirmation (it does not incorporate your password for security reasons) along with a link where one can return and design your company cards.
Design process First, pick a design. These are split into categories: most widely used, new arrivals and business, high-impact and stylish. Clicking on a design raises a bigger image and a left hand column with spaces to enter your company name, message, full name, address, phone, fax along with other. At each stage - or at the end - you can click the preview button below the image to see the way it looks. Quote, though, if you convince you concerning the design at this time you risk losing your text and achieving to enter it again, so make sure you're pleased with the design before you begin entering text. I looked at all the designs and there were at least three (of a total of about 20) that I liked.
Checkout along with other options Once you're happy, enter your initials in the proof approval box and proceed to the checkout screen. You're then presented with a list of options that you could change, using the default ones pre-selected. They are:
1. Quantity - you will get 250 free, 500 for $9.99 or purchase quantities up to 5000 2. Backside printing - the free business cards possess a Vistaprint advert around the back. You can also decide to have them plain ($9.99) or choose black and white printing (at $19.99) or colour printing (at $24.99) on the back. In this case you can select from a variety of calendars, appointment cards and thanks cards. I did not think the designs were particularly inspiring. 3. Paper. Matte is roofed or you can have a glossy front at $9.99.
Each of the card options is an *additional* cost, so be sure you only select the options you want.
You then have a number of delivery options, from slow (A 3 week period, $5.51) to plain (14 days, $8.95) to priority (7 days, $13.95). Prices vary depending on the options you have chosen. You get another opportunity to sign up for special offers so when you press go to checkout you can also choose to buy 25 matching magnets at $9.99.
You're then come to a safe and secure site where you can enter shipping information, then view an order summary, enter charge card details, and may choose to buy 140 self-adhesive address labels at $3.99. Click on accept (with or without labels) and your order is processed, confirmed by email and shipped within the specified time.
Annoyances Like a business, I guess Vistaprint have to use their website and emails to advertise products, but I found the advertising obtrusive. Unwary shoppers may reach the checkout and discover they've amassed an enormous bill, having ordered magnets and labels along with the free business cards.
Tha harsh truth My order was shipped 5 days once i placed it using their Netherlands office and is at my hands a week after the order, much faster than the advertised 21 days. Ordering from the US require me to pay GBP3.14 rather than GBP3.08 from the UK but an extra 6p would be a small investment for having the design I needed. When I'm ready for any new batch, I'll definitely be using them again. (Update: I've just ordered another batch of business cards. They all come from one site now and there are lots of free offers.)
Summary: Good service, especially for small home businesses
