The article below is from when Vistaprint was offering free business cards to draw people into their business. As of 2018, I'm not sure they still do this. Today they offer a much better selection and better pricing than I remember. However, I have always printed through GotPrint, whose prices are better than Vistaprint's coupon prices. This is not an affiliate referral ... it's just the company I've used. I've always thought the printing was excellent and the prices incredible.
Avoiding "FREE" Business Cards
A GOOD business card can make your job of sharing a business opportunity a whole lot simpler. This is why I recommend professional design and quality printing.
VistaPrint offers 250 free business cards when you first order from them. If $10 makes a difference as to whether you keep your house this month, then go for it I guess. (And hope the results don't actively keep people from joining your business.) But there are plenty of reasons to avoid VistaPrint when you're trying to promote a business.
[I mention $10 because removing the VistaPrint promo and shipping costs about $10 in the U.S. So your free cards will cost you $10. I can get you 250 awesome cards, double-sided, and shipped to your home in the U.S. for around $20 -- or just $10 more. But that's if you have a card designed, like I often offer to my team members for free.]
Why I Would Avoid VistaPrint for Business
1) The quality of the free cards is low. They don't use offset printing for these free cards. They use low-quality digital printing, so it really keeps you from looking professional. Look at the pricing for their "business" cards (rather than personal cards) and you'll see that they charge MORE than you would pay elsewhere.
2012 EXAMPLES: 250 glossy, double-sided business cards (not personal) cost $22.98 from VistaPrint + shipping when you buy them on a 50% off sale. I can get cards like that DELIVERED for around $20.
2) The "free" cards are one-sided and promote VistaPrint on the back. The fact that you're promoting them (and that they can now market to you as a past customer) is what allows them to print you a few cards for free. You get no benefit from any sales made from this promo. You can remove their promo for around $4.
3) The cost is actually VERY HIGH. Surprising, right? But if you want more than 250 cards, or you want a glossy finish, or you want a 2-sided card ... well, you're going to end up paying much more than you would elsewhere. (Basically when you upgrade your personal cards to "business" options.)
4) They are masters of the "upsell": they will try to sell you tons of other items all with the same look as your business cards, so that "free" becomes expensive. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have additional promo products -- I'm just saying that you should make this choice carefully (part of your overall business plan, and not just because it's fun or cool) and make sure you're not stuck paying more just because VistaPrint has your design.
In defense of VistaPrint ... their cards look better than what you could print yourself because they can print to the edge of the card and don't leave perforations on the edge. And for about $10 (remove their promo and pay for shipping), you've got 250 cards. You'd pay that just for buying your own business card stock. And yes ... they have designs ready for you to personalize (but customizing further costs you more). So in the right circumstance, something like VistaPrint may be right for you.
But remember that even VistaPrint is calling those "personal" cards and not "business" cards. It's my opinion that you should go into business like a pro as much as possible. Quality breeds trust, and trust breeds sales. So if you want to look like a pro, look to quality design and quality printing.
VistaPrint offers 250 free business cards when you first order from them. If $10 makes a difference as to whether you keep your house this month, then go for it I guess. (And hope the results don't actively keep people from joining your business.) But there are plenty of reasons to avoid VistaPrint when you're trying to promote a business.
[I mention $10 because removing the VistaPrint promo and shipping costs about $10 in the U.S. So your free cards will cost you $10. I can get you 250 awesome cards, double-sided, and shipped to your home in the U.S. for around $20 -- or just $10 more. But that's if you have a card designed, like I often offer to my team members for free.]
Why I Would Avoid VistaPrint for Business
1) The quality of the free cards is low. They don't use offset printing for these free cards. They use low-quality digital printing, so it really keeps you from looking professional. Look at the pricing for their "business" cards (rather than personal cards) and you'll see that they charge MORE than you would pay elsewhere.
2012 EXAMPLES: 250 glossy, double-sided business cards (not personal) cost $22.98 from VistaPrint + shipping when you buy them on a 50% off sale. I can get cards like that DELIVERED for around $20.
2) The "free" cards are one-sided and promote VistaPrint on the back. The fact that you're promoting them (and that they can now market to you as a past customer) is what allows them to print you a few cards for free. You get no benefit from any sales made from this promo. You can remove their promo for around $4.
3) The cost is actually VERY HIGH. Surprising, right? But if you want more than 250 cards, or you want a glossy finish, or you want a 2-sided card ... well, you're going to end up paying much more than you would elsewhere. (Basically when you upgrade your personal cards to "business" options.)
4) They are masters of the "upsell": they will try to sell you tons of other items all with the same look as your business cards, so that "free" becomes expensive. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have additional promo products -- I'm just saying that you should make this choice carefully (part of your overall business plan, and not just because it's fun or cool) and make sure you're not stuck paying more just because VistaPrint has your design.
In defense of VistaPrint ... their cards look better than what you could print yourself because they can print to the edge of the card and don't leave perforations on the edge. And for about $10 (remove their promo and pay for shipping), you've got 250 cards. You'd pay that just for buying your own business card stock. And yes ... they have designs ready for you to personalize (but customizing further costs you more). So in the right circumstance, something like VistaPrint may be right for you.
But remember that even VistaPrint is calling those "personal" cards and not "business" cards. It's my opinion that you should go into business like a pro as much as possible. Quality breeds trust, and trust breeds sales. So if you want to look like a pro, look to quality design and quality printing.