250 Free Business Cards from VistaPrint. Free? Really?
For more than a few years now, VistaPrint has been running ads online advertising 250 business cards for free. After taking into consideration my lack of business cards and the fact that they were free, I had to investigate. I took the plunge and ordered my 250 free cards.
Fully Customizable
There are a surprisingly large number of changes you can make to a free business card. For starters, there are over 40 different free designs to choose from. These designs are all unique and range from technical to floral. If you can’t find one that suits you, there are more designs to look at, but will cost you $9.95 to use.
There are eleven different text fields for you to write whatever you want. They are given descriptions, but as you can see, you can write just about anything on your business card. There are also a number of different “upgrades” you can purchase throughout the ordering process to make your card look more professional, but if you stick to the absolute basics, these business cards are free.
What’s the Catch?
Nothing is ever truly free in this world and this rule also stands for the free business cards. The business cards themselves are free; however, you must pay the $5.45 in fees for shipping and handling. Regardless, 250 business cards for the price of $5.45 really can’t be beaten. Also, just for the record, I ordered a much more practical business card than the one shown above, but I may just have to go back and order those too.
Funny you should mention this…
A few weeks ago I found a business card hanging off of my mailbox. When I flipped it over it had the ad for vistaprint and free business cards.
My first thought? If you can’t even afford to pay for business cards for your business than don’t bother asking me to be a client.
There are a number of back designs you can choose from. The cheapest is $3.99 and it’s blank. Might be worth it to live extravagantly and blank the back of the cards.
Good call on the extra bucks for the blank back. If you’re just making them for fun then a sponsored back isn’t too bad, but I could see how it’d be hard to take it seriously for a real business.
I was going to mention the same thing.
I’ve had good results with VistaPrint using a custom design. The quality was nice and the cost was quite reasonable.
However, when I see the branded free cards, I assume that the owner isn’t serious about their business (and definitely not my target customer for blog design services). I might be judging too hastily, but my gut instinct is that it’s better to not have cards than to potentially send the message that your business is a hobby.
Good points. I didn’t even take the back into consideration when ordering mine, but I’ll definitely be utilizing that space next time I order cards.
I ordered business cards from them also, I think next time I’ll have the blank back or you can also add stuff to the backside (it costs more, of course). Just a heads up, I had someone call me from Vista print the other day trying to sell me internet advertising for $60.00 a month. So it looks like they try to bring you in for the free stuff and then sell you the advertising!
I haven’t received any calls from them, but I’m sure a simple ‘Take me off your calling list or I will never order anything from you guys ever, ever, ever again’ will solve that problem.
I haven’t received any phone calls, either, but I did see quite the flurry of email and postal mail advertisements come through for a while.
I unsubscribed from the email ones (easy enough to do) but didn’t do anything about the postal ones (just being lazy) and they eventually petered out.
This was the promo that led me into considering them as my business card vendor. The price was affordable, and the quality was good, all with one exception. I was disappointed in the card stock quality of the business card. It was the same kind of quality as if I had printed my own business cards at home, though the printing job was excellent.
I just ordered a free rubber stamp from them. It cost me $5.50 shipping. I got some points for my MyPoints account. So, I don’t know if you can get free rubber stamp, checks, and post-it directly on the website. But I just ordered the free Vistaprint rubber stamp through mypoints. and i notice that free Vistaprint customized post-it and checks can be ordered through FTT.
oohh… free t-shirt too! through MyPoints.
Does any one subscribe to justfreestuff.com? It’s pretty cool. For a few “free stuff”, it seems to require the customer to do “offers”. For most “free stuff”, they are actually free.
I’ve ordered through Vista Prints for years and love them. It beats paying $30-$40 for business cards when I can pay $5.50. My clients call me and they love the designs. Never had a problem.
Through mypoints, VistaPrint also offer free post cards and magnets (probably great for newly engaged/wed couples) and address labels.
Being a designer and a visual guy, I tend to toss most BC’s, that look like crap - before I even transcribe the data to my Mac. Sometimes a well PRODUCED/PRINTED card can over come an extremely weak design - but not always. All in all, first impressions are a one way ticket, so pull out those template cards wisely!
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