VistaPrint.com: Is It Too Good To Be True?
Written: Jul 18 '05
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| Full Review |
Small businesses usually are in need of getting their feet wet and keeping starting costs low. While the costs depend on the industry that the business will be competing in, one thing’s for sure: business cards are important! And that’s where VistaPrint.com comes into play.
My wife, in an effort to help her sister launch her curtain-making business, had me order cards from VistaPrint. She was there to guide me with which designs to go with, etc.
I must say that I was pleased to find out that I wouldn’t be paying an arm and a leg for these cards. While I was expecting the product to be expensive because of the meticulous design and the strong paper used, I was happy to find that the cards were free! All that has to be paid is some $3 for shipping.
VistaPrint.com isn’t the most technologically-advanced website. While the home page does seem to be quite busy, once adjusting to the screen, it’s pretty simple to navigate. The categories that one can choose from include: business cards, business identity and stationery, marketing and promotion, consumer products, business services, and international sites.
Quite basically, whether or not you live in the U.S or in Australia, VistaPrint.com has you covered for small- and medium- sized business needs.
When first clicking on the “Business Cards” tab on the left side of the page, I was able to choose between the most popular cards, business, high impact, new arrivals, and stylish cards. Knowing my sister-in-law, I went straight to the “stylish” category. I found six different designs in the category. My wife decided on a design that used neutral colors but was still attractive.
Once clicking on the tab below the card I wanted, I was told to fill out all information on the card including: company name, message, full name, job title, address line 1/2/3, phone, fax, e-mail, and website. Next to the fields sat an enlarged picture of the card displaying the correct layout. Arial seems to be the font type used on the card, but don’t quote me on that.
Before ordering the card, I was told that once I sent the final information in, I would not be able to return to the page to change any typographical errors or misinformation. Therefore, I would highly suggest looking over the card a couple of times to ensure that all details are correct.
Once filling out all the standard information for delivery and submitting my order, I was told that it would take just a few days to arrive. And guess what? My cards came right on time. They stood in perfect condition -- all 250 of them.
While all the cards came in perfect condition, we decided that we would order different ones from another company. They were disappointing because it was very hard to read the tiny print on the cards. Standard business cards, such as mine, have larger, easier-to-read writing. However, for $3, what more should I have expected?
While VistaPrint may be convenient for some, I didn’t find it to be all that great. While the healthy number of designs to choose from are attractive and the prices are super-low, I was disappointed with the ending product. Since VistaPrint is not only the seller for the cards but also the manufacturer, it is their duty to ensure that all cards are easy-to-read. They failed to come through in that area, which was the whole reason that I ordered the cards in the first place.
On the other hand, I was pleased to get the cards on-time and undamaged. I may order from them again, but certainly not anything too expensive just in case the product isn’t what I expect.
www.vistaprint.com
1.800.721.6214
Recommended:
No
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