VistaPrint Online Store: Would You Like Some Fries With Your Order?
Written: Jul 10 '09
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Small business owners need to market their company. At the very least, most small business owners promote themselves buy purchasing business cards to hand out to potential customers. Other promotional advertising is also helpful and one web site that helps you with these and other business needs is Vistaprint.com, an online store that specializes in business cards and more.
What Does This Web Service Offer?:
Vistaprint.com offers products and services in categories such as:
Free Products
Business Identity
Marketing & Signage
Marketing Services
Promotions and Events
Accessories
The above categories are loaded with subcategories of products and services. Customers can purchase business cards, address labels, yard signs, note pads, checks, and other products. They can also buy web site services, e-mail lists, etc.
Payment Methods/Shipping:
Vistaprint.com accepts several methods for payment, including the big four credit cards: Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and American Express. They also accept Diners Club and PayPal for added convenience.
For shipping, Vistaprint.com offers four different options: Slow (21 days), Standard (14 days), Priority (7 days), and Rush (3 days). Unless you need your order asap, try to stick with the first two methods. It will help to keep the cost of your order to a minimum.
Final Thoughts:
Vistaprint.com is one of the most recognizable services on the internet, thanks to its e-mail promotions and other advertising. This company offers its services primarily to the small business owner who could use some help with promotions, but anyone who would like business cards and other promotional material, for any purpose, can also benefit from the many services offered at Vistaprint.com.
Vistaprint.com is a web service I have known and used several times over the years and, like most consumers, I got to know Vistaprint.com via an e-mail promotion offering 250 free business cards. Curious, I logged into the site to see if this offer was real, or if there was a catch. Once I was logged into the site, I continued to look around and actually got sidetracked from my original mission as I surfed from page to page, checking out the many things Vistaprint.com has to offer. I quickly learned that Vistaprint.com is much more than just a place to buy business cards. This web service offers customized tote bags, letterhead, lawn signs, post- it notes, e-mail marketing services, and dozens of other products and services for the ambitious business owner or other individual.
Since most people who visit Vistaprint.com for the first time come to the site for the free business card offer, let's talk a little bit about this feature and what it's all about. First, the free offer often received via e-mail is good for only a small number of designs. If you want something different and choose to browse through the site, the cost will no longer be free. However, it will cost you only about $1.99 for 250 cards, so it is easily worth it to check the other designs if you don't like the free offers. But be prepared for other additions to your order. For example, if you want a design on the back of your card that uses the same colors on the front, it will cost you an additional few dollars. Black and white on the back is free, but almost no one will choose this once they see a sample of what it looks like. As you proceed to the checkout, you will be offered window decals, stamping devices, address labels, even custom t-shirts and more. Some of these are cool, and the prices are pretty good, but the offers never seem to stop. And just when you think Vistaprint.com couldn't possibly offer anything else, they come at you with web site services, e-mail marketing offers, partner site offers, and more. You will start to wonder "Do these folks ever quit??". But don't ask that question too quickly- Vistaprint.com will respond with even more offers than before.
This constant pressure to add more items to your order is annoying, but, of course, a person can skip the offers and continue through to the checkout with nothing but business cards. One thing I have noticed, however, that annoys me even more is that sometimes, items will appear in my Vistaprints.com cart that I never added. The first time this happened, I wondered if perhaps I accidently checked one of the boxes and added something by mistake. But then, it happened again, so I am now convinced that Vistaprint.com has a deceptive and/or difficult- to- see question someplace and by clicking through like normal, you are actually asking to have something added to your cart. Again, this shows the pushiness of this business to make money. Granted, there are some cool ideas peddled by Vistaprint.com, but it still gets annoying after a while.
Vistaprint.com keeps track of past orders to help you place additional orders of the same merchandise in the future. As soon as you log back in, your portfolio will display immediately, showing what you have purchased before and suggesting other items for purchase. The prices are often slightly lower than your previous order, and this is good for encouraging additional sales. I have noticed that some items do not offer a discount for bulk purchases, but other items do offer a discount as an incentive for customers to buy more. To further encourage you, Vistaprint.com includes the breakdown in per- unit cost when you buy in bulk, along with the percentage of cost savings when you make a larger purchase. This certainly helps the company, but it also benefits the customer by showing just how much you can save per unit if you place a slightly larger order.
As for the quality of the merchandise at Vistaprint.com, most everything is good, but there are a few areas where change is in order. One is with the size of the font on the business cards. At no point in the process do you get to select the font size- at least not for standard or free business cards- and when you get your cards in the mail, you may have to squint or grab your reading glasses if there is any hope that you will be able to read the small print. The customized business cards offer pretty much anything- including your choice of font sizes- but other options offer no option to change font. Worse, you cannot tell from looking at a preview just how small the font will be. You don't know until you get the business cards in the mail, at which point you will likely not care anymore.
Shipping takes time with Vistaprint.com and based on a percentage of your order, shipping charges are high. There is no free shipping offer at Vistaprint.com and even the slowest option will cost you a decent sum of money. Notice how Vistaprint.com uses the term "Slow" to describe the base shipping option? I have to say it again: Do these guys ever quit? Even with the shipping, they are using words designed to persuade you to select something different and spend more in the process.
Overall, in spite of some issues I have with Vistaprint.com, I still like this service and recommend it for business card purchases and mcuh more. Yes, Vistaprint.com does get pushy and yes, this service does charge a farily high fee for shipping, but even with the added shipping, the total cost is still low. Add to that some of the cool suggestions for accessories and you have a web service that deserves a visit. Who among us has not received an e-mail offer from Vistaprint.com to try its services, usually with a free offer to sweeten the deal? If you haven't, then go ahead and visit the site anyway. You will like what you see and who knows what you may end up buying.
Recommended:
Yes
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