Nov 21, 2008

Holiday photo cards

Christmas is just around the corner.

*deep breath*

Every year it seems like my Christmas Card list gets longer and longer...and with the Boy Wonder changing on a DAILY basis, everyone wants to see updated pictures. Last year I finally caved in and sent out photo cards for the holidays, and boy were they a hit!

There are so many services out there offering photo cards, but I am sticking with Mpix.com. They did our cards last year, and when we got married I got my prints through them. I did some shopping around for the holiday cards this year, and their prices are by far the best. Here was the price comparison I did, on basic 4x8 photo cards
  • Kodak Gallery - Their cheapest sets say "starting at $4.99", but that's only if you buy 20 or more sets (200+ cards). For my 50-60 cards, I'd pay $5.99 per set of 10, or $0.60 each.
  • Snapfish - Same thing here. Their site shows their cheapest cards "as low as $0.29 each", but that's only if you buy 240+ cards. WHAT??? I'd pay $0.55 per card for what I need.
  • CVS.com - No savings here. Their CHEAPEST price (for 100+ cards) was $0.53 per card.
  • Shutterfly - You have to buy 200+ cards to get their lowest price of $0.36 per card. I would pay around $0.50 per card for the amount I need
Mpix, on the other hand, is $0.45 per card regardless of how many I buy. They have a large collection of templates, including 2- and 3-image setups. They also have a DIY option for people with good Photoshop skills - Create and set up your own card, and Mpix will print them up for $0.42 per card up to 100 (prices decrease per 100 cards).

The quality is great - our cards were very good quality last year, and when we pulled the extras out this week the picture hadn't faded at all. Because they are a professional photo processing outfit, they can do some corrective work for you (extra cost) and every picture is printed on professional grade paper. They have tons of other photo products....worth a browse! I used their free downloadable software to create my wedding album, it's very user friendly and great for folks like me who don't do digital scrapbooking (yet).

Their turnaround time is fast too - your order is usually completed within 48 business hours, then shipped according to the method you choose. Shipping cost ranges from $5.95 for USPS Priority Mail to $12.75 for Fedex Next Day.

Happy Holiday carding!!







5 comments:

Unknown said...

I too am giving out a great big *sigh*. I need to get to it and figure out what I will do for cards this year. Thanks for all the great info!

Ruthie said...

Suzie,
You should try Wal-mart. Their 4x8 are .33 each with shipping to the store, or a little more for shipping to your house.

SavvySuzie said...

I actually had looked into Wal Mart - but I'm not real crazy about the quality as compared to Mpix. In their case, I'm willing to pay a little bit more for the higher quality of the end product. But Wal-mart is definitely another frugal option! Thanks for chiming in :)

Cascia Talbert said...

Wal-Mart has photo cards for 33 cents a piece. I think that is cheaper. That's where I am getting mine from. And they offer free shipping with their site to store.

Nicole said...

Great tip! I will be checking it out--I'm not the best at Christmas cards, but maybe this year will be the year I'll get them all sent out in time :) Thanks!

 
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