Using the Site
I searched for "business cards" at google and clicked on the Iprint sponsored link at the top of the search page. I landed on the front page of iprint. The site is laid out very much like a business supply store. It has 20 merchandising areas in the middle of the front page, all of which advertise a particular product or service. The business card option is located at the front right top of the screen, so I found it immediately. Iprint also has a classic text based navigation system on the left side of the screen, where all of the top level product categories can easily be accessed.
For the record, here's what you can buy at Iprint: Address Labels, Address Stamps, Announcements, Brochures, Business Cards, Business Card Magnets, Business Checks, Business Forms, Envelopes, Invitations, Labels, Letterhead, Magnetic Signs, Mailing Envelopes, Memo Pads, Mouse Pads, Note Cards, Personal Stationery, Post-it® Notes, Postcards, Promotional Items, Rubber Stamps, and Signs & Banners. As you can see, it's pretty much what's available at any local print shop.
Since I already knew that I needed business cards, I headed over to that section. Iprint uses a great wizard type application to guide users through the process of printing their own business cards.
The site first asks you to pick a type of card, either full color or up to 2 color cards. I like white business cards, so I took the latter choice.
You can then see the formats they have available for standard white cards. If you want to print a vertical card you can do that as well. The default page they show is the most popular formats, but you can use any of the other headings on the side to check out cards that might work best for your business.
In my case, I wanted to add my own logo to the card. This is also a simple process. I clicked on the "Add Your Own Logo" text link and chose a classic looking template from that page. You can then change the text on the card by filling in your corporate or personal information.
NOTE TO USERS: If you use iprint or any other online printing service for business cards, double and triple check your spelling and numbers. They are not liable for your typos, and obviously getting the information right is critical for your business.
If you need to add a new field other than the commonly used ones, you're able to do that as well.
To upload my graphic I simply navigated to the page where the small logo was hiding on my hard drive, grabbed it and posted it to the iprint site.
The end result of this 5-10 minute process is a clean, professional business card that I can proudly hand out to colleagues. For better results, I upgraded my paper stock to a heavier page. As you go through the process, you can see that iprint does a great job of upselling the consumer into higher margin products. The initial price point is low, but for a few dollars more you can buy a much higher quality product. I'm sure that a ton of people do upgrade, and I'm sure that's one of the reasons that this enterprise is still profitable after 10 years!
Checking out
Iprint asks the consumer to create an account, but doesn't make it a painful process. It's 4 pages from account creation to checkout.
Shipping and Handling
Make sure that you refer to the checkout page to understand when your items will arrive. Because these need to be custom printed, that also incurs a delay. You need to add the printing time to the approximate shipping time to get your delivery window.
Iprint.com has the following delivery options:
- United States Postal Service Priority Mail (3-5 days, no guarantee on delivery time, not trackable)
- Ground (5-7 working days and trackable)
- Two Day Air (trackable)
- One Day Air (trackable)
HI and AK residents and international customers have different shipping rates and types, so please check the site.
Iprint does ship for free via USPS Group if your order totals more than $75.
Customer Service and Guarantee
Iprint takes Customer Service seriously and offers a live chat link on every page. They also have a no risk 30 day guarantee for customers not satisfied with the quality of their items... But again, this doesn't cover spelling mistakes or those who don't like the printing styles that they've chosen on the site.
The Online Insider's Bottomline
This is a great choice if you need business cards or other printed items quickly. I paid about 6 dollars for shipping on my 34.00 order and got my new cards in 8 days from the time I used the site.
Recommended: YES!
You can visit iprint online by clicking the banner below:
