VistaPrint: Quality Products If Ordered Carefully (vistaprint.co.uk)

Member Name: danieljamesphoto

Product:	vistaprint.co.uk
Date:	12/02/09 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: big selection of items, great offers, good customer service, good value

Disadvantages: be careful of the extra offers during the ordering process or your order may suddenly be expensive

VistaPrint

--- What Is It? ---

VistaPrint launched in 2000 and is one of the largest online printing sites on the web today with 17 million customers which is over 90 percent of the online printing market.

The most common offer included with many online retailers and advertising banners is for free business cards which the company has printed
3.5 billion of to date.

--- What Do They Offer? ---

Personalised stationary is the main purpose of VistaPrint offering everything from business cards to caps, t-shirts and pens, all of which can either be created using templates on the site or created in a program such as Photoshop and then uploaded for use.

--- Offers? ---

VistaPrint has ties with many companies to ensure that they're never too far from your mind, one of the most notable being with Amazon. I have often received a game or book from Amazon with an "exclusive" offer for free business cards etc inside.

If you end up on the mailing list you will also receive near daily emails with offers which does make the company border on spamming at times however its only around 1 a day and can be deleted easily if you don't need it.

--- Prices? ---

Prices of the items do vary depending on the quantity you purchase at any one time but as a general rule they are very cheap and offer high quality products at low prices. Perfect for small businesses looking for advertising materials on a budget

--- Shipping? ---

The company, in my opinion, makes a lot of its money from the shipping charges which can be quite high if you need the item quickly. The weight of products purchased affects the shipping charge and for the cheapest option you'll be waiting around 21 days for your items, with a hefty charge if you need it any sooner (quickest being 3 days option).

--- Quality ---

The items i have received which include business cards, magnets, pens, t-shirts and postcards have all been of a good quality with the exception to the pens which seem to run out very quickly and the magnets which aren't all that magnetic. For the price however i feel they offer very good quality products.

--- Website ---

Fairly easily laid out with lots of promotion items and sections grouping products available on the left. Quite a clean looking site with a minimalist colour scheme and lots of sales text to lure you in.

--- Customer Services ---

I have had one problem previously whereby the postcards were printed the wrong way round and VistaPrint apologised immediately and re-submitted my order free of charge with a fairly quick turnaround to get the corrected versions to me.

--- Offers When Ordering ---

Be careful when you are ordering as the site bombards you with offers to add to your order and you might click submit by accident. Additionally watch out at the end, when you think you're done it'll offer you something such as 'add on return labels for just...' and you have to choose to accept it with the new price or without, this is another way you can slip up and end up paying extra.

On a final 'watch out' note, the site was (last time i used it) offering £10 (around) cashback on the next order as part of a program you join but be careful as this has a charge of its own (read the small print).

--- Summary ---

The site is brilliant if you use it carefully. If you can leave your order for a day or two more then i advise you do as offers (despite what it may say about last chance) will continue to pour into your inbox. I've probably saved £100 plus on the site by carefully ordering items on promotion and choosing the slowest shipping option.

Use carefully and it's a great site for cheap, quality stationary and advertising products.

Summary: Use carefully and it's a great site for cheap, quality stationary and advertising products.