Why I'm Leery of Vistaprint.com

I said on my business card printer review page that I'm leery of ordering business cards (or frankly, anything else) from Vistaprint.com. Here's why.

Let me start off by saying that I did not personally have problems on the few business card orders I placed with them in years past. I think some of their card designs are really attractive, their "250 free cards" offer was sheer marketing genius, and I even wrote a couple of columns for them in their first email newsletters. And there are many happy customers.

But as of 2007, I have concerns that I feel you should know about.

First: Vistaprint's business cards are smaller than standard.

Vistaprint.com cards are smaller than anyone else's cards I've seen; 3.43" by 1.93" (or 87mm x 49mm). See this page for their "document trim size" and other artwork specifications. People think I'm making this up, so prove it to yourself by putting a VistaPrint card on top of a standard-sized business card. And they don't TELL you their cards are smaller, which bugs me.

They're also thinner/lighter than most business cards - 10pt. I did some research on paper weights; it's confusing, but maybe it helps to know that standard 3x5 index cards are 110# stock. And 100# weight cover paper is 11 pts. (See http://www.paper-paper.com/weight.html). So 10 pt cards aren't very thick or sturdy.

Now some people like thick cards, and some people like thin. So thin business cards aren't necessarily bad. But personal preferences aside, why should you care if their cards are smaller than other printers' cards?

Because perceptions matter. If you're out to impress a client, and your business cards have less size and less weight, YOUR BUSINESS can be perceived as being somehow "less", too. Cheap. Flimsy. Not around for the long haul. Not a very good business image to have.

Maybe a 10pt WEIGHT card is fine for you, but when that business card is also smaller in SIZE... well, I don't see how that can enhance your reputation at all.
I know, I know, maybe you're a VistaPrint customer and you never noticed this and no one's ever said anything negative about your cards - but believe me, SOME people WILL notice. They'll just be too polite to say so.

So am I saying that VistaPrint's cards are okay, but not for business use? Well, not really.

Second: VistaPrint.com has an "Unsatisfactory" rating from the Better Business Bureau, and lots of customer complaints.

I'm not making this up, either. Read all these complaints, especially the ones about extra, unauthorized credit card charges. (Type VistaPrint scam or VistaPrint rip-off or VistaPrint problem into Google and you'll find more.) As of 4/27/07, Epinions.com rated them 2.5 out of 5. Here's an article from SmartMoney.com (10/16/2007) saying "VistaPrint Faces Complaints Over Third-Party Bills."

And the Better Business Bureau for the service area of Eastern Massachusetts, Maine & Vermont, ranked them #1 of the top 10 most complained about businesses with an unsatisfactory Reliability Report in the past 12 months as of 12/31/2006. Read the full report on the US Division of Vistaprint.com.

Now some people counter that it's not Vistaprint's fault that people don't read the fine print and click on buttons or links authorizing these charges - that Vistaprint doesn't do anything wrong - but again, this bugs me.  If these links or buttons fool so many people that you get tons of negative publicity, why wouldn't you change something?

It's not THAT hard to keep a decent rating with the Better Business Bureau - and they don't give you an unsatisfactory rating for just one offense. There has to be a pattern of complaints over time, and companies get a chance to respond to complaints made against them.

Third: They're not that cheap, anyway!

People initially visit VistaPrint.com to try out their free offer. It's hard to beat "free", so I understand the appeal! - even though every free card does have the "cost" of you giving them an ad on the back side of the card. Many people choose to upgrade from the free offer and pay for their cards.

But if you're going to pay for your business cards, Vistaprint.com isn't that great a value, compared to other printers.  Most online business cards printers don't charge for additional images, but VistaPrint does. Their turnaround time is around the longest (Standard shipping, not their "Slow" option - and again, this is what THEY SAY their shipping time is, not my opinion) and the coating on their business cards is not UV coating, which most others use.

In Short:

Lots of people like Vistaprint.com's cards, are happy customers, and have had no problems. Good! But this company just makes me uncomfortable. And I wonder how they (or ANY company) can give away so much for free, which is why many people them in the first place. Ever heard the saying, "There's no such thing as a free lunch"?

Given that there are other business card printers with better reputations, cheaper prices, and beautiful cards, I don't recommend ordering business cards from Vistaprint.com.

If you think this information is important, please tell your friends.