Product Reviews

I recently bought some promotional products for my Etsy shop from Vista Print and thought I would share my reviews of my purchases for others interested in what they have to offer. I’m sure most everyone is familiar with Vista Print, especially if you have looked online lately for business cards and other products for your business. They are constantly running “specials” and “sales” and “free” products.

First off, I ordered a banner. It was free, but I chose to upload my own design, which cost $3.49, and clear adhesive hangers for $3.99. Even though when I uploaded the design and it told me the resolution was not high enough to print properly I still ordered it and took my chances. Here’s how it turned out:

Overall, I am very pleased with the quality. The background design is a tad fuzzy, but it really isn’t noticeable to anyone but me. It will be great to use for craft or home shows.

Also on that order I bought a set of labels to use on the back of my products. They were free since I used a stock design.

I wasn’t as happy with these since the printing was not uniform throughout the sheet. It’s kind of hard to tell from the photo, but the ink gradually gets lighter down the page. Also, I thought the color was a lot different than how it looked on their website. I was hoping for a more lavender/purple and instead got more pink. However, they were free, so I can’t complain.

Total for that order was $16.69 ($7.48 for banner & $9.21 for shipping). I paid for the slowest shipping (21 days) but received the order in less than 10 business days.

Of course, over the next few days I got bombarded with “SALE/SPECIAL” emails from Vista Print, so I placed another order for small magnets (25), a car magnet, and a pen, all of which were free since I used a stock design. Total for this order was just $6.61 for shipping. Again I chose the slow shipping but had the order in about a week.

Once again, the colors were different from what was depicted on their website, but overall I was happy with everything.

Magnets:

website proof

actual magnet

Car magnet:

website proof

actual magnet

**********************************************************

So, to review….For a total of $23.30, I got the following:

~ (25) business card magnets

~ (1 )11.25”x8.25” car door magnet

~ (1) ink pen

~ (140) labels

~(1) 3’x1.6’ 10oz. indoor vinyl banner

Pros:

~fast shipping

~good prices

Cons:

~Unreliable depiction of colors on website

~Lots of junk emails after ordering

**********************************************************

I also received some great promotional products as a gift from my best friend. She surprised me with some FABULOUS business cards from Zazzle and a basket of handmade notecards and other goodies. The basket looked much cuter when she gave it to me, but here’s a pic anyway:

If you’re looking for a low-cost option for personalized products, just do what she did and DIY! She bought inexpensive notecards (on left) from Wal-Mart and personalized them herself using her own computer and printer. The cards on the right are just single sheets of cardstock with my name and Etsy address printed on them. She then “embellished” them with glitter glue and ribbons. She also made some great discount cards for me to include with my orders and bought me some fancy markers to use.

View Full Album

As you can see, I’ve tried to give all my promotional items a cohesive look by using the same color scheme and design where possible. I think this small investment really goes a long way when it comes to giving my little handmade business a professional look!

***********UPDATE!!!************I just got a reply on Twitter from VistaPrint offering to re-order the items I am not happy with....seems like pretty good customer service to me!

***********UPDATE #2***********VistaPrint has just re-ordered all of my products!! Ah, the power of the Internet!! I will update when I receive the new shipment to see if the coloring is any better.

***********See my UPDATE post HERE***********