Tangible, printed business cards are still such an important part of sales and marketing efforts for all industries. They provide you with an effective direct marketing tool, they add professionalism to your brand’s image, they’re a physical reminder of your brand, and they are kept for long periods of time.

However, how much do business cards cost and are they worth it for your specific budget?

In short, business cards are extremely cost-effective, and are worth it for even the smallest budget. But let’s look at the many factors that influence the end cost of just 500 business cards (and a few other quantities) so you can get an idea of how much you could be spending and how you can keep business card costs low.

Paper – How Do You Want Your Business Cards to Feel?

When it comes to business cards, durability is incredibly important since they are handed out and kept for long periods of time. Because of this, thick paper like 14pt or 18pt cover stock is recommended for business cards to protect them from tearing or creasing.

While these thicker paper weights are more expensive than say an 80# text weight paper, they will ensure that your business cards are durable enough to be handled by customers and prospects.

14pt is the most popular and cheapest paper used for business cards. 18pt cover paper will increase the cost of your business card anywhere from $8-$20 but it will be slightly thicker than 14pt cover which will increase the durability of your business cards.

Some printers also offer other options including plastic or acrylic business cards, as well as other specialty papers as a custom option. Materials like these will cost more than choosing your printer’s standard business card options or house stocks like “Conquest Preferred Paper.” This is because the material itself may cost more than say a 14pt cover stock, or they may not be as common, and your printer may not have them on hand, resulting in having to special order them.

Different Business Card Quantities

The more business cards you order, the higher the overall cost will be. However, as you increase the quantity of your business cards, there are discounts applied to the price per business card.

For example, for 250 business cards the cost per business card is around $0.11-$0.20, for 500 business cards it’s around $0.06-$0.10 per business card, and for 1,000 business cards the cost is around $0.05 for each business card.

Because the price per business card drops as you increase the quantity, it’s important to consider how many business cards you may need from the time you order them to a year or 2 down the road, so you can save money by taking advantage of bulk order discounts which is much cheaper than ordering smaller quantities multiple times.

Turnaround Time – When Do You Need Your Business Cards?

Turnaround time is the time it takes to print your business cards. If you choose a 1-day turnaround time, your business cards would be printed within the period of one business day and then would be ready to pick up or ship to you.

The faster you need your business cards, the more expensive it will cost. This is because when you give your printer say 3 days vs 1 day to print your business cards, you give them more time to find similar jobs that they can print alongside your business cards which saves them a lot of paper and time.

At Conquest Graphics, our business cards are a Quick Ship product, meaning depending on the quantity, and a few other factors, your business cards will automatically be printed within 1 business day at no extra charge. The average business card order of 500 to 2,500 business cards, through Conquest Graphics, are eligible for Quick Ship.

However, for most printing companies, choosing a 1-day turnaround for any quantity will be more expensive than choosing a 2 or 3-day turnaround.

Coatings & How They Influence Business Card Costs

Coatings have a huge impact on the end cost of business cards. There are also multiple options when it comes to adding coating to your business cards, including UV coatings on one side or both sides, as well as spot coating on one side or both sides of your business cards.

Spot coating (commonly glossy) is applied only on certain parts of your business card design. This creates a stunning look where certain elements like text, images, or specific design elements are shinier than the rest of your business card. Spot coating will increase the cost of business cards. For example, if you were looking to print 500 business cards and wanted spot coating applied to the front side of your cards, the cost could increase around $20.

Other coating options including UV gloss coating is applied to the entire front, back, or both sides of the business card. While UV coatings do increase the cost of business cards, adding a UV coating to at least one side of your business card will maximize its durability. When adding a UV coating to just one side of 500 business cards, the cost increases around $21.

Ink & Its Impact on The Cost of Business Cards

Some business cards have designs on the front and back and some only have designs and information printed on the front with the back side blank.

Printing on just the front side of your business card will be cheaper than printing on both sides. This is because printing elements on the front and back side of a business card will require more ink resulting in a higher price. However, having information and design elements printed on the front and back side of your business cards isn’t as expensive as you may think.

For example, if you were printing 500 business cards and decided to add a back design to your card, it would only increase the overall price by around $9.

Adding metallic inks to your business card design, including gold and silver elements, is popular when it comes to business card printing. While metallic inks are an impactful addition to any business card and help your brand stand out, they are more expensive. For instance, if you were ordering 250 business cards and wanted the front of each card to have metallic elements, the price would increase by around $50. If you wanted to use metallic inks on both sides of your business card, the price would increase by around $65.

Size – How Large or Small Do You Want Your Business Cards?

The standard business card size is 3.5” x 2”, however, some printers offer smaller business card sizes on their website or as a custom option. The smaller the business card, the less paper it will use, which typically translates to lower costs.

Larger business cards aren’t ideal for every business as it can be difficult for prospects and customers to store them in their wallets and elsewhere. If larger business cards make sense for your business, then it’s important to keep in mind that the larger the business card is, the higher the price will be.

For the standard 3.5” x 2” business card size, when ordering 500 custom business cards, the average cost per business card is around $0.06-$0.24.

The Design of Your Business Card

Designing your business cards in-house will be the cheapest option. If you don’t have much or any experience, there are some websites, like Canva, where you can choose from a variety of free designs that are customizable. If you’re looking for a professional and completely unique business card design, you may need to seek professional design help from a graphic designer. 

The cost of taking advantage of a graphic designer varies and could increase the cost of your custom business cards anywhere from $25-$1,000 and beyond. If you’re looking to save money by designing your business cards yourself, make sure to ask your printer about their free business card design templates. These templates will help you get your business cards ready for print and will save you money in the long run by helping you avoid any errors.

Die-Cutting – What Shape do You Want Your Business Cards?

Die-cut business cards are great additions as they add a unique and custom component to your brand.

With die cutting, you can virtually create any shaped business card you would like. However, die-cut business cards will be more expensive than regular rectangle or square business cards and may require a custom quote, since they aren’t as common, and they will require your printer to make special cuts.

Typically, a business card with rounded corners will be more expensive than a business card with squared-off corners. And round corners will be cheaper than a custom-shaped business card. For example, if you were looking to create a circle, oval, cupcake, tree, or any other shaped business card, your printer will need to take extra time to specially cut each business card which will result in a higher cost.

What is The Average Cost of 500 Business Cards?

Some printers offer discounts on business cards like 50% off, 50 free business cards, or even free business card portals, where you and your team can access and order your business cards with a click of a button. Overall, however, when taking into consideration the above factors, as well as factoring in the different costs associated with different printers, the average cost of 500 business cards is around $20-$40.

However, depending on who you order your business cards form, the paper type, if you are looking for a special die-cut business card, ordering business cards with metallic ink or spot coating, etc., the cost could double in price and beyond.

Overall, business cards are affordable and effective business materials that are essential for all industries.

Whether you’re a small business, a nonprofit, a franchise, or just getting prepared for a trade show, craft show or another event, always make sure you and your team have enough business cards on hand.

To get started on ordering your business cards, head to our business card product page to check out our business card pricing calculator which can help you find out how much 250, 500, or 2,000 business cards could cost you. Also, if you’re looking for a different size or other option not listed on our business card page, don’t hesitate to contact us, we’d be happy to help get a quote started for you!

Get Started on Your Business Card Order

When you buy your own card paper, is it really cheaper than getting professionally printed business cards?

Some people print out their own business cards on Avery business card sheets, and there's some legitimate reasons to do so. You're running to a job fair, and just need 10-20 business cards, and you need them TODAY. I get that. Go for it!

However, I was genuinely curious in a very geeky way: what's the price breakdown of creating your own homebrew cards versus getting a set of the least expensive business cards (and not from VistaPrint -- I'll do that price breakdown later). I started running some numbers just to see. I didn't apply discounts, coupons, or specials on either end. I assumed that someone had their own design (or did something very simple on their own) when figuring out my prices.

So let's show 3 options: the 200-250 low quantity category of cards, the 1000-card mid-range, which is the most popular in my experience, and the 2500 card high-test for the most avid networkers and larger busier businesses.

250 cards

When your needs are very modest, just a few networking events scattered around the year, and you don't have many client-facing appointments, you might only need 250 cards. Or if you don't have a logo design locked down, or any branding, and you're brand-new in business. You haven't figured out your target client yet, and you "just need a card" to hand out while you're figuring things out -- the 200-250 range card set MIGHT be for you. (Or a business brainstorming session, but I digress...)

Avery (200 cards) versus my supply your own design (250 cards)

Avery

Staples price: $17.99 for 200 cards (based on Avery #5871 laser 200 clean edge cards)

Avery price per individual card: $.08995

Note: I picked their most expensive 200-250 pack on purpose. I cede the 250 card category: I lose on price alone, unless it costs you a good client because of poor quality. I win hands-down in the 200-250 card category on quality.

Eclectic Tech

$32 for 250

Price per card: $.128 (your own design, shipping included)

I never claimed to have the absolute best price on 250 cards. Usually I discourage customers from printing just 250 cards.

1000 cards

The most popular product category for the average business or sales person. It's usually a card for an individual who is exercising their networking muscles and getting out into the field.

Avery 1,000 vs. Eclectic Tech 1,000 cards

Avery

$59.99 for 1000 (based on Avery #8471 Ink Jet 1000 cards, Staples price)

Price per card: $.0599

These are inkjet compatible cards, so don't get them wet. And don't feed them after midnight.

Eclectic Tech

$37.99 for 1000

Price per card: $.03799

At this point, let Eclectic Tech spend 1/2 hour ($35) making your design pretty and professional, you get $10 off the card order, and save time, frustration, ink, and embarassment. Well worth $3 bucks extra ($35 design, 27.99 cards = $62.99).

2500 cards

Avery 2,500 vs. Eclectic Tech 2,500 cards

Avery

$113.09 for 2500 (based on Avery #5911 Laser cards, Staples price)

Price per card: $.045236

These are laser cards again. I didn't see inkjet-compatible packs of 2500 cards.

Eclectic Tech

$51.99 for 2500

Price per card: $.020796

I rest my case.

Results

The answer is "maybe" depending entirely on the quantity of print, which paper pack you buy, and the cost of time & ink, much of which I couldn't account for. I didn't take into account any wasted Avery cards from faulty set-up. Let's assume you are perfect in lining up the cards in the template, send it through the printer correctly, and everything goes well so that the entire pack of cards you make on your own is usable. Then the 200-card Avery pack comes in cheaper by about 4¢ per card when compared with 250 digitally printed cards. So the inkjet pack of 250 would be even less expensive than digital printing of 250 cards.

When you move up to 1000 cards, the magic of digital printing shows. I chose the most economical pack of 1000 avery cards that I saw on Staples.com. When buying 1000 cards, going to digital printing wins both on price and on quality.

Conclusions

I'm not very surprised by the outcome here. But I want to summarize my professional opinion for the layperson.

Avery

Pros:

• It's cheaper for small quantities.
• Same-day results.
• Can make several versions.
• Can make smaller sets of different cards for employees.
• Cheaper for small quantities.
• Order professional business cards, and use these for the week that you're waiting for the real cards to arrive.

Cons:

• There's always that "perforated card" feel, even for the higher quality ones.
• The paper is not as thick, durable, or professional feeling.
• You're on your own.
• Can be frustrating & wasteful.
• May get poor results.
• Expensive for larger quantities.
• May be time-consuming, not a customer-facing activity.
• Using these as temporary cards may cause real-card procrastination.

Eclectic Tech

Pros:

• Will look more professional.
• It's cheaper for mid-to-large quantities.
• If the print itself comes out wrong, either Eclectic Tech or the print facility are responsible to fix it.
• Less expensive and easier to re-order if you run out.
• Can get an expert opinion & feedback on your design, included.

Cons:

• Requires either good artwork or design time.
• Requires careful proof & proof approval.
• If you approve a mistake (wrong phone number, etc.), you need to pay to reprint it.
• If you outsource the design you can get back to making money, and just need to approve the design.

Avery card suggestions:

• Good for last-minute trips to job fairs and similar non-corporate events.
• Good for easy information exchange when picking up someone at a bar.
• Good for testing out a design idea to "see if you like it" when it's on paper, or to bring several proposed designs to a focus group.
• Good for designers to present different card layout ideas to a client.
• OK for event announcements (come to my party, here's the info).
• OK for craft show vendors and other informal hobby businesses.
• NOT a good idea for "real" businesspeople.

Eclectic Tech card suggestions:

• Overkill for someone who only needs a hundred or so cards, ever.
• Inexpensive enough to even make real cards for a temp in your business.
• Terrific for event invitations if you want 200+ guests at your event (get 1000 cards, give them to everyone and leave them in relevant places).
• Look GREAT next to homegrown business cards on community bulletin boards!
• If you get frustrated, outsource the design.

Everything has a place, and that goes for the Avery business card sheets. I own some laser-compatible business cards! I've used them, I'd suggest you use them if you really need them. Obviously, people find them useful!

If you want to put your best foot -- or image -- forward for your business, I strongly suggest you leave printing to the professionals. You may think you're saving time and money by doing it on your own, but the risk of ruining the cardstock, having it print lopsided or be of lesser quality than perfect, or the poor quality of the cards themselves may end up costing you more in the long run than the few dollars it would take to make sure it's done professionally.

Good luck with your print project! If you need a similar comparison for postcards or other printable products let me know.

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