Print Services: Don't be fooled by Advertising

Think paper is a thing of the past? Don't get ahead of yourself just quite yet! Paper is EVERYWHERE. But before you spend a dime on printing services for your business or for personal use, read this page and avoid some of the horror stories others have been through and learn the important facts about print services.

Although email, social media, websites, and technology in general has drastically reduced the amount of paper printing done in the world today, print services still conduct a large amount of business. Things like postcards, posters, color photos, business cards, and stickers are all still printed regularly and can help to give any business an edge if done properly.

I am going to start off with a major warning about online print services. BE AWARE OF HIDDEN FEES AND ASTRONOMICAL SHIPPING CHARGES. Print services which offer discounted rates often charge for extras that would not normally be billed to make up for their "advertised rates."

Online printing services are advertising everywhere today. These companies have an advantage in being able to offer lower rates because they attract clients from all over the world. their volume of production allows them to offer their services much cheaper than most local print shops. Online printing services do not have the overhead cost of keeping up a store front and many of them do not even employ their own telephone operators.

Companies like this do not put the time and effort into producing the quality of product that a localized print shop often will. Be sure to check the business ratings of the supplier and read customer feedback where available before commissioning a job from an online print company. Almost all of these print services will offer card printing, booklet, poster printing, stickers, print flyer, print management, custom cards, label printing, online print, photo printing, card online and much more.

"My [print services company] order for 20 Christmas cards started at $70.00. By the end of the check-out process I paid $140. But that was not all. UPS asked for another $30.00 shipping when it arrived. And the UPS guy said that the shipping was too expensive for the value of the shipping - so [print services company] even gets money from UPS (which is their only shipping option). How do they get you into this scam funnel - you start by designing your card, which takes time and effort, and once you have done that, you're more likely to accept their additional surcharges for 'Uploading your images' $5.60 (how else can you provide them with your images) and the likes. Should you still feel to use them, upload your images brighter than you want them, as their printing makes images to appear very dark."

"With a [print services company] website, you get what you pay for. It is VERY un-user friendly. Once you finally get it set up how you want it, it works 'ok.' The text and photo editing functions are archaic. Clunky and slow, like using Microsoft Word back in the early 90's. If you copy and paste, it slams all the words together so you have to go back and re-space, reformat, re-indent and re-punctuate everything. You cannot insert HTML code. The worst part is, if you add a form on your website to sell products or for visitors to contact you, this function goes down all the time. Visitors might be placing orders or sending you emails, but you will not receive them and they are lost forever. [print services company] does not alert you when this happens and your customers and visitors have no idea that their orders or messages to you are are not going through, yet you are still being billed by [printing service company] for your website. To my way of thinking I believe it is a crime to charge someone for a service that you are unable to provide."

"I had ordered a set of magnetic political type bumper stickers. I waited and waited for them to come until today (Sunday November 18, 2012). I called them and was told my credit card failed so I used PayPal which draws off my bank account. They rejected that order also! When I called for the second time I was told that my order was refused by them because of my address, and if I gave them a different address they would ship it. They would not tell me why they were refusing to send my order to my address! I am very angry over having my order refused because of where I reside!"

Locally owned print services can provide all the features and items of an online printing service without all the mess. If you decide to go with a local printing service for your printing needs, here are some suggestions and things to watch for:

• Make sure that you see a sample print before having the job printed. many print shops will not refund your money if they have completed the entire job and you decide you do not like the work. Remember every print job is unique and cannot be sold to another customer.
• check the resolution of the printers they are using. printer resolution is given in an amount known as DPI or Dots Per Inch. some higher quality solid ink color printers can reach as high as 2,400 DPI without a huge jump in price
• Shop around. Most colleges and universities offer printing services and can be a good alternative to smaller private printing services.
• Check the weight, quality, and type of media being used for your printing. there are endless types of paper available to print on. Don't just assume paper is paper. This will play a huge part in the finished product's attractiveness.

Locally owned print services offer you the opportunity to get involved in your print job in the many ways stated here that are not available or, if available, not as personable from an online printing service. Consider your options and make the choice that is best for you and your business.

My personal advice is that using a locally owned print service for printing involving card printing, booklet, poster printing, stickers, print flyer, print management, custom cards, label printing, online print, photo printing, card online printing is to use a local printing service every time.

"I've had several sets of business cards made here. While not a firm full of blazing extroverts, the staff has sent me proofs when I asked, completed the project promptly, called me and informed me of that fact, and has always been a pleasure to work with. Convenient central location and onsite parking."

"These printers are absolutely fabulous! They are the old school kind of printers who actually work with you, instead of these silly FedEx/Office Store kiosks where you do your own work anyhow. They did wedding invitations for me that no one else could, with multiple changes, cheerfully and on time. I cannot recommend them strongly enough.If you want your printer to actually do their job instead of making you do it all, go here. They are ethical and do high quality custom work without a single discouraging word about it."

"So glad I've found these guys! I went to several national chains in the [print services company] Hills area to get a more complex order done within 2 days. None of them could get the job job done in time....one tried and the quality was horrible! Then, I went by [print services company] Instant Print and they did the job in 1 hour, and at excellent quality!! These guys are fast, knowledgeable, friendly and competitively-priced. What more could you ask for?"

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