printing your own post cards?

[sharplawnsturf]

wondering if its cheaper to do it on your own? i gave it a shot today, i attatched a scan of the postcard front and back, they are a bit smaller than this.. but still readable.. i spent $71 for 1000 last time, and thought i might try to cut that cost in half... atleast till i get more business and can spend a little bit more on my advertising materials.. i have the time to do it myself for now anyways.. plus, it will be nice to change things up ever 200 cards or so to see if something will work better. i am gonna try to do a new coupon first app $19.00 for up to 4k sq. ft. to see if i get any bites on that for a while.. alot of others do it around here, so mabee it works. and of course an aeration and overseeding special. yesterday I bought 150 pages of white 110# cardstock from wally world for about 7 dollars. i got a 25 dollar color ink cartridge and a paper cutter. i am able to get 4 per page, at 4 1/4 X 5.5 inch cards. I am unsure of how long the ink cartridge will get me. if it gets me 800 to 1000 cards i'd be cutting my cost in half, i may get 800. i've seen refub cartridges on ebay for much cheaper which may help me out. looking to hear from any others who have printed there own stuff and been able to save money? the good thing will be since i'm using microsoft publisher, when i learn to use mail merge, and get my lists together it will make labeling way easier.

Attached Images

mynewflyer.jpg (675.7 KB, 4 views)

[CHEESE2009]

Lawn care business tips

Cool idea! I wonder how many you can do before you need to change your ink cartridges? How much ($) for post-card like paper?

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Your inkjet cartridge will say how many color prints it will do. Most are 100-200 each. The higher quality cartridges can put out 500+. Considering this I think it will cost more to make your own.

[willshome]

What about refilling your cartridges with a ink kit that's how I did a lot of my door hangers. Saved me ton

[sharplawnsturf]

the cardstock at walmart was cheap.. GP brand, white. a tad over 3 bucks a pack of 75 110#.

i got a moderate capacity cartridge, and i should get around 200 pages (google searched.. hope its good info), it depends on how much color is on the flyers.. i tried to do as much black and white as i could get away with. 200 would get me 800 cards. would be saving a little.. would not want to do this if i was gonna be doing thousands at a time though.. we will see what happens. i am gonna try to see how the refurb cartridges work as well since they are cheap on ebay. will look into refilling too if that will save money.. the ink is definetly gonna be the killler..

i passed a few out at work last night, and people like these much better than the ones i had printed out before from nextday, i was a little disapointed at the print quality from nextdayflyer but it could of been because of my images and the way i designed it. i like the ones i've been printing off my own better so far, i'm not a fan off the glossy type of cards for some reason anyway.

a big plus on doing it myself is that i can change them every week, or month if i need to tweak things like the coupons, etc. also, i can print only what i know i'm gonna send out that week. the farther out the postcards are going i am gonna raise the price a bit on the offer to make up for gas if i get a job. could always make the flyer targeted toward certain developments "special offers exclusively for residents of ______________ !" thought about offering better deals for subdivisions close by, there are so many big developments close to me.

[Steve]

I don't know if this is a big issue or not, but could you get some of your postcards preprinted and then maybe leave a spot on the card where you could run it through your printer later to print the coupon section?

That way you could alter an element on the card to see how it works and yet use a lot less ink from your printer?

[sharplawnsturf]

yeah, that sounds like a great idea. one day i'll try it with one of my left over cards, and if that works out.. i could get most of the color parts done at the printer, leave spots for the coupons and pricing, whatever.. then add that on as i need them. that would be nice if it would work. not sure that my epson stylus will run the heavier card stock through though, its a fairly cheap printer.

That way you could alter an element on the card to see how it works and yet use a lot less ink from your printer?

[wat5150]

The cheap refilled or refurbished cartridges you find on ebay are junk. Dont waste your time or money. Remember 9 times out of 10 you get what you pay for.

[brian'slawncare]

the post card looks good!

this is off topic in terms of printing on your own, but. Correct me if I'm wrong but, I thought you should not over seed when you aerate. the cores created during the initial process leave holes too deep for grass seed to germinate. Unless, your aerating at 1/2 an inch...but that is pointless. I thought you should wait for the cores to breakdown in a few weeks, then slit seed or broadcast seed..

[696 Signs]

You could save your time and ink (wear on your printer) and more!

1000 postcards (4x5) 16PT, 2 sides, full color. $79.95 and FREE SHIPPING
2500 postcards (4x5) 16PT, 2 sides, full color. $139.95 and FREE SHIPPING
5000 postcards (4x5) 16PT, 2 sides, full color. $209.95 and FREE SHIPPING

With your art.
If you need it designed add $35 for most layouts.

Tony
696 Signs

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