Never forget to drop another thank you card in the mail again. The best greeting card services and apps automatically send cards on your behalf, whether they're birthday cards you send to friends or family or a note of appreciation at the end of the year thanking your most important clients.
Greeting card apps take the manual labor out of sending cards. With these services, you pick the cards you want to send, but you give the hard work of writing them, addressing envelopes, adding postage, and dropping them in the mail to someone else. These services still allow you to create the cards you want because you can choose from a selection of pre-made cards or designing one from scratch using your photos, logos, or other images. You can write a custom message on the inside of the card, even if you choose one that already comes with a printed message on the front. Many greeting card services also let you schedule when you want the cards to mail, too.
Some greeting card apps have options to connect to business tools you use so that they can mail cards automatically when some action occurs, such as when Shopify detects that a customer bought a high-value item or when you enter a new client into QuickBooks Online.
A few of these personalized greeting card services have people on staff who write your message in the card and address the envelope by hand. Others offer a selection of typefaces. Most let you add your own photos, too, either by putting your image right on the card or by giving you the option to slip a print of the picture you want to share inside the envelope.
What Makes a Great Greeting Card App?
To test these services, I created an account and designed a greeting card, which I then bought and mailed to myself. While going through this process I had a few questions in mind:
Is it easy to use? How quickly can I design a card, preview it, and get it in the mail? We favored apps and sites with a simple and clear process.
How is the selection of cards? Variety counts for a lot. It wouldn't be appropriate for every greeting card to have a picture of a yak on it, but sometimes the yak card fits the bill.
What can I customize? Pick a card, any card. Then write a note inside. Can you pick the typeface or select a style of handwriting you'd like to see? Do you want to be able to slip a photo inside the card or add a gift? More isn't necessarily better when it comes to customization (who has time to slog through too many choices?), but when choosing a greeting card service to use, you want to be sure it offers the right options for your needs.
How much does it cost? Premium services come with a premium price tag, and that's fine. But pricing ultimately needs to be clear. For example, there was one greeting card and snail mail service that we considered but then eliminated from this list due to its convoluted pricing scheme.
Below, you'll find a list of the best greeting card apps and services for sending snail mail, with notes about the above criteria. The pricing mentioned below reflects what you can expect to pay for a single, typical card plus postage. About $4 seems to be the average. There may be slightly cheaper options available, especially when purchasing cards in bulk, but we've simplified the numbers here to make comparative pricing clear.
The Best Custom Greeting Card Mail Services
- Felt (Android, iOS)
Best greeting card service for custom handwriting via stylus or finger
- Handwrytten (Android, iOS, Web)
Best greeting card app for automatically mailing customers
- Ink (Android, iOS)
Best greeting card app for ordering cards in a hurry
- Postable (iOS, Web)
Best greeting card service for variety in selection
- Punkpost (iOS, Web)
Best greeting card app for adding extras
- Thankster (Web)
Best greeting card app for automatically sending cards in bulk for business
Felt (Android, iOS)
Best greeting card service for custom handwriting via stylus or finger
Cards: Felt is a mobile-only greeting card app with a great selection of card styles and options. Styles for pre-made cards range from silly to sweet. You can also create a custom card by using your photos and applying filters, then adding whatever message you like. Pay attention to the type of card you're ordering when using Felt, as some are traditional folded cards and others are flat two-sided cards.
Services: Felt's signature service is the option for you to handwrite cards using a stylus or your finger on a mobile device. That way, your recipients will see your true handwriting, rather than some hired hand's. For an extra cost, you can stuff some bonuses into your envelopes, too, such as confetti or even cash. The app also has a rotating collection of gifts you can add, from flowers to small trinkets (think bath bombs and temporary tattoos).
Felt Pricing: Expect to pay about $4 for one card with postage.
Best greeting card app for automatically mailing customers
Cards: Handwrytten lets you design custom greeting cards from its mobile app or website. The style of cards veers toward being straightforward, rather than cutesy or hilarious. You can find some cards that are colorful and have a gentle sense of fun, but very few push any limits. Handwrytten has tagged quite a few of its cards as being appropriate for business and real estate, making it a great option for sending cards to clients and customers. The site can load slowly sometimes, but the display and interface work well otherwise and help you find the cards you need at the prices you're willing to pay. A sample card that I ordered arrived with good quality printing and neat but believable handwriting inside the card and on the envelope.
Services: As the name plainly gives away, Handwrytten specializes in handwriting your message into cards you order. As you customize your cards, you can choose the style of handwriting you want, as well as the date when you want the card to go into the mail. For an extra fee, you can add gift cards, too.
Handwrytten integrates with Zapier, which means you can connect it to other apps you use to automatically send a card when a certain action occurs, such as when a high-value customer makes a purchase from your Shopify store.
Handwrytten Pricing: One card with postage costs approximately $3.50.
Ink (Android, iOS)
Best greeting card app for ordering cards in a hurry
Cards: Mobile-only app Ink helps you shop for, customize, and purchase greeting cards in a hurry. The app has 5-by-7-inch flat cards, most of which you personalize with an image and text. A few cards have designs that don't require an image, but most do. Pay attention to the info icon that tips you off to whether the card of your choice is matte or glossy.
The selection of cards steers toward earnest, so don't turn to Ink when you're looking for puns or cards with pictures of cartoon animals drinking margaritas (use Postable for that). Many of the cards in this catalog come with color options, letting you choose, say, the background color from a few options. A sample card I ordered used a sturdy card stock, and the printing quality was top-notch.
Services: While Ink has a website with a landing page, you must use its mobile app to customize and buy cards. The interface works well, but it might be tough to navigate if you have any mobility issues. I much prefer to use a computer when creating cards for general ease of use and to be able to see the image and design on a full sized screen.
In addition to selling one-off cards in either glossy or matte finish, Ink sells packs of cards, too. They start at sets of 10 for a rate of $2 each. Watch out for shipping fees, which tack on another $10 for bulk orders.
Ink Pricing: About $4 for one card and postage
Best greeting card service for variety in selection
Cards: Of all the greeting card services I've tried, Postable has my favorite collection of cards. The service has a vast range, with designs that are goofy, joyous, pretty, or heartfelt, letting you pick the style and tone befitting the occasion. Some designs allow you to add photos to the card, while others come as-is, save for your personalized message inside. Each message is digitally printed rather than handwritten, though you can choose the typeface, point size, and alignment. The quality of the printing and card stock are high, and when you schedule to mail a card in advance, you choose an estimated delivery date rather than a send date. Pay attention to the size of the cards, however, as I've ordered some that were smaller than expected.
Services: With Postable, you can send cards immediately or schedule them in advance to arrive on a date you choose. You can also save important dates, such as birthdays and anniversaries, in your Postable account and get reminders by email a few weeks before the occasion, giving you time to queue up a new batch of greeting cards. Businesses that use Postable can upload their logo to add to cards as well. You can order packs of cards from Postable that are blank inside, if, for instance, you like to handwrite holiday cards and drop them in the mail at your convenience or deliver them in person.
Postable Pricing: One card with postage costs approximately $4.50.
Best greeting card app for adding extras
Cards: PunkPost's selection contains primarily colorful and fun cards for many occasions. Whatever message you type to appear inside is inked by hand by one of PunkPost's writers. A sample card that I ordered, however, was on slightly flimsy stock and the message was written so meticulously that it didn't look like a human wrote it, so be aware that just because it's written by hand doesn't mean it will look like natural handwriting. Additionally, the ink hadn't fully dried when the card was folded shut, so black marks appeared on the card's inside cover.
Services: On the plus side, PunkPost is flush with upsell options. For an extra dollar, you can add confetti inside the envelope. Another buck adds 129 more characters to your message. Upload a picture and for another $1, PunkPost will slip a 4-by-4-inch printed copy of it into your card. You can add a gift card in the amount of your choosing for another $1.60 in preparation and bank fees. If you easily fall prey to impulse shopping, it won't be hard to end up with a $10 card from PunkPost. Beyond adding glitter and photos, the company does have more utilitarian options, however. For example, businesses can hire PunkPost to create a totally custom card that they can order in bulk (minimum 100 per order); contact the company for pricing.
PunkPost Pricing: One card plus postage approximately $6.
Best greeting card app for automatically sending cards in bulk for business
Cards: Thankster offers greeting cards for a variety of occasions and in a variety of styles. You'll also find designs by a few small greeting card companies, such as Wildhorse Press and Carol Blakney. When entering your custom message, you can adjust plenty of details of the text, such as the letter spacing and line height. If you're lousy at finding the right words, you can pick a message from Thankster's bank of suggestions.
Of all the greeting card apps and sites I tested, Thankster has the oldest-looking interface, but don't let that deter you from exploring its fine array of cards. The card I bought arrived with fastidious handwriting and a nice semi-gloss sheen on the cover.
Services: Thankster's services and pricing favor business customers. The per-card price drops quite a bit when ordering in volume, down to around $2 or less. Thankster gives you the option of sending in a sample of your original handwriting so that the company can create a style that looks like your own.
Thankster integrates with Zapier, which means you can connect it to other apps you use and send cards when certain actions take place. For example, you could set it up so that a thank-you card mails every time you close a sale in Salesforce.
Thankster Pricing: Expect to pay about $3.05 for one card plus postage.
The next time you need to send a batch of greeting cards, whether to send your gratitude or wish everyone you know a happy holiday, consider creating an account with one of these services. They do the dirty work of writing your message in the cards, addressing the envelopes, adding postage, and dropping them into the mailbox.
Photo by Jill Duffy
from The Zapier Blog https://ift.tt/2QqloRg
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