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vistaprint negative reviews

Vistaprint Bad Reviews | Top 10 Customer Complaints

vistaprint logo blueWhy do many Vistaprint customers leave bad reviews? If you’re looking to print business cards, brochures, postcards, or promo items, you’ve probably seen Vistaprint show up in your search results.

That’s with good reason. As a printing services provider for small businesses, Vistaprint has seen some explosive growth in recent years. They may have started their business giving away business cards for free, but that early altruism has yielded $289.9 million in revenue from printed materials in 2016.

When you move that much product, problems are bound to pop up. Even though Vistaprint offers design templates for each of its products, problems and mistakes still occur. (Just don’t complain about the price, because we can save you 50% here!) 

First, Most Reviews for Vistaprint Are Positive

Before we talk about things that went wrong in customer reviews for Vistaprint, we have to mention that most reviews are positive. Also, many complaints,  (like slow shipping or low-resolution images) could have been avoided by properly using the free design templates and by checking their shipping speeds.

vistaprint customer reviews

Even though most Vistaprint customers write positive reviews, about 14% are negative. Because they process thousands of orders each day, that’s a lot of bad reviews! Let’s find out what customers complain about, and maybe it will help you with your own order.

Top 10 Vistaprint Complaints:

Here are the top 10 Vistaprint customer complaints from bad reviews, and how to avoid them yourself.

1. My Business Cards Aren’t Legible:

vistaprint business card bad review

Customer review: “The business cards I received were of such poor resolution that my contact information was not legible.” – Matan of Santa Ana, CA

Imagine you put a lot of work into designing the perfect business card. You place your order and wait for a preview to arrive–only to realize you can’t read it!

This is one of the most common Vistaprint complaints out there. That’s because people don’t always consider how a design will look on a 3.5-inch-by-2-inch card.

If you have small type in your logo, for example, keep that in mind when you scale it. It’s better to showcase something a little too big than something too small.

You’ll also want to make sure you go with white paper stock, unless you have planned ahead for what your design will look like printed on darker paper, like their brown Kraft paper stock.

This complaint is most common with customers who upload their own designs, so make sure your image is 300+ dpi and the text is clear!

2. My Colors Don’t Look How They Looked Online:

business cards color shift

Color is one of the hardest things to visualize in the printing world. That’s because your computer doesn’t mix colors the same way ink does during a printing job.

On-screen, your colors are in RGB. They’re made up of light-emitting pixels of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) mixed up in different amounts.

In the printing world, colors are in CMYK. Printers create each hue by overlaying dots of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K).

Some colors look roughly the same across RGB and CMYK, but light blue, green, and orange can change dramatically.

For the best results, use an online color converter to get the CMYK values you want. Make sure your final design is in CMYK, not RGB.

3. My Border Is Off-Center

off center complaint business card

Customer review: “Whoever stretched the canvas over the frame did not center them and it looked like a 3 year old did the work!” – John of New Castle PA

This is a common problem with custom designs. If your design goes all the way to the edge of the paper, you’ll need to design with bleeds to get it spaced right.

Most printers will include measurements for the bleed, trim, and margin. You need to meet these for your product to print correctly.

Here’s a quick primer:

  • Bleed is how far your design should extend off the page. You won’t see this in your final product.
  • Trim is where the printer will cut your design. Anything outside of the trim line will be cut off.
  • Margin is the safe zone. All of your important elements need to be inside the margin.

It seems that a number of negative reviews could have been prevented if the customers had properly used the free design templates provided for each product.

4. The Paper Is Too Flimsy for What I Need:

wimpy business cards

Customer complaint: “The quality of the invitations was very cheap! Thin floppy paper was of the worst quality!” – Margaret of Tacoma, WA read more

vistaprint kraft recycled business cards

Vistaprint Business Cards: Recycled ‘Kraft’ Premium Paper (New!)

vistaprint logo blueKraft business cards on brown uncoated paper: Vistaprint has a wide array of business cards, so sometimes the better styles can get lost. One of those great, relatively unknown styles is called, “Kraft.”

Kraft business cards are eco-friendly, and printed on uncoated, light brown, 90% recycled paper.

Kraft is a paper option under Premium Business Cards, and there are dozens of vintage-looking design options to choose from.

Kraft business cards read more

business cards gloss metallic

Vistaprint Business Cards: Metallic Finish & Spot Gloss • (So Shiny!)

vistaprint logo blueDesigning business cards at Vistaprint.com? Consider Eye-catching options for business cards like Metallic Finish and Spot Gloss. Right now these finish options are included in Vistaprint’s new business card promotion, and you might even find a better discount on our coupon page!

“Shiny! Like a treasure from a sunken pirate wreck,
Scrub the deck and make it look, Shiny!” – “Shiny” © Disney

Brilliant, Shiny Finishes on Vistaprint Business Cards

Adding shiny, eye-catching finishes to your business cards can get attention and make a lasting impression of quality and refinement. They also “reflect” well on you and your business. Want to see samples of business cards with metallic finishes and spot gloss?

Sample business cards from Vistaprint with brilliant finishes:

How to add metallic Finishes / Spot Gloss / raised print to Business Cards:

When you are on the main business cards section at vistaprint.com, look to the lower left and you’ll see options to sort design templates. One of the headings is “brilliant finishes,” and when you click it, it opens options for: metallic finish, Spot Gloss, and Raised Print.”

vistaprint metallic finish cards

There are hundreds of designs that you can add these premium finishes too, so try choosing one to see the new search results.

If you see a design you like, click on it. You’ll get a larger close-up, and the option to view with simulated finishes like this:

vistaprint spot gloss business card vistaprint

Witness the amazing impression that these shiny business cards have on the masses:


promo business cards Watch as your average Joe’s are blown away by Vistaprint’s spot gloss and metallic finishes. I don’t think their lives will ever be the same.

I think the shimmering shine of the business cards actually hypnotize the older man…

“Fish are dumb, dumb, dumb
They chase anything that glitters (beginners!)
Oh, and here they come, come, come
To the brightest thing that glitters…”

Metallic / Shimmering Foil Finish:

Here’s some inspiration and examples of business cards with Metallic finishes:

Spot Gloss Business Cards: 

Examples of spot gloss business cards from Vistaprint. Add a touch of eye-catching “shine!”

Raised Print on business cards:

Raise your profile! (get it?)

Well, I hope that stock music doesn’t get stuck in your head, but even better; I hope you find the perfect business cards with eye-catching, shiny finishes.

*New:

Why you should still carry business cards read more

Vistaprint Promo Code 80% Off

Vistaprint.com 80-off promotion: Vistaprint has a number of great promotional codes this month, including this code for 80% off your order of business cards. Note that the maximum discount is $50, and you’ll still have to pay for shipping. Click below to activate coupon!

[lltk-coupons]

Vistaprint Promo Code 80-Off Discontinued?

*New: So, good things weren’t meant to last, as the vistaprint promo code for 80 off has not been renewed this month. The silver lining is that they are now offering a great deal for 500 business cards for $10 (plus shipping) which actually works out to be about the same price as the old “80% off” promotion.

Do you have thoughts on the newly discontinued 80-off deal? (Was it ever really 80% off?) Let us know with a comment below!