VistaPrint Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (2024)

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VistaPrint: At a Glance

  • VistaPrint is an international e-commerce company that specializes in custom marketing materials and direct mail services.
  • In addition to its marketing materials, it also offers a “Reseller Program” which serves as a print-on-demand workaround and a beginner-friendly website builder.
  • In 2021, VistaPrint partnered with Wix to offer Websites by Vista x Wix, its own code-free website builder.
  • VistaPrint consistently ranks among the top business card printing services and direct mail service providers.

Pros

The advantages of VistaPrint are that it has a massive product catalog complete with name-brand products, such as Nike, Carhartt, Samsonite and more. This gives businesses high-quality and high-satisfaction items to choose from, which is unique in this space. Another advantage is that no design skills are required. In fact, there’s no designing required for those who don’t have the time to try their hand at creativity with its design contents. If that weren’t enough, it’s also one of the oldest and most well-established direct mail services.

Cons

Of course, VistaPrint is not without a few downsides. To start, it’s not a print-on-demand service—despite the fact that it insinuates that it is one. This is because VistaPrint does not connect to websites or third-party marketplaces and so users must manually submit orders to VistaPrint when a customer places an order. Additionally, shipping rates can get expensive, which of course, not only increases cost, but also decreases the profit margin for those selling the goods they purchase on VistaPrint. On top of that, shipping times can also be unpredictable, which can make it difficult to give customers an estimate in terms of shipping time.

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How VistaPrint Works

VistaPrint is a global e-commerce platform designed to help individuals and businesses manage many facets of their business, such as building an online presence with its website builder, creating a cohesive brand image with its logo maker and stationery, fostering connections with its direct mail services, and even selling products with its print-on-demand reseller program. Whether designing business cards, building out a direct mail campaign or uploading designs to resell, VistaPrint walks users through the process step-by-step.

For example, with its reseller program, users register for an account, upload original artwork, select products to sell, and sell via their preferred sales channels—whether that’s directly through a business website or through an online marketplace, such as Etsy, eBay or Amazon. When a customer places an order, sellers then submit the order to VistaPrint which then prints, packs and ships the product to your customer with white-label packaging so customers never know that it did not come from you as the seller, but VistaPrint as the producer.

VistaPrint Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (5)

VistaPrint Core Features

While VistaPrint boasts a variety of features, its core offering includes marketing materials, direct mail, design contents, a “Reseller Program” and a website builder. Together, these features help businesses of all sizes easily create brand assets, promote their products or services and more effectively engage with customers—all at a competitive price.

Marketing Materials

Many businesses turn to VistaPrint when buying new marketing materials. For example, it offers everything from business signage, including outdoor signs, banners and car magnets to promotional products such as chargers and power banks, pens and pencils, tableware, travel essentials, sports accessories, snacks, candles and more. Due to its vast product offerings, VistaPrint is a good one-stop shop for businesses that are exhibiting at conferences and expos as it offers everything a business needs to promote its brand name, products and services.

Direct Mail Service

While snail mail might not be the most popular way to send a message, it remains an effective way for businesses to announce promotions and stay top of mind to consumers. Of course, the process of sending a marketing campaign by mail can be laborious between having the materials designed, printed and shipped with appropriate postage. However, VistaPrint makes it easy to create direct mail campaigns.

To start, businesses select the product type they wish to send, such as a postcard, a holiday card, a trifold mailer, brochures, booklets and more. They then select a design to customize or upload their own design, upload their mailing list and deploy their direct mail campaign through VistaPrint—without ever having to touch the marketing materials or go to the post office.

Design Contests

For those who need to create a unique design, but are lacking the time or resources to do so in-house, VistaPrint offers design contests where businesses can submit a design brief detailing what they are looking for and professional designers will submit their designs. While design contests are submitted through VistaPrint, some are processed through DesignBro, a leading design contest company. Pricing varies based on which type of design you’re seeking. For insight, flyers and business card designs are $10, posters and brochures are $20, letterhead is $5 and custom logo designs are $90.

Reseller Program

VistaPrint’s Reseller Program is its version of a print-on-demand (POD) workaround. Unlike a true POD service that connects to your website and sales channels and automatically prints and ships orders directly to customers, VistaPrint’s Reseller Program enables businesses to create custom products that they can sell using their sales channel of choice and when a customer places an order, the seller then submits the order to VistaPrint, which then prints and ships the order.

While it’s disappointing that it’s not a true POD service, one unique aspect of its Reseller Program is that it uses white-label shipping, which means that products do not arrive with VistaPrint branding and instead appear as though they were shipped directly from the brand they purchased the item from. In our opinion, this is a major selling point in general—but particularly for businesses that are looking to build a brand.

In terms of pricing, the Reseller Program offers a free forever basic plan and a premium plan for $74.99 per year for access to premium support, flat-rate shipping, free shipping on orders over $60, a discount of up to 40% off products and more. In terms of how sellers make money, VistaPrint charges the seller a set cost per product and the seller makes money by selling products at their own chosen markup.

Website Builder

In 2021, VistaPrint partnered with one of the big names in the all-in-one website builder space, Wix. And while Wix, in our opinion, is one of the most versatile and user-friendly website builders on the market, what’s interesting about its partnership with VistaPrint is that VistaPrint simply redirects users to Wix. Everything is handled through Wix, so it doesn’t feel as though VistaPrint has its own website builder, but that it simply recommends users to use Wix. For more information, check out our Wix review and see how it compares to the best web builders.

What Sets VistaPrint Apart

VistaPrint stands out for its versatility. While there are a number of competitors that offer some of the same features and services as VistaPrint, very few can say that they offer all of the same ones. For businesses, this can help streamline the vendors and service providers they use as VistaPrint is something of a one-stop shop for a wide range of business and marketing needs.

In terms of VistaPrint’s version of a print-on-demand service, it stands out for offering a large selection of print-on-demand products and white-label shipping. Unlike many POD services, VistaPrint enables sellers to use their own address as the product return address. This, in turn, gives buyers the impression that the product was shipping directly to them from the company they purchased from—as opposed to from a print-on-demand company.

VistaPrint Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (6)

VistaPrint Pricing

Pricing varies greatly on VistaPrint depending on the particular product or service. In general, VistaPrint is widely regarded as one of the most affordable providers in its space. For example, the cost for 100 standard business cards is just $18. Meanwhile, 100 standard business cards from Moo will cost $42. Granted, there are cheaper providers such as GotPrint and Staples. In terms of its print-on-demand (POD) service, VistaPrint offers affordable pricing at rates that are comparable to other leading POD providers, such as Printify and Printful. Along with its competitors, it offers both free and premium plans to best suit your needs and selling goals.

VistaPrint Reseller Program Setup

In our experience, we found the process of setting up a new VistaPrint Reseller Program account easy. We chose to use the free Basic plan, which we would recommend to any new user. To start, go to the VistaPrint website and click on the “Reseller Program” link in the upper right corner. On the following page, click the option to “Join Now” and select which plan you would like to sign up for (the Basic free plan or the Premium plan for $74.99 per year). From there, users are directed to their new user dashboard where they are prompted to start a print project, create a website or get a domain name.

VistaPrint Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (7)

VistaPrint Ease of Use

As a general marketing materials and direct mail service provider, we find VistaPrint to be very easy to use. Its platform is straightforward and generally pretty intuitive. For example, the VistaPrint Studio, its product editor, is very simple. It’s well-laid out and shows users in real time what their customizations will look like on their chosen product. Once a product is created, we like that it gives sellers the option to copy existing products, which can be a time-saving way to make changes to existing items. On the other hand, what we don’t like about this function is that it does not let users keep the same design and swap out products (e.g., from a short-sleeve T-shirt to a long-sleeve T-shirt), so creating multiple items with the same design can get repetitious.

Another issue, which is far more concerning to those who are looking to use VistaPrint for print-on-demand products, is that it’s not actually a print-on-demand provider. So rather than orders automatically being fulfilled by VistaPrint, sellers must go to their VistaPrint account and manually place an order every time they receive an order. This is not only time-consuming and increases the odds of human error, but it also fails to achieve what most print-on-demand providers are seeking: an automated e-commerce system.

VistaPrint Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (8)

VistaPrint Security

When it comes to security, VistaPrint has all the required measures in place so that users can feel confident that their information is safe and secure. However, in terms of security features that users have control over, VistaPrint offers little to no additional security tools. For example, while most offer two-factor authentication and the ability to quickly change a password, VistaPrint does not. Instead, users can simply change their email address or disconnect from Google in the instance where they registered for an account using Google (or Gmail) to log in.

It does, however, offer one feature that is unfortunately not so commonplace and that’s the ability to update marketing preferences so you can skip the endless emails to your inbox from VistaPrint.

VistaPrint Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (9)

VistaPrint Customer Service and Support

Customer support is available by phone, live chat and email. While phone support is a rarity in this industry, and should be a major differentiator, VistaPrint’s support is met with mixed reviews. While some customers say its support is terrible, others say it’s the best.

In our experience, VistaPrint’s live chat support was quick to assist, but we didn’t like that support via live chat requires users to share their first and last name, and email address—only for the agent to then ask for your email during the chat session. Another thing to note is that phone support is not available 24/7, but it is available seven days a week between 7 a.m. and 3 a.m. ET on weekdays and between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET on weekends.

VistaPrint Alternatives and How They Compare

VistaPrint Printful Redbubble Zazzle

Starting Price

Free

Free

Free

Free

Number of Products

1,000-plus

230-plus

70-plus

1,000-plus

Maximum Designs

Unlimited

Unlimited

Up to 30 design uploads per day

Unlimited

Sell Print-on-Demand Products Directly

Yes

Yes

No, sell via Redbubble only

No, sell via Zazzle only

Set Your Pricing (POD)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Order Management

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Direct Shipping

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Global Network

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Custom Packaging

Yes

No, it offers custom packing slips

No

No

Customer Support

Phone, live chat and email support

24/7 via live chat and contact forms

Live chatbot and support via a contact form

Email and phone

Read Reviews

Read Printful Review

VistaPrint vs. Printful

VistaPrint and Printful both offer very similar print-on-demand services. However, while the two offer free forever plans with unlimited design uploads, there are a couple of key differences. First, VistaPrint has over 1,000 products available, whereas Printful has just over 230 products. And it’s not just that VistaPrint has more products, but more product categories, giving businesses more opportunity to sell a wide range of goods.

Second, Printful offers very little by way of custom packaging, whereas VistaPrint uses white-label packaging so items arrive as if they were shipped directly from your business—this is key for those looking to build a brand.

VistaPrint vs. Redbubble

When deciding between VistaPrint and Redbubble for your print-on-demand service, there’s a major difference between the two in terms of how products are sold. With VistaPrint, users sell their products on their chosen sales channels, such as their website or third-party marketplaces. Whereas, with Redbubble, items are sold directly on the Redbubble marketplace.

Redbubble does not connect to other websites or marketplaces, so those selling on Redbubble get the advantage of its existing customer base; however, they lack the ability to sell directly or through other sales channels. However, along with VistaPrint, Redbubble enables users to set their own profit margins, giving sellers more control over product pricing.

VistaPrint vs. Zazzle

In comparing VistaPrint to Zazzle, the two print-on-demand providers both boast free forever plans and large product catalogs with 1,000-plus products, giving sellers a great deal of choice. However, VistaPrint users sell their designs directly to customers through their own business website or by connecting to a third-party marketplace, such as Etsy. Meanwhile, Zazzle users sell their original designs directly through the Zazzle marketplace.

Another difference is that VistaPrint enables users to set their own profit margins and product pricing, whereas Zazzle sellers receive a fixed commission per sale, which hovers around 15%. For more information check out our Zazzle review.

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VistaPrint

Design

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VistaPrint

VistaPrint Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (10)

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Pricing

Free (No upfront fees) 24/7

Offers

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Integrations

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VistaPrint Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (12)

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Who Is VistaPrint Best For?

VistaPrint is a good provider for businesses that are looking to purchase products with their own branding or custom graphics. It has one of the largest product catalogs in the market, offering a number of hard-to-find and high-quality products. It may also be a good choice for businesses that are looking to sell products and merchandise, but whose main revenue stream is something other than selling said goods. This is because it’s not the most convenient print-on-demand service, but it does have such a vast product offering that it’s a good choice for those who want to sell products here and there, such as, say, a restaurant looking to sell merchandise in-person and online.

Bottom Line

VistaPrint is an all-around good provider for a variety of products and services. What’s nice is that because it offers so many different goods and services, it can be something of a one-stop shop, which can help make life a little easier for businesses looking to streamline the providers and vendors they deal with. It also offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all products, and its print-on-demand service gives sellers one of the largest product catalogs in the industry—complete with the unique ability to both set your own profit margin and use white-label packaging.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is VistaPrint high quality?

With thousands of products, product quality is bound to vary. However, VistaPrint does sell high-quality items from internationally known brands, such as Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Carhartt, The North Face, Eddie Bauer, Samsonite and more. On top of that, it also offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee to provide additional peace of mind.

Is the VistaPrint website builder any good?

VistaPrint recently partnered with Wix, one of the most popular website builders, so it no longer has a proprietary website builder. Instead, its partnership essentially serves as a recommendation as it redirects users to Wix, where they have the ability to easily build, launch and manage a professional-quality business website for as little as $16 per month to use a custom domain. Learn more about the best e-commerce website builders.

What’s the best business card printing service?

There are a number of solid business card printing services—each with its own ideal audience or use case. For example, GotPrint is the best option for those on a budget. UPrinting is best for custom-shaped business cards. PsPrint is ideal for buying small quantities. VistaPrint is best for eco-friendly business card options. To learn more, check out our guide to the best business card printing services.

VistaPrint Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons (2024)
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