Help! What printer would you suggest?

Thanks, Steve and Ankesh.
Ankesh, I'm a little familiar with sendoutcards but never checked them out.
Steve, I looked at an Oki but didn't try it.
Cost of ink is a concern and a laser would help. Both for cost and speed.
I think I'll take some paper over and ask them to demo it.

Hi Larry,

I've been using Send Out Cards for a while now myself and think their service is incredible, but I have heard that since they're printed digitally and not finished with a protective coating like most postcards, theirs get beat up in the postal system a bit and don't look quite as good as their greeting cards that are protected by an envelope.

Another thing to consider there is the lead time too - as all cards are mailed from Salt Lake City and may take a few days to get where they're going. Cards I've received in PA typically take 3 - 4 days to arrive which isn't terrible, but something to consider if you need them delivered pronto.

All in all it's a great service, but as with anything you should test it out and see how it meets your needs.

Cheers,

Stev

Originally Posted by Larry Foster

What brand do you have?

Larry,

I don't have mine anymore and I don't recall what brand it was.

I looked online and couldn't find any dedicated postcard printers so I'm assuming that some of the new printers out there are capable of doing this.

But I would still say that ordering and sending them through the USPS website would be your best option if this is something you want to do in the future.

What's the reason for the live stamp? Is that something your customer would reconsider?

Jim

Hey Larry,

I spend a LOT of time looking for a great color laser with great color and paper handling capabilities and picked up the Okidata c3200n at Staples for about $300 about a year ago. They don't make that model any longer, but you can get a rundown on everything they offer at http://www.okidata.com/mkt/html/nf/LED_color.html

It's a great printer with beautiful glossy prints and the quality is much better than the HP printers that were out at the time. I haven't done enough printing to have to change the cartridges yet, but I think the cost per page based on the MFG's numbers was about $0.20 a page. The funny (sad?) thing though is that it costs about as much for all new cartridges than it does to buy a new machine - but I found a source for toner on eBay and I'm going to refill these cartridges when I need to and see how their toner looks.

In regards to paper handling, I took some cardstock into Staples when I was shopping and tested it out on the different models on display to see which worked the best. Because the Oki's a single pass printer and paper can exit straight out the back it's excellent for post cards or anything you want to print with heavy stock.

Hope this helps, but feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer them if I can.

Cheers,

Steve

Larry,

Thanks for asking about Printers.

What is it you Actually want to achieve? What is the Final End Goal?

If it's just a Post Card with a name and address on it and a Live stamp, then have the cards done at a Print Shop and use Mailing Address Labels - hey, you're sticking on a Live Stamp so Stick on an Address Label at the same time.

Why won't that work as a Solution?

Michael Ross
www.hotsheets.info

Putting Postcard printers aside for a moment...

Read through this thread very Carefully...

And Think about all the different Postcard business ideas & Services that someone could Turn into an interesting business...

Here's a few Keywords I keep on Seeing! Post Cards... Live stamps... The Postcard Press Release...

And Google “says” there are even more ways of “twisting” this one into a Real business...

Phil

Thanks everyone for all the good advice.
This is a good discussion.
I think USPS.com is the best service offered bythe post office. I would have used it. It would have been fast, simple and professionally done.
In this particular case, he wanted live stamp. Not sure why.
As far as labels, I don't like them and the client wanted them printed on the card. I think there's a big difference in impression for someone who receives something with a label.
About using a print shop, quantities come into play and none of the local printers could or would print my cards with the addresses.
This client just received his leads and wanted them mailed ASAP.
The bigger picture is that I want to expand this into a service for my consulting clients. Kind of a one stop shop. And it would be part of creating a regular additional stream.
Creating various marketing pieces and being able to deliver the whole process seems to increase my value to them.
Thanks, again and look forward to any other ideas on this.
Larry
PS. Phil, interesting way to spot this as an opportunity. You do a great job of having your "lookers" out all the time.

[Ankesh]

Thanks Larry.

>The bigger picture is that I want to expand this into a service for my consulting
> clients. Kind of a one stop shop. And it would be part of creating a regular
>additional stream.

One thing I've learnt from Harvey Brody (via GJA) is you don't have to be a one stop solution. Just a one stop gateway.

Good point Ankesh