PrintRunner Comparison and Review

• Professional design help available
• Standard shipping time of 3-4 business days (Market Standard is one week)
• Faster shipping options available: Next Day, 2-Day, 3-Day

Cons:

• Provider does not offer t-shirts or mugs
• Minimum order size of 250 for calendars (Market Standard is one item)
• Money-back guarantee not available

Conclusion:

PrintRunner offers low-priced promotional materials, average-priced signs and banners, and high-priced paper materials and stationery. They do not offer many promotional marketing materials, but they have calendars. PrintRunner lets you upload and print an existing design, and they also offer predesigned templates and a design tool to help you create your design for some products. They are also one of the few providers that offer professional design help and a mailing service (i.e. they will print, address, and mail the products for you).

PrintRunner does not offer a money-back guarantee, which we consider to be standard. We found their customer support to be below average quality because they were extremely slow to respond and sometimes did not respond at all. This provider has a standard shipping time of 3- 4 business days, which is faster than our Market Standard shipping time of one week.

Design and Printing

PrintRunner meets our Market Standard by letting you easily upload an existing design and have it printed. PrintRunner will accept these file types: PDF, AI, EPS, PSD, TIF, JPG, QXD, and Adobe InDesign for uploading your design. They do not offer a design tool that allows you to create your own design for calendars. PrintRunner does offer professional design help, which means they can create a design for you. The price for this service varies with the product.

PrintRunner offers both digital and offset printing. Offset printing is a process in which a plate makes an inked impression on a rubber-blanketed cylinder, which in turn transfers it to the paper. Offset printing offers higher image quality, is more cost effective when ordering large quantities, and is better for larger prints. Digital printing is a process in which the data and images are printed directly from the computer onto paper. It has shorter turnaround time, is more cost effective when ordering small quantities, and is better for customized printing.

T-Shirts

PrintRunner does not offer t-shirts at this time.

Mugs

PrintRunner does not offer mugs at this time.

Calendars

You can order calendars though PrintRunner in quantities ranging from 250-20,000, which does not meet our Market Standard minimum order size of one calendar. For 250 calendars, it costs $2,205. As you order larger quantities, your price per calendar gets significantly cheaper. Their calendars are printed on paper with a glossy finish.

Shipping

PrintRunner’s standard shipping time is 3-4 business days, which is faster than our Market Standard of one week. Their standard shipping cost is $52.92 for 250 calendars. Shipping prices may vary with location. Next day, 2-day, and 3-day shipping is available for an additional cost.

Proofs & Samples

PrintRunner offers free PDF proofs as well as hardcopy proofs, which meets our Market Standard. They also offer free paper samples (a pack of paper options that are mailed to you and from which you can choose), which meets our Market Standard.

Additional Promotional Materials

In addition to calendars, PrintRunner offers pens and magnets.

Customer Support

PrintRunner offers phone, email, and live chat support. Their customer support is available Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST. We experienced no wait times over the phone, but their email support never responded to any of our inquiries. Overall, we found the quality of their customer support to be below average. Their live chat support is extremely slow to respond and often do not respond at all. They do not offer a money-back guarantee, which does not meet our Market Standard.