PrintPlace Comparison and Review

• Faster shipping options available: Next Day, 2-Day, 3-Day

Cons:

• Provider does not offer t-shirts or mugs
• Difficult to upload design
• Minimum order size of 250 for calendars (Market Standard is one item)

Conclusion:

PrintPlace offers low-priced marketing materials in all categories. They offer a selection of paper marketing materials and stationery, but they don’t offer many promotional materials or signs and banners. PrintPlace only lets you upload and print a design you’ve already created and does not offer a design tool to help you create your design. We found that uploading your design is a more complicated process than with most other services because the entire checkout process must be completed before you are able to send them your files. PrintPlace offers a mailing service (i.e. they will print, address, and mail the products for you). PrintPlace has minimum order sizes that are larger than average.

We found their customer support to be high quality. Their support was very helpful, friendly, and quick in responding to all of our questions. Their standard shipping time is 1-5 days, depending on your location, which is faster than our Market Standard shipping time of one week.

Design and Printing

PrintPlace gives you the ability to upload your existing design and have it printed, but it’s a more complicated process than with most other services because the entire checkout process must be completed before you are able to send them your files.PrintPlace does not have pre-designed templates, nor do they have a design tool that lets you create your own design. They accept PDF, TIFF, JPG, and EPS files for uploading designs.

PrintPlace uses offset printing which 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. Conversely, 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

PrintPlace does not offer t-shirts at this time.

Mugs

PrintPlace does not offer mugs at this time

Calendars

PrintPlace offers calendars in order sizes ranging from 250-5,000. It costs $2,115 for the minimum order of 250 calendars which is a much greater minimum order than our Market Standard of 1 calendar. You have the option of getting either an uncoated or glossy finish on PrintPlace’s calendars.

Shipping

PrintPlace’s standard shipping time is 1-5 days through UPS Ground, depending on your location, which is faster than our Market Standard of one week. The shipping price for 250 calendars is $39.30 to ship our office in Austin, Texas, but the shipping cost varies, depending on how far you are from their location in Texas. They have faster shipping options through UPS: next day, 2-day, and 3-day shipping.

Proofs & Samples

PrintPlace offers a free PDF proof, which meets our Market Standard, and they can also mail you a hardcopy proof via next-day mail if you wish. The price of these hardcopy proofs varies, depending upon the print job. They can send you paper samples if you request them, which meets our Market Standard as well.

Additional Promotional Materials

Besides calendars, PrintPlace does not offer any other types of promotional materials: pens, tote bags, keychains, etc.

Customer Support

PrintPlace has phone, email, and live chat support available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central. We experienced no wait time over the phone and less than an hour over email. Overall, we considered customer support to be high quality, as the customer support representatives we spoke to were very helpful, friendly, and quick in responding to all questions. 

PrintPlace does not offer a money-back guarantee, which we consider to be a Market Standard, but they do have a "Satisfaction Guarantee." If there’s an error with your order that was caused by PrintPlace, they will either reprint your order or provide you with an account credit. They can sometimes provide refunds, but those are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.