Ahhh Thanks for the clarification Tess. GREAT to know. I thought they were strictly eCards/eNewsletters -which is what I was orginally looking to them for a few months back. So, what do they charge for printing and postage, as I don't know anything about that service? Can you send gift cards with them as well? I should compare the two. Funny that didn't come up in my online searches for comparative card sending programs. It pays to check with virtualassistantforums.com first. I'm going to check out their site again. Still. I'm pretty happy with my $0.61-$0.78 per card with my own handwriting and signature. It's made a pretty big impact on my business just in the last 2 months.

__________________
TRImages, Ink
Tanya Ericksen-Troska
Executive VA - Member of Kudzu, IVAA, REVA, IREAA

Hi Tanya
The pricing is per-unit but is very reasonable - since it's a postcard though and not a bi-fold card it would have to function as both the card and the gift card (front/back, perhaps?)

Their pricelist for postcards is here. (no monthly fees, etc. - better price for larger quantities)

I do agree that Send Out Cards or similar would be the ideal solution for this kind of thing, but VR might be a good 'budget option' and is great for postcard mailings of a general nature...

__________________

Thanks for the information Tess.
I'll do a little comparison between VR, SOC, ExpressCopy and Vistaprint for standard postcard mailings. Right off the top, VR's postcard pricing is higher than the postcard or greeting card pricing per single mailing through SOC... however if you're not doing a lot of mailings each month then you may save some dough at VerticleResponse because there are no reoccuring monthly fees. I know that there are no monthly fees at Vistaprint or ExpressCopy either, but once I have all of the options: apples to apples, I would be willing to report back here with a comparison chart for everyone if it helps.

__________________
TRImages, Ink
Tanya Ericksen-Troska
Executive VA - Member of Kudzu, IVAA, REVA, IREAA

Another option with SOC is a the retail plan, which is what I have. I'm not a distributor. I just purchased the retail plan and can send cards when I want. There are no monthly/annual fees as long as you make additional point purchases (at least once a year). I think the point cost might be a little higher (which is why I have a different single card cost than you do) but it works for me and my needs. Still $0.98 is a great price for a nice card. (FYI...you buy points and redeem them to get a card...I think it's 1 point for a postcard, 2 for a greeting card but I could be wrong.)

VR looks like a great option too, just a little different idea.

__________________
Lanel Taylor, CVA ~ Virtual Bookkeeper
Taylored Office Solutions
Custom fit solutions for all your office needs.

Hello All and thank you for the suggestions and alternatives.

I did contact SOC customer support and was told the $2.00 is the fee they are charged for purchasing the cards. I can confirm that if you order gift cards online there is a minimum of $1.50 per card ordered. I also had checked w/SOC to see if I could have the cards sent to me so I could place the gc's in the envelopes myself. They said we could place a bulk order of 250 cards (minimum) but there would be no personalization in the cards and no picture could be included.

At this point, it looks like I will have the cards printed and all shipped to my address to be re-enveloped and then place the gift cards into the new envelopes. The cards will still be personalized, just not the envelopes. It is a bit more work for me, but my client was happy with the suggestion and 'out of the box' thinking.

I am placing the order for the cards tomorrow and will see if they will send out that many cards to the same address without it getting kicked to tech support since the names will all be different, just not the addresses - a way to get around the bulk order of 250 cards that they would not be able to personalize. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks again for all of your assistance. I am so grateful for this forum and the supportive group you all are.

Michelle

Michelle, sounds like a wonderful solution! Great thinking

Tanya, I'd be very interested to learn what your conclusions are - a comparison of the options you mentioned would be superb.

I've never actually seen even a sample of Send Out Cards, but am growing more and more curious about what they have to offer.

__________________

Sorry guys... this is taking me a little more time than I thought because we ran into some bad weather up here, and then the video card on my main desktop PC monitor crapped out on me. So, I'm working through www.gotomypc.com which allows me to see my PC's desktop and applications through the eyes of another PC's monitor... but in tiny print. And it runs just a titch slower than if I were working directly from my PC. Hopefully I'll have tech support out here tomorrow afternoon to get me all fixed up... but until then, please bare with me. I promise to have those comparisons uploaded here soon. In the meantime, for Tess and whoever else wanted to test out the SOC system, you could go to http://www.sendoutcards.com/trimagesink to send out a free card. You won't of course have the ability to send it in your own handwriting at that point, but it gives you the opportunity to learn a little about some of the features, and send out a card to someone (or yourself) as a test. Let me know if you have any questions or problems with it. And, then... hopefully, by the end of the day, I'll have those comparisons completed for all of you.

__________________
TRImages, Ink
Tanya Ericksen-Troska
Executive VA - Member of Kudzu, IVAA, REVA, IREAA

Thanks Tanya
No deadlines here! LOL....it's great that you're taking the time to investigate and compare but don't spend your workday on it!

__________________

Thank you all for your suggestions. It seems I needed a sounding board to 'think outside the box' and you all fit the bill as I knew you would. Thanks again. I am ordering the cards tomorrow or Saturday and then expect to re-mail them next week. My client is thrilled with the solution. I of course told her that I had help which she said 'Good for you and keep up the good work'. So here's to all my VAF friends and colleagues

Great suggestion on checking out the site. I also work directly for someone who is a distributor. As mentioned above, if anyone would like a gift account they can check it out here as well - click on the picture of Steve on the left hand corner of the site. It is a great service to have. I will be using it for my Christmas cards/letters this year to take a bit of the stress I always associate with sending them out. I love updating family and friends and letting them see my girls, but oh the time it takes. SOC will take the stress away... but I digress - SOC is a great option, I just wish they didn't require the processing fee on gift cards.

A good evening to all!

Thank you all for your suggestions. It seems I needed a sounding board to 'think outside the box' and you all fit the bill as I knew you would. Thanks again. I am ordering the cards tomorrow or Saturday and then expect to re-mail them next week. My client is thrilled with the solution. I of course told her that I had help which she said 'Good for you and keep up the good work'. So here's to all my VAF friends and colleagues

Great suggestion on checking out the site. I also work directly for someone who is a distributor. As mentioned above, if anyone would like a gift account they can check it out here as well - click on the picture of Steve on the left hand corner of the site. It is a great service to have. I will be using it for my Christmas cards/letters this year to take a bit of the stress I always associate with sending them out. I love updating family and friends and letting them see my girls, but oh the time it takes. SOC will take the stress away... but I digress - SOC is a great option, I just wish they didn't require the processing fee on gift cards.

A good evening to all!