Small business filter: Help us solve a short print run dilemma!

September 28, 2010 7:27 AM

We'll be moving into a rental office on a short-term (14-24 month) basis and we need to print new stationery. We only use about 125 envelopes a year (in two sizes: letter and card) and the minimum order quantity from local printers is 500 pieces. We've thought of printing envelopes with a logo and no return address and using a stamp or stickers to apply a return address, but the results have been tacky. With the move, we've ended up with hundreds of excess envelopes from previous addresses. Is there a way we can solve this with something that looks good and doesn't cost a fortune? All suggestions appreciated!
posted by quidividi to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Digital printing instead of offset? It doesn't look as good (and if you have a company color you need to match perfectly, that's harder) but it's better for short runs. I'd ask the printer.
posted by the_blizz at 7:34 AM on September 28, 2010

I've had pretty good results just laying out an envelope design in a word processing program, then printing on nice, plain envelopes with my consumer-grade printer, feeding them in through the sheet feeder. For 125 envelopes, it's reasonable, especially if that across two sizes. Your biggest overhead will probably be reading the help on how to print envelopes.
posted by amtho at 7:55 AM on September 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Internet printers often have smaller runs.

overnightprints.com for example.
They do 100 letterhead for $40 and 100 envs for $55.
But of course the more you get, the lower the cost per piece.
posted by Xhris at 8:00 AM on September 28, 2010

I'd suggest doing them yourself or, as others have suggested, use a digital print service instead of offset. We often handle very short runs (less than 50 pieces) of envelopes, stationery, and very small batches of business cards for just this sort of thing.

You might also consider plain envelopes and clear laser labels. Maco brand labels are just as good as Avery, and much cheaper.
posted by xedrik at 8:27 AM on September 28, 2010

How about just printing your logo/address on blank envelopes with a color laser printer? Shouldn't look too tacky.
posted by reptile at 8:50 AM on September 28, 2010

Presentech.com has been great for me. They're an Atlanta company, but will work with anyone. Super-helpful reps, good turnaround time, and digital presses, so they can do the short (small) runs you need. Like others have said, if you're super-picky about color, digital might not be the way for you to go.
posted by runningwithscissors at 4:17 PM on September 28, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

In the end, we haggled with the printer to get a discount on smaller quantities of envelopes and letterhead (with return addresses) that were offset printed.
posted by quidividi at 11:58 PM on October 5, 2010