Cheap, fast postcard printing in LA.

September 22, 2008 8:59 AM

I need to print 100, 2-sided, black and white postcards, preferably in L.A.

The problem with these postcards is that I need them fast and cheap. For various reasons I don't want to print them at home. Vista Print can do them for about $30, but 3 day shipping is another $30. The places that are local to L.A. that I've googled cost about $60 without shipping, thus saving me no money at all. I realize that places like Vista Print drive down their prices by making you click through a million add-ons, but certainly I can do this quickly, cheaply, and locally. They don't have to be beautiful- the just have to get mailed.

posted by Thin Lizzy to Shopping (4 answers total)

If Chatsworth isn't too far out of the way, there's a place in my neighborhood - http://www.printingsafari.com - that's been around for a while. I had some t-shirts done there, but they do business cards and, I'm sure, postcards as well.
posted by DandyRandy at 11:19 AM on September 22, 2008

Best answer: Not a local solution but there used to be a USPS service that let you upload a PDF of a postcard design and upload a mailing list and they would print postcards pre-postmarked and mail them, with the total cost of each custom-printed card plus postage being just a little bit more than a single postcard stamp by itself. I think maybe this is it?
posted by XMLicious at 1:07 PM on September 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: And I don't even have to address them? You win, sir.
posted by Thin Lizzy at 1:25 PM on September 22, 2008

You could also create layouts for your postcards and take them to Kinko's to print doublesided on cardstock. They (or at least mine) have a cutting machine for chopping them into actual postcards. I'd then print out mailing labels and stick them on.
posted by rhizome at 1:44 PM on September 22, 2008