Unfortunately, small businesses printing in small quantities have very few affordable options and are forced to make a trade-off somewhere… Either giving up control, paper selection and personal service with a bulk/online printer or sacrificing some print quality and the ability to print on thicker cardstocks by going digital.

I’ve worked with a lot of the online printers and share your frustration with OP. While the quality was outstanding when everything went RIGHT, too often things would go wrong. They have virtually no QA process (they admitted as much over the phone) and are terribly inconsistent when it comes to customer service, reliability and shipping on time. Our relationship with this company quickly turned into a nightmare… One that has cost me dearly in time and money.

When you’re considering going with an online printer, I recommend doing a few things to help mitigate your risk.

1. Order their sample pack. It should be free.
2.Read their reprint/return/refund policy. Even under the best circumstances, you’ll need to go through this process at one time or another if you’re using a printer consistently.
3. Contact their customer service department as if you were a real customer. Do it via phone and email and check out their response/hold time. If you wait on the phone for half an hour before you’re a customer, you’re likely to have the same problem when you are a customer.
4. Get references. Find out who you know has been using these resources and what they think. The last time I was looking for an online resource, I narrowed the field to my two favorites and then asked my entire LinkedIn network if they had any experiences. The feedback was valuable and helped me make my decision.
5. These printers are usually cheap and allow you to order a box of business cards for only a few dollars. Doing a trial run is low-risk and will give you a real look at what it’s like to be a customer.