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$1 cards: Are the acceptable all year round? I refuse to pay more than $1 for a card

M

Misskitty

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 18, 2010
448
2
I need to ask this. Generally I refuse to pay more than $1 for cards and I buy my cards from the dollar store. But i recently asked myself if $1 cards are still acceptable in certain situations like Parents birthdays, mothers day, fathers day, valentines to your friend or S.O, wedding, grad etc. Very special occasions. I was looking at cards today for v-day and they sure are some really nice ones in the stores. Then I look at the back and im shocked by the prices. $7, $8 for the most part. I just think thats way too much for a piece of paper and some ink thats going to be thrown away after a day. Thats really the main reason why I got into only buying cards from the dollar store.

But if you people think that certain occasions throughout the year call for something better than a dollar store card, tell me and i can make some exceptions throughout the year. I just dont want to give $1 cards in some occasions and look cheap, cause afterall all the prices are on the back of every card. And anyone can easily tell a dollar store card apart from an $8 one. Mostly from the feel of the materials, and how well its designed etc. My point is, when you pick up a $7-8 dollar card, you can tell its quality, and when you pick up a dollar store card you can tell the significant drop in quality.

What do you guys do? Are you a $1 card buyer or do you buy the expensive ones for show?
 
I look at it this way: cards for annual holidays (including birthdays) can be cheap and no frills. But there some things, like an anniversary, birth of a child, or other large important life event, that deserve a bit more of a gesture. TO me, a special card that would add positively to the occasion, and years later could be be a treasured reminder is worth whatever the potential extra cost may be.
 
Greeting cards? Is that still a thing?

The price of the card does not matter. I think you're an idiot if you pay more than a buck for a card.
 
I go even further and buy them at the resale store. :eek: Lots of people throw out unused cards.

My mom and I pick some up during sales too and in the dollar isles. Bulk cards for $1 a piece are not bad. I mean, we have some really, really pretty ones. You just have to store them correctly.

"Thank You" cards are perfectly fine being cheap 20 pack ones. Don't use them for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Weddings, Baby Showers, Birthdays, Valentine's Day, and the like, but instead do them with a printer.

A big nice message in a fancy font (there's freebies all over the internet you can use), with some clipart nicely placed, on some satin premium paper (that is a little thicker than normal copier paper) that isn't white will be just as nice. Just fold it, write inside, and that's that.
 
I can think of very few things in this world less important than how much a greeting card costs.

If you care enough to send one, do so. If the person receiving it is the type to concern himself with how much you paid for it, that's his shortcoming, not yours.
 
I sometimes just make one-of-a-kind ones, using some plain paper and then collaging images or whatever clipped from magazines headed to the recycle pile. Seeking materials for that purpose is about the only reason I really have a look at ads in magazines. Your friends will admire you for taking the trouble, even if it's only cutting a comic strip episode from the newspaper and pasting it onto blank paper in a way that lets you write on the inside of your home-brew "card".

Or if you have access to some cotton fabrics, like those used by quilters: take some freezer paper, draw a rectangle twice the size of the desired card onto the matte side of the paper, write the sentiment on the lower half of the matte-finished side, cut it out, then use a fairly warm iron to press the paper shiny side down onto a scrap of some quilter's cotton fabric. Put a piece of muslin or a plain sheet of paper over your writing so it doesn't get messed up as you press the freezer paper onto the fabric. Use a piece of fabric large enough to leave a half-inch or so all around the paper. Let it cool off, then trim the "card" to size with pinking shears, fold it in half et voila. I love making cards for Christmas that way.

Sometimes I make these cards bookmark-sized and skip folding them. Recipients love them and they're a breeze to make. You can always find holiday-themed fabrics on sale (at online or bricks and mortar quilt shops) after the holidays or in the summer when they're making room for the next season's fabrics. Beautiful stuff, with silver or gold metallic on them, etc. You can buy single what they call "fat quarters" (18 x 22") for less than $3 and make several cards from it. Half a yard of it is enough to make a lot of cards, although for a clearance sale price they might make you buy a whole yard. But so what: with cards reaching $7 and on-sale fabrics as cheap as $4 or $5 a yard, it's a no brainer. Or ask around of your friends, since someone in their families is probably a quilter; it has become a popular craft again in the past 20 years.

When my sister or I buy an expensive card, we usually stick a paper note inside instead of writing on it so we can recycle it on to a friend!
 
I usually don't send or give too many cards. Because of that, when I need one, I just run to Target, Wal-Mart, local grocery store, and buy what I need. Price is irrelevant.
 
I make my own. I simply use a template in Pages, drop one of my own photos in, and print onto a thick stock that is pre-scored to fold into a regular sized card... 5x7 in my case but you can get any of the standard card sizes.

Forget the price.... nothing is more special than something you make yourself. The time it takes to print one of your own is less than the shopping time and the time you're spending in angst over the etiquette of price.

Also... mail that sucker.... people love getting a real note in the mail. It's something they tuck into a shoebox and keep as special. Anything emailed gets buried and lost.
 
Thanks for the feedback. Im just gonna continue on with my dollar store cards. If anyone wants to think im cheap cause of the $1 cost on the back, so be it.

I just cant see the value of a $7-8 card, even $5 is too much. But most in stores now are at least $6-7. Too much. Even if you do this say 10 times a year, thats $70-80! All on cards that are read once and thrown out 10 minutes later.
 


Clearly, this is one of those things where opinions will differ wildly.

Well, as it happens, I come from a culture, society, and a family who liked to send (and to receive) cards. Well chosen, thoughtful cards, which would be discussed and the really good ones would be admired and remembered.

We used to write them, and send them; in fact, buying a card wasn't the issue, - rather, the issue was making sure you got the right card (right in content, tone, thoughts expressed) this mattered a lot more.

My father used to pride himself on getting just exactly the right card for whomsoever the card was destined for. In fact, this often meant spending a lot of time and thought on the matter in order to ensure that the chosen card would be exactly right (in tone and thought and content of message) for the intended recipient. Card shops were rated on the quality and range of their products, and shops which promoted sarcastic, or smutty, or downright nasty cards (disguised as wit) were deplored by him. Kind, or clever, or warm and witty ones were treasured.

Actually, it was a way of expressing care, love and affection, and he always got it right. Equally, he also derived huge delight from seeing the pleasure that a carefully chosen card would give the recipient, as they would invariably recognise some aspect of themselves in what had been selected for them by him - the sort of recognition that would evoke a grin, rather than a scowl.

And now, partly in memory of my father, and partly because it is what I like to do, I spend both time (lots) and money (as much as the card/occasion requires, but, no, as it happens rarely under €5; cost is not my major consideration when choosing a card, but neither is it a deciding factor - the exactly right message on a less expensive card will always trump something glossy and extravagant) when choosing a card.

As I dislike carelessness , and thoughtlessness in any area of life, I put thought into buying a card when I buy them; I think of the person/recipient - their character, what sort of language they like, what makes them laugh, or smile, or grin - and, obviously, the occasion itself will also govern the sort of card sent.

So, any card I send will be chosen with the character of the recipient in mind, and indeed, will also have to look as though it came from me - thus, the sort of thing I personally cannot stand, will never be in any card with my name on it.

All of this means that yes, I spend both time and money when selecting a card.

 
I always thought greeting cards were a pretty dumb concept. I can just speak to the person and congratulate them on whatever occasion it is. I guess the exception is if you live far from someone and can't see them in person.
 
There is an alternative which, although somewhat pricey at the front end, handles all occasions for me...personal note cards.

Very old fashioned, I know, but I use them for all occasions.

In the service of full disclosure...I don't send many cards.:D
 
Personally I can't find any cards I like so I make my own. I just do a high res scan (600+ dpi) of a funny "The Far Side" comic. I then clean it up in Photoshop and print on good photo paper. Formatting and folding for an appropriate card size.

For Christmas I'll take the time to color it.
 
If the price of Valantines day cards bothers you, buy them on February 15th for the following year.
Personally I buy 4 cards a year. Christmas, wedding anniversary, birthday and Valentines day. All for my wife. I don't mind spending a lot on those because she really appreciates a good card.
As she makes cards for a hobby she does all the rest we give. She has stamps and dyes etc.
 
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