How much do business cards cost in Australia?

What they cost, by quantity

Every figure below is 350gsm, matt laminated both sides, printed full colour both sides, and includes GST. These are the prices in the cart on this site right now — they are read from the same price list the checkout charges from, so this page cannot quote you a number the order then disagrees with.

A card is $0.36 at 250 and $0.11 at 2500. Same card, same stock, same press — roughly a third of the price.

Almost all of that is setup. The press has to be made ready whether it then runs 250 cards or 2500, and that preparation costs the same either way, so a short run carries the whole of it on its own. Once the press is running, each additional sheet costs very little.

This is why “how much is a business card” has no single answer, and why a price quoted without a quantity attached is not a price. It is also why the jump from 250 to 500 is the best value on the table: $119 against $89 nearly doubles the cards for a third more money.

Quantity moves it most, by a distance, for the reason above.

Stock and finish move it next. 350gsm with matt lamination on both sides is the standard and what every figure here is; gloss instead of matt costs the same. Heavier stock, soft-touch and rounded corners each add — and they add per run rather than per card, so they cost proportionally less the more you print. Premium business cards at 450gsm uncoated with velvet soft-touch are $236.50 for 500 against $119 standard. What GSM should business cards be? goes through the weights.

Printing one side saves a little, not half. Every price in the table is double-sided. Printed on one side only, the same cards are $79 for 250 — $0.32 a card against $0.36. The saving is small because both sides go through the press in one pass on a sheet that was going through anyway; most of the cost is the setup and the stock, which a blank back does not change.

Delivery. Delivery is included in this price — Australia-wide, with no freight line at the cart and nothing added later. Allow 1 to 2 working days longer outside NSW, QLD and VIC. Your complete delivered price is confirmed before you pay.

On an order this size that matters: freight on 250 cards is a meaningful share of the total, and a shop that leaves it out of the headline is quoting a number you cannot pay.

Artwork, sometimes. Setting up supplied artwork is free with every print order, 250 cards included. If the design has to be made rather than set up, that design work is priced per job and quoted before anything starts.

Six questions, in the order they catch people out. They work on any printer’s quote, including this one.

1. Per card, or the total? “From 8c a card” is a 2500 price wearing a 250 face. Ask what the total is at the quantity you actually want.
2. Including GST, or not? Ten per cent, and the cheaper-looking quote is often the one that has not added it yet. Every figure on this page includes it.
3. Is delivery in it? See above. Ask for the delivered price to your postcode, not the price of the cards.
4. Is there a setup or artwork fee? Ask before comparing two quotes, not after choosing one.
5. One side or two? Some ladders quote single-sided and charge heavily for the back. The back should cost a little, not double.
6. What stock? 350gsm is standard. 250gsm feels like a thick flyer and should be cheaper; if a quote does not say, it is usually because the answer does not help them.